early childhood theory of mind
theory of mind-
- a persons theory of what other people might be thinking -some aspects develop before ages 4, some later -one way to examine theory of mind is w a false-belief test
Meltzoff and Gopnik- note-
- these theory-theories are amenable to change as we gather more information. -if children gather more evidence that contradicts their understanding of something, they can accommodate it and change their scheme or create a new one
having an older silbling associated with better theory of mind-
-Social dominance theory- siblings are always competing with one another, with older siblings typically having the advantage because of their greater size and mental abilities
theory-theory-
-children develop theories about the world around them to help them understand and remember
theory theory-
-children naturally construct theories to explain whatever they see and hear
theory of mind-
-delays in children with autism -most will fail the false-belief test yet -children with down syndrome perform fairly well on false-belief taks
lying in children-
-learning to lie is a normal part of development, many lie to your parents growing up in order to get your siblings in trouble -this is a normal part of development ! **lying requires advanced cognitive functioning, where you can reasonably conceive or alternate realities and determine whether an outcome is probable or not**
been proven that children theory-of-mind understanding and inhibitory control skills were significantly related to their ability to tell strategic lies
-prefrontal cortex and how it is developing
day and night task-
-tells us about executive function and how well we can inhibit our first impulses. The children who did better on the day/night task told better lies.
In order to have theory of mind, children must realize that other people are not necessarily thinking the same thoughts they themselves are.
theory-theory is closely related to theory of mind which concerns mental states of people, but differs from ToM in that the full scope of theory-theory also concerns mechanical devices or other objects, beyond thinking about people and their viewpoints