What is theory of mind?

by Josh Clark
Source: Clark, Josh. What is theory of mind? 05 April 2011. HowStuffWorks.com.
<http://people.howstuffworks.com/theory-of-mind.htm>

Back when you were a child of 2 or so, you were virtually mindless, at least compared to how you
are now. In the first few years of life, your primary focus was you: you wanted food, comfort, a
colorful toy and you were willing to cry very loudly to get it. In return, you offered nothing but
potential quiet. You were egocentric. You can hardly be blamed for this, however; you hadnt
developed to a point where you could look past your own needs.
Then, at about age 3 or 4 if youre neurotypical, meaning your mental development was
comparatively normal you underwent what seemed like a magical transformation. You became a
genius at mind reading. You suddenly were capable of looking past yourself and taking into account
others wants, needs, knowledge and mental states. You had developed what is called folk
psychology, an ability to think of the mind states of others. Some researchers think that you are able
to pull off this nifty trick through theory of mind. To recap: folk psychology is our ability to make
predictions about whats on others minds, and theory of mind is one explanation for how we
carry out that ability.
Youll note that theory of mind is missing a the ahead of it. In fact, in academic circles its often
referred to as the theory-theory. Thats because this term doesnt refer to a theory on the mind. It
refers to how we develop theories about other peoples minds -- what they may be thinking, how
they may be feeling, what they may do next. We make these assumptions easily, without even
recognizing that we are doing something fundamentally amazing: We are making predictions about
what is going on in other peoples heads and, even more amazingly, these predictions often prove
correct.
Consider this. Lets say youre on your way to get a book from the bookcase in the living room and
you enter a room where a loved one is seated with her chin to her chest, not engaged in any visible
activity. You may rightly believe that this loved one is sad and stop to ask whats wrong. But what
forms the basis of this belief? What is it about sitting quietly and alone, with ones head down, that
suggests sadness? More importantly, what is the point of not only being able to broadcast this
sadness to others, but for them to be able to receive this transmission and stop what they are doing
to see whats the matter? The answers to those questions probably lie in the evolutionary benefits
folk psychology could bestow.
Evolution and Folk Psychology
The concept of theory of mind has its roots in evolutionary biology. The term was first coined in a
1978 paper by primate researchers who concluded that higher apes like chimpanzees couldnt
understand the mental states that lead to action on others parts, though later research has found that
they likely can.
So what is the evolutionary benefit of theory of mind? As communications Professor Francis F.
Steen describes it, by considering others motives to predict their actions, an animal can determine
whether a predator is moving toward it to attack and eat the animal. Conversely, when it appears the

predator is too hot to move on a particularly warm day, such a mechanism allows the animal
which is likely hot, too to rest easy as well and not expend any unnecessary energy running away
from a predator that has no interest in pursuing it. Anyone who has seen footage of a lion and a
gazelle lying down, panting and watching one another only yards apart has seen this mechanism in
action.
But comparing a gazelles ability to predict whether a lion is in a mood to attack with human folk
psychology is slightly off base. Cognitive researchers dont necessarily believe that animals like
gazelles and lions possess theory of mind. They consider only humans and most likely higher apes
in possession of this far more advanced intellectual analysis. More to the point, if youve ever
looked at a lion and considered that it looked happy or that it wished it were free, youve just
proven yourself capable of the kind of higher order thinking that theory of mind is based on.
In fact, the example using the gazelle is a rival to theory of mind as an explanation for how humans
carry out folk psychology. This animalian concept, called mental simulation, says that we predict
others goals and actions based on creating mental constructs of what we would do if we were in
their shoes. We use our past experiences to create a mental model of the situation, essentially using
our brains processing power to analyze the available data and then make our prediction.
What differentiates theory of mind from simulation and other explanations for how we arrive at our
ability to carry out folk psychology is fairly nuanced. Theory of mind says that we practise folk
psychology by forming ideas about what other people believe at any given moment. And recent
findings in autism research have lent support to the theory-theory.
Autism and Theory of Mind
Theory of mind stands apart from other theories that seek to explain how we can attribute mental
states to those we deem as others. Specifically, it states that at some point around age 3 or 4, we
become aware that other people hold different attitudes, beliefs and knowledge than we do. It
becomes apparent to our minds that knowledge can be compartmentalized (we may know
something someone else doesnt and vice versa). We realize that there is such a thing as pretense
(the ability to create falsehoods). And we realize that other people may feel differently than us,
meaning we do not all share the same mental and emotional states and beliefs simultaneously. This
is the first, huge step toward metacognition, or thinking about thinking.
The skills associated with theory of mind dont emerge in all humans. People on the autism
spectrum have long been observed to have mindblindness, characterized as an inability to consider
others points of view, wants, needs and desires. This has often been linked to a lack of empathy,
although that idea has come under fire in recent years. Instead, researchers have come to believe
that people with autism lack theory of mind skills.
To test this, researchers have given autistic children false-belief tests. These tests go something like
this:Sally is playing with her ball in her room. She gets up to go to the kitchen for a while and
places the ball in her top dresser drawer. While shes gone, her mother comes in Sallys room
and moves the ball from the dresser drawer to the toy box. When Sally comes back from the
kitchen, where will she look for her ball?
A neurotypical child would correctly guess that Sally would look in the drawer for her ball, since
thats where she left it. This answer shows a child has developed an awareness that others may not

have knowledge she has, a hallmark of theory of mind. Although that child knows Sallys mother
moved the ball, Sally doesnt. Children with autism generally tend to answer that Sally will look in
the toy box, which is where they know the ball has been moved.
Autistic children are even more prone to fail second-order false belief tests. These elaborate on the
Sally test, where children are asked what they think a second character thinks about another
character; for example, what John thinks Todd knows is in his lunch box.
Theory of mind is an interesting concept. Perhaps further study of autism itself will yield more
answers to how we arrive at that amazing state of being able to think about others.
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