The Development of Theory of Mind

Study Notes

Conceptual knowledge of the mind arises from similarity detection and feature abstraction.
Inanimate objects have features in common with each other, contrasting with human features.
Traditional domain-general similarity proposals fail to account for cognitive development in knowledge domains.
Executive function abilities improve dramatically in children's mentalistic understanding of persons.
Executive functioning includes planning, response inhibition, self-regulation, and cognitive flexibility.
False-belief understanding requires inhibitory control and flexible, embedded-rules reasoning.
Performance on inhibitory control tasks correlates highly with performance on false-belief tasks.
Executive function developments alone are insufficient to account for differences and developments in understanding the mind.
Children can attribute different desires to self versus others at 2-3 years old, but only do so for beliefs at 4 years old.
Something more specific to an understanding of persons and minds is crucial for theory of mind development.