Psyc 352 Unit 10 - Theory of Mind

Break down progression of false belief

(belief, desire, knowledge, emotion) Dixon, vanuatu

Implicit theoyr of mind tasks

(w/ infants) - can also be Sally-Anne Rene barjon: explicit theory of mind task difficult, gradual development measured with implicit response. Infants have this even in early infancy. Looking time / eye gaze

Samoa ethnographic background

180,000 in Samoa Houses: fale. No walls, but roof on wooden columns. Meet, cook, eat, work. Enhances social interaction. Family households organized together in compound Grow up w/ extended family Use same work for all female relatives on mothers generation Some kids don't sleep in same house w/ biological parents, but relatives - maybe earlier ToM? Sibling effect Privacy of mind - act as if they could not know or do not care about what is in someone else's mind. Prefer not to guess xplicitily what others meant to say. Parents don't infer childrens intentions,e xpect to make self understandable

Experimenters callaghan

2 female

Mayer & Trauble Samoan Children summary

2 separate studies (1 main study, modified langauge, tested again) Large age range and N Cultural differences (findings diverge from what we typically find in Urban/Western)Study 1 3-14 yo (288=n) 186 Savai'i (traditional) 102 Upolu (less traditional - block houses) Classic false belief task (change of location, where will the child look for the item?) Found H2 supported. Later ToM Study 2 4-8yo 55 children (which island?) Replication w/ different linguistic term (Su'e sometimes means find. Change to "Touch first" Found support for H2. Later ToM.

Participants callaghan

267 children ages 30-72m. Some had to estimate ages.

Participants Mayer & Trauble

302 kids (data used 288), 3-14 years. Over 10 weeks.

Barrett et al understanding intentions resutls

4&5 year olds, but not 3 years olds, were significantly above chance Shuar adults were significantly above chance Shuar and Germans did not differ In line with Calahans argument

Previous research results of ToM development age

4-5 years

Resutls of study 2 mayer and trauble

Age was not significant predictor for false belief understanding this time Second binary logistic calculatied using only 3-7 yo children. Age did no significantly predict children's performance in study 1 either Improvement in performance with age, but not significant 4-8 not reply above chance level (same as study 1) Wrong answers - 29 point to cup where toy actually was, 5 to third cup Understood test question correctly

Discussion callaghan

Align with findings from European and North American studies as well as the Baka and Tainae one. Universal milestone between 3-5 years. DOn't know whether biological or universal cultural experiences.

What makes later tom

Autism, lower socioeconomic status

Studies suggesting universality

Avis & Harris, Oberle, callaghan et al

Privacy of mind

CUltural groups that do not discuss minds and are more indifferent towards others' private mental states.

Why different developmental trajectory? Different explanations

Callaghan, opacity of mind, interactional aspects, chasiotis et al

Chasiotis et al cameroonian explanation for different developmental trajectory

Cameroonian lower in ToM than German and Costa Rican. Due to culture-specific parenting goals. Cameroonina favour obedient and inhibited behavior of children. Samoan similar. Samoan: parenting goals of strict obedience and mastery of impulse control might lead to less exposure to interacitonal conversational contexts which foster th edevleopment of mentalistic abilities like false belief.

Location callghan

Canada (rural town, middle income, variety of private early education programs), Peru (rural Andean town, socioeconomic levels low compared to Peruvian, but private and public early education common), Samoa (traditional Polynesian agraraian villages governed through chief system, preschools becoming more common but many cared for by extended family, socioeconomic typical, wealth is communal), India (populous city, highly formal and regimented private schools, socioeconomic middle to upper middle class by INdian standards. Attend school from 3 yo), and Thailand (buddhist temple school for disadvantaged children in large Thai city, socioeconomic status low by Thai standards, preschool common but not many target disadvantaged).

Procedure mayer and trauble

Children enter room in pairs. Sit opposite to experimenter in front of table where 3 cups and toy insect are. Ask child 1 to hide toy under 1 cup. Then sent out of room. 2 asked where it was, then suggest playing trick. After hide, ask question. Indicate choice by pointing. Given reward, then go back to class. Child 1 came back, with new child (2). Child 1 not told anything. This time child 3 hid toy, and 1 asked where child 3 look. Everyone was first hider then trick-player.

Wimmer & Perner false belief

Chocolate and doll. Majority of 5 yo correct, all 3yo fail. (European & North American).

Opacity of the mind

Cultural norms surrounding discussing mental states. Claim that one can never know what another is thinking. Therefore the goal of attaining a theory of mind is not applicable or may have a different developmental trajectory. Possible Samoan explanation.

Broesch & Barret et al 2013 false belief

Early false-belief understanding in traditional non-Western societies Large cross cultural society Determine if universal ability developing that you could tap into using implicit false belief measure Methods Spontaneous response task: establish longer looking time in response to sally-anne storybook task. Matched image vs unmatched image Test: looking time at pause. At end, say "Sally is looking for her marble". See which picture look at. If they think she will look in basket, baby look at basket, etc. Look at Salar (China), Shuar (Ecuador), and Fiji Different norms

Why choose samoa?

Early social experience clearly differ from Weestern. Ethnographical work reports different practices of intersubjective understanding.

Barrett et al Understanding Intentions

Examined understanding intentions from motion cues in Ecuador (shuar) and German adults and children. Methods 6 categories of intentional interaction: chasing, fighting, courting, following, guarding, and playing. Watch interactions happening through motion cues (dots). See if people are accurate in identifying intention appropriately.

Lifeway

Explanation of Myer & Trauble. No privacy of mind. Behaviors observed. Less mental state talk. Parents do not infer child's intentions. YOu can always observe what people are doing because of interdependent collectivist society. Home is fallee, no walls. Life style influences child social experiences, influences child's early cognitive development

How has ToM been studied across cultures?T

Explicit ToM task, Implicit theory of mind tasks, adult interviews and experiments, breakdown progression of udnerstanding

Explicit ToM tasks

False belief (sally-ann) tasks. Rely on explicit answer from child. Rely heavily on language ability. Binary pass or fail. Change of location (car is moved you don't see it) Surprise content (smarties box, put crayons instead of smarties)

Procedure callaghan

False belief task involving location. Experimenter hides trinket under one of three bowls, leave room. Ask about behavior. Show child trinket, comment on how its fav toy. Then hide toy before leave. Second experimenter ask to play grame on person. Told to take toy and hide under another bowl. Then asked where experiment 1 will look when she comes back. Indicate choice by pointing.

Future research mayer & trauble

Focus on cultures that have detailed ethnographic research on autochthonous concepts o fmind tso experiment can be interpreted in context of local understanding of mind and thinking. Look at individual differences Influences of formal schooling Interdisciplinary approach Let chidlren show in context of everyday life

Broesch & Barrett et al 2013 false belief results

Found very similar results across three environments w/ young children looking longer at target item (matched image) Suggest that theory of mind is impermeable in early ages (using these particular methods) to cultural influences.

Central america (pacific islands) opinion on mindreading

Impossible or very difficult to know what others think or feel. Doctrine of the opacity of other minds. Should rethink tom framework.

Naito and Koyama cross cultural differences

Japanese false belief. Report late and prolonged development, and general cultural difference in reasoning about human action. Unexpected transfer task, unexpected contents, and unexpected identity. Did no adapt materials, but translated carefully. Full false belief 6-7 years. Reason: different emphases on attribution - attribute behavior to contextual and interpersonal causes and focus on social rules, not emphasizing internal mental states.

Vinden show cross cultural differences

Junin Quechua children 4-8 years in Peruvian highlands. Surprising objects tasks, deceptive container task, change of location task. Performed poorly on questions testing understanding of false belief and representational change. Even though ensure appropriate materials. Reason: relative absence of explicit mental state vocabulary among Junin Quechua as potentially mediating factor.

Dixson et al 2018 vanuatu results

Location false belief test: urban vs rural vanuatu and australia. Australian children: 50% at ¾ years, up to 100% by 5 years Urban vanuatu: gradual trend increasing from 4-9 years Rural vanuatu: not passing test, less than 50% throughout ages, even up to 13/14.

Results callaghan

Majority of 3yo fail in all settings, majority of 5yo passed except in Samoa. Samoa, most 4yo failed, but other it was even split. Shift from failure to success in 3-5.

Studies suggesting cross cultural differences

Naito & Koyama, Vinden, Liu et al (kind of)

Is tom same in all cultures

No, same starting point but may realize it differently later.

Mayer & Trauble hypothesses

ON TIME: If universal, children may improve significantly between 3-5 years. If sensitive to socio-cultural factors then LATER opacity of the mind therefore later ToM EARLIER multiple children playing together (possible sibling effect) = earlier ToM

Mayer and trauble general conclusion

Performance increased (study 1) by 8 years of age Much later than Western studies 12-14 yrs, only 68% pass

Mayer and trauble general restuls

Samoan children improve gradually and slowly, with no succeeding majority before 8 yeras of age. ⅓ of 10-13yo still fail. Study 2 used different translation, but same results. Support cultura variability of tom development.

Interactional aspects expanation for different developmental trajectory

Samoan maybe more focused on itneractional aspects with experimenter or less familiar with testing situations in general.

Dixson et al 1018 vanuatu explanation

Simplistic: methodological. Flaws or misinterpretation of test - what do you expect me to do on task. Complex: cultural differences in lifestyles. Results of cultural differences regarding how we construe others mind, how important it is, social norms around talking about others states. NOT deficit.

General discussion mayer & trauble

Study 1 No significant difference between performance of 3yo and 5yo Samoan children. Improve slowly and gradually ⅓ of 10-12 failed Age significantly predicted performance Study 2 Partially confirmed findings, children didn't reply above chance, improve gradually

Callaghan et al general summary

Synchrony in onset of mental state understanding across diverse societies Peru, India, Canada, Samoa, Thailand Explicit false belief task, children 3, 4, and 5 years. Typically pass at 5 years, fail at 3 years - similar to Western/Urban Conclusion: despite differences in early social environment, by 5 years will pass, can hold belief that is false and different than their own and reality. Samoa: still 5 children not passing. Why Myer and Trouble wanted to study.

THeory of Mind

THe ability to attribute mental states to the self and others. The ability to know that others can have mental states that are different from your own. Knowledge, beliefs, desires, intentions, emotions. 'Mindread'.

Study 2 mayer and trauble

Tested same but using different and slightly easier translation Sometimes s'ue can mean to find. In this translation, purpose of finding toy might not as clear First tested on German children, results same Participants: 55 Samoan kids, 4-8yo Procedure: Similar. Ask "which will they touch first" Analysis: binary logistic regression analyses. Then chi-square and binomial.

Dixson et al 1018 tom vauatu

Theory of mind in small scale society in Vanuatu How theory of mind emerges between 3-14 years. Use battery of tests to examine socio and cultural influences on theory of mind

What does callaghan study do

Use single procedure to measure false-belief understanding in Canada, India, Peru, Samoa, and Thailand. Found synchrony in onset, 5 years old.

Task mayer and trauble

Variation of false belief. Original Task: Experimenter hide trinket under a bowl (3 bowls there) and leaves. Second experimenter suggests playing trick by hiding trinket under another. Change location, kid asked where experimenter 1 looks for toy when coming back. Point. Variation: wooden toy and three white cups instead. Think about belief of another child rather than adult experimenter. Pairs of children know each other, easier, less afraid, might suspect adult knows more.

Vindenc adaptation of avis and harris

Western children, Mofu schooled children, Tolai schooled children, and Tainae nonschooled children. All passed task by 6-7 years. Hard to assess trajectory because few younger than 6 and task involved additional questions about thoughts and feelings that may have made difficult. 6 children in youngest age category from most remote passed the false belief.

Results mayer and taruble

age was predictors for false belief understanding. Increasing age, more likely, but increases slowly and gradually. Regional provenance not predictor for performance No relevantimiprovmeent in false belief between 3-5 years. 5 yo not better than younger, no succeeding majority before 8 yeras old Only children 8 yo and older get righ above chance Difference between 7 & 8 yo not significant Different from Western samples, even in older

Barren cohen suggestions ToM cause

biological. Autism fail.

Callaghan resutls vs mayer & trauble

contrasting. Their study, only 13/18 5yo passed test. Maybe theirs didn't show false believe is synchronously.

Deaf children false belief

delayed even into teen years. Particular to late signers and whose parents aren't deaf. Issue: maybe this is experience not biological. Schooling? But one study dint' find effect. Maybe school just eifnes. Conversion? Brings mental views to light and vocab necessary to transaction of mental states. All children except deaf children who do not sign are exposed to conversation. Maybe you need experience hearing and participating in conversations where mental states shared.

Callaghan argue

discrepancy of 2 years can be observed in age of onset when comparing artificial experiment with natural setting.

Wellman et al organize 500 studies false belief

improvement in 3-5 yo confirmed across different procedures and countries. Synchrony in onset of false belief understanding.

Mayer & Trauble purpose

investigate development of false belief understanding in Samoa. Use change of location task.

Liu et al soem cross cultural differences

meta-analysis. Parallel developmental trajectories but substantially different timetables.Canadian children above chance 38 months, Hong Kong 64 months. Task variations had mostly no significant influence on performance.

Avis and harris preliteratre children cameroon

more culturally natural version. CHildren passed at age comparable to European and North American. Engage in what seemed to be real situation of deception. Meal, hid meal. May have made reasoning easier because real situation.

Sibling effect

observation that children who grow up in an environment with more siblings around develop theory of mind skills earlier than throws grow up alone.

Future research callaghan

other developmental universals. Age at which children first understand distinction between real and apparent emotion?

Avis and harris suggesting universality

preliterate Baka children in southeast Cameroon passed at age comparable to in European and North american. Change in location paradigm, but altered to match local. Cooking kernels. 5-6yo answer correctly. Used culturally appropriate materials.

Callaghan explanation for different developmental trajectory

prequire certain level of experience listening to and participating in conversion in which mental states are shared.

Vinden third study

schooled and nonschooled Mofu children on battery of theory of mind questions. Schooling didn't influence performance on false belief, but schooled did better on battery of questions. Maybe bilingualism, because schooling had immersion.

What makes earlier tom

siblings, more pretend role play, parents talk about mental states more. However, not much earlier.

OBerle suggesting universality

surprise-content task in Micronesia. 3yo didn't show false belief, 5yo did.Culturally adjusted research materials (chewing gum box w/ betelnut and hand puppet).

Vinden Quechua speaking in peru

use false belief location pus others. Conducted by native collaborator known to children, and meaningful translation, but children perform poorly on all. Either don't understand false belief by age 8 or task didn't translate to culture.