PSYC 205 Lecture Notes - Animism, New Born, Color Vision
Theory of Mind
Ability to understand that others have beliefs and desires that are different from one's own
Adults and old children:
Belief-desire theory of mind
Our behavior depends both on our
oBeliefs
oDesires or goals
The child must be able to think about
Others' beliefs as different from ours (including false beliefs)
Others' goals as independent of ours
Assessing Theory of Mind
1. The classic false belief task
oUsed with 3-4 yr olds
oThere's Sally and Anne, and a basket and a box. Sally has a chocolate that she puts into a
box for later. Sally leaves. Anne takes the chocolate and puts it into the basket. When sally
comes back, where will she look for the chocolate?
o3 yr olds say that Sally will look for the chocolate where Anne hid it. But 4+ yr olds say
that Sally will look for it where she put it initially. However, 3 yr olds look at the correct
answer and then say the wrong answer - shows that probably saying the right answer is a
difficult task for the 3 yr olds
2. Smarties task
oShow kids a smarties tube and asks them what do they think is in it. The kid says
smarties. But the researcher opens it up and shows there's pencil. Then they ask the kid
what do they think the next kid will assume is in the tube. 3 yr olds say pencil and 4 yr olds
say smarties.
Children are making these errors because false belief tasks are hard
Once they know the answer, they cannot think back to when they did not know the answer
Task can be complex and lead to misunderstanding
Article 3
Violation of expectation - kids look longer when they see something that violates their
expectation and does not look possible
In familiarization - put the toy in the green box
In true belief condition - actor stays present and can see when the toy moves from green to
yellow box
In false belief - actor is behind the screen and does to know when the toy moves from green to
yellow box
Kids for false-belief looked longer at the old box when they didn't know that the toy had been
moved to the new box
Reasoning about others' goals
1. Interpret action as goal-directed
oUsed 9 and 6 month olds through violation of expectation method
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Ability to understand that others have beliefs and desires that are different from one"s own. Our behavior depends both on our o. The child must be able to think about. Others" beliefs as different from ours (including false beliefs) The classic false belief task: used with 3-4 yr olds o. There"s sally and anne, and a basket and a box. Sally has a chocolate that she puts into a box for later. Anne takes the chocolate and puts it into the basket. When sally comes back, where will she look for the chocolate? o. 3 yr olds say that sally will look for the chocolate where anne hid it. But 4+ yr olds say that sally will look for it where she put it initially. However, 3 yr olds look at the correct answer and then say the wrong answer - shows that probably saying the right answer is a difficult task for the 3 yr olds.
