LZ Lecture 5-ii TOM PDF

2023-2024 ASSOC P R OF SET OH P EI P EI [email protected] ASST PR OF LUO LI ZHU [email protected] PSYCHOLOGY, NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COURSE SYLLABUS HP2300: DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY AY 2023-24 Semester 2 Infants and young children Developmental topics Tutorial introduction Tutorial pres...

2023-2024 ASSOC P R OF SET OH P EI P EI [email protected] ASST PR OF LUO LI ZHU [email protected] PSYCHOLOGY, NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY COURSE SYLLABUS HP2300: DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY AY 2023-24 Semester 2 Infants and young children Developmental topics Tutorial introduction Tutorial presentations Quiz MASTER CREATE/ APPLY ENGAGE Cognitive Development: The Newborn; Perceptual Development I - Piaget’s Theories; II - Piaget Revisited; Prenatal Development Motor Development; Infant Cognition Jan 16 Jan 30 Introduction & Methods; Jan 23 Preparations for Language, First Words and Sentences Early Conceptual Devt; Theory of Mind Feb 6 Feb 13 Attachment and Temperament Moral Development; Early Emotional Development Quiz Feb 20 Feb 27 Achievement Mar 12 Mar 19 QUIZ Weeks 1 to 7: Prof Luo Peer Relationships & Gender Development Social Devt: Environmental Contexts & the Modern Family Mar 26 April 2 Apr 9 Online Session: Born to be Good Apr 16 Apr 29 FINAL EXAM Weeks 8 to 13: Prof Setoh 11 Theory of Mind Theory of Mind (ToM)  An old skool term assume others also have minds attribute mental states to their minds as well  Now: Social cognition “They don’t know that we know they know we know.” Theory of Mind (ToM)  What is ToM?  The ability to understand other people’s actions (and other external manifestations) in terms of their internal mental states;  Used to make sense of our social world. Theory of Mind (ToM)  An ability we use constantly:  When understanding why people do what they do  When we understand and produce language Sarcasm Malaprops: - “Lisa’s date with density” (The Simpsons) - “I'm so smart it's almost scary. I guess I'm a child progeny” (Calvin & Hobbes) Theory of Mind (ToM)  An ability we use constantly:  When we decipher facial expressions, body posture, etc. Theory of Mind (ToM)  An ability we use constantly:  Even when we’re no longer dealing with people! “Heeelp me..” Theory of Mind (ToM)  Why is it called a “theory”?  You have to call on unobserved entities and laws to explain what you observe.  It’s testable and makes predictions about behavior. Theory of Mind (ToM) Unobservable, theoretical entities Perception See, hear, smell Touch, feel Basic Emotion / Physiology Love, like, enjoy Hate, dislike, fear Hunger, thirst Pain, arousal Belief Believe, suppose Know, expect Doubt, suspect Desire Want, desire Wish, hope Ought, should Observables Action Hit, grab Accept, get Search Attend to Reaction Happiness, sadness, anger Surprise, puzzlement (Wellman, 1990)  How does this theory develop? How much of it do young infants have? Precursors in neonates Imitation of facial behaviors  Infants age: as young as 42 minutes; average = 32 hours.  Behaviors: tongue protrusion mouth opening Meltzoff & Moore (1977,1983) Precursors in neonates Imitation of facial behaviors What does this study mean?  Innate mapping / equivalence between self and other  others are “like me”  Gives babies a foothold into the social world Meltzoff & Moore (1977,1983) Precursors in neonates Imitation of facial behaviors  Possible next steps in the development of a ToM:  Learn the outer expression of one’s own mental states. e.g., what do I do when I want something?  Project one's own mental states from self to others: When I see you acting in a certain way, I project onto you the mental state that would have led me to perform that way. Imitation of facial expressions Precursors in neonates Preference for faces Face > scrambled > blank Increased attention to people  more chances to learn about people! Johnson et al. (1991) ToM in older infants Which of the ToM components do babies acquire by age 2?  A few years ago: Unobservable, theoretical entities Perception See, hear, smell Touch, feel Basic Emotion / Physiology Love, like, enjoy Hate, dislike, fear Hunger, thirst Pain, arousal Belief Believe, suppose Know, expect Doubt, suspect Desire Want, desire Wish, hope Ought, should Observables Action Hit, grab Accept, get Search Attend to Reaction Happiness, sadness, anger Surprise, puzzlement (Wellman, 1990) ToM in older infants (Visual) Perception  Measure: gaze following and attentional orientation  Why is this a good measure? If you follow someone’s gaze, it (most likely) means you’ve understood they are looking at something and you want to see it too. Gaze following: 7 vs. 10 months Gaze following: 12 months ToM in older infants (Visual) Perception  BUT babies still have a lot to learn At 12 months, they follow the “gaze” of a blindfolded person, unless they have experienced the blindfold themselves! (Meltzoff & Brooks, 2008) ToM in older infants Basic emotions  Empathy Infant and adult play with toy hammers, then adult pretends to get hurt – measure the infant’s reaction (Sigman et al., 1992).  Social referencing Experienced crawlers used mom’s facial expressions as social referencing: In uncertain condition (12-inch-drop), when mom showed fear, they did not cross; when mom showed joy, they proceeded to cross (Sorce et al., 1985). “Follow my lead.” ToM in older infants Desires / Preferences  Even 6-month-olds understand that a reach is goal-directed.  Woodward paradigm Habituation: Test: SWITCH TOY POSITIONS AND Woodward (1998) [TB p. 177] New goal event New path event ToM in older infants Desires / Preferences Looking Time 25 What do the data show? 20 15  Babies encode actions in terms of: 10 5 0 Habituation New Path Event New Goal Event A) B) C) D) Goals; Spatial trajectory; Both A and B; Neither A nor B; Woodward (1998) Woodward paradigm ToM in older infants Desires / Preferences  But babies still have more to learn: What if the infant’s preference is different from that of somebody else? When do infants understand that people’s desires/preferences can differ from their own?  Repacholi and Gopnik (1997): 14 months: 85% of kids gave crackers 18 months: 30% of kids gave crackers Repacholi & Gopnik (1997) ToM in older infants Belief  False-belief task: The most studied method to assess children’s ability to understand how others might behave when they hold inaccurate beliefs.  When do children understand false beliefs? For over 20 years, widely accepted answer: “at age 4”. The change-of-location false belief task [movie] also known as the Sally-Anne task 42-month-old (3.5ys): Failing 52-month-old (>4ys): Succeeding ToM in older infants Belief  Sally-Anne task: change of location 3-year-olds: BOX (incorrect) 4-year-olds: BASKET (correct)  Children younger than 4 can’t reason about others’ false beliefs. [TB p. 489] The unexpected-contents false belief task also known as the Smarties task Fail The unexpected-contents false belief task also known as the Smarties task Pass ToM in older infants Belief  Smarties task: unexpected contents What’s in the box? [child’s guess is wrong] What will your friend Johnny think be in the box? What did you first think was in the box? 3-year-olds: ANIMAL CRACKERS (incorrect) 4-year-olds: CRAYONS (correct) ToM in older infants Belief Previous answer: Theory of mind prior to age 4. However, even 15-month-olds can reason about false beliefs!  Sneaky watermelon task Belief Believe, suppose Know, expect Doubt, suspect Onishi & Baillargeon (2005) Onishi & Baillargeon (2005) violation of expectation task Sneaky watermelon ToM in older infants Belief  Why do 3-year-olds fail in the traditional Sally-Anne task?  Maybe these tasks are too hard  for reasons unrelated to the understanding of false beliefs: Lots of language Multiple parties to keep track of (e.g., Sally, Anne, experimenter) Explicit judgment task Children have to inhibit their knowledge of the toy's actual location ToM in older infants Belief  If you make the task less complex, even 2-year-olds can succeed: “Hmm, I wonder where Sally will look for the marble…”  children look to the correct location 2023-2024 T HANK YO U!