scholarly journals Agreeableness is related to social‐cognitive, but not social‐perceptual, theory of mind

2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Nettle ◽  
Bethany Liddle
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Personality Dimension ◽  
Perceptual Theory

We hypothesise on a number of grounds that the personality dimension of Agreeableness may be associated with inter‐individual differences in theory of mind (ToM) functioning. However, it is important to distinguish social‐perceptual from social‐cognitive ToM. Previous findings on ToM in psychopathic individuals, sex differences in ToM and the associations between ToM and social relationships, all suggest that social‐cognitive ToM is more likely than social‐perceptual ToM to relate to Agreeableness. In separate empirical studies, we find that Agreeableness is substantially correlated with social‐cognitive ToM performance, but uncorrelated with social‐perceptual ToM performance. We suggest that the propensity or motivation to attend to the mental states of others may be central to the personality dimension of Agreeableness. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

scholarly journals Neural correlates of theory-of-mind are associated with variation in children’s everyday social cognition

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 579-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cora E Mukerji ◽  
Sarah Hope Lincoln ◽  
David Dodell-Feder ◽  
Charles A Nelson ◽  
Christine I Hooker
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Mental States ◽  
False Belief ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Cognitive Behavior ◽  
School Age ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
False Belief Reasoning

ABSTRACT Theory of mind (ToM), the capacity to reason about others’ mental states, is central to healthy social development. Neural mechanisms supporting ToM may contribute to individual differences in children’s social cognitive behavior. Employing a false belief functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm, we identified patterns of neural activity and connectivity elicited by ToM reasoning in school-age children (N = 32, ages 9–13). Next, we tested relations between these neural ToM correlates and children’s everyday social cognition. Several key nodes of the neural ToM network showed greater activity when reasoning about false beliefs (ToM condition) vs non-mentalistic false content (control condition), including the bilateral temporoparietal junction (RTPJ and LTPJ), precuneus (PC) and right superior temporal sulcus. In addition, children demonstrated task-modulated changes in connectivity among these regions to support ToM relative to the control condition. ToM-related activity in the PC was negatively associated with variation in multiple aspects of children’s social cognitive behavior. Together, these findings elucidate how nodes of the ToM network act and interact to support false belief reasoning in school-age children and suggest that neural ToM mechanisms are linked to variation in everyday social cognition.

Animation, Theory of Mind and Humanoid Robots: Creating a Social Robot Video Task

Leonardo ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Ziggy O’Reilly ◽  
David Silvera-Tawil ◽  
Ionat Zurr ◽  
Diana Tan
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Social Robot ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Robot Assisted

Abstract Theory of Mind (ToM) —a social cognitive ability commonly under-developed in autistic individuals— is necessary to attribute mental states to oneself and others. Research into robot-assisted interventions to improve ToM ability in autistic children has become increasingly popular. However, no appropriate task currently exists to measure the degree of efficacy of robot-assisted interventions targeting ToM ability. In this paper, the authors demonstrate how animation techniques and principles can be leveraged to develop and produce videos of humanoid robots interacting, which could selectively measure ToM.

Theory of Mind, Excessive Reassurance-Seeking, and Stress Generation in Depression: A Social-Cognitive-Interpersonal Integration

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 725-750
Author(s):  
Chloe C. Hudson ◽  
Amanda L. Shamblaw ◽  
Gillian A. Wilson ◽  
Meighen M. Roes ◽  
Mark A. Sabbagh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Stress Generation ◽  
Reassurance Seeking ◽  
Lower Accuracy ◽  
Depressed Group ◽  
Excessive Reassurance Seeking ◽  
Interpersonal Model

Introduction: According to the interpersonal model of depression, individuals with depression engage in excessive reassurance-seeking (ERS) about others’ beliefs regarding their self-worth, which can ultimately result in interpersonal rejection. We present the novel hypothesis that maladaptive ERS behaviors in depression may be driven by difficulties with “theory of mind”—the foundational ability to decode and reason about others’ mental states. Method: Participants included 31 young adults in a current episode of a unipolar depressive disorder, and 91 never-depressed adults. Theory of mind was assessed with standard, objective laboratory tasks. Stressful life events were assessed with a gold-standard contextual interview and independent rating system. Results: Consistent with hypotheses, in the depressed group only, lower accuracy of theory of mind decoding was associated with greater ERS, which was significantly associated with exposure to greater interpersonal, but not non-interpersonal, stress. Surprisingly, higher accuracy of theory of mind reasoning was associated with greater ERS. Discussion: The intriguing dissociation is discussed in terms of expanding the interpersonal model of depression to include the foundational social cognitive processes that underlie effective social communication.

A social-cognitive model of human behavior offers a more parsimonious account of emotional expressivity

2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 407-408
Author(s):  
Vivian Zayas ◽  
Joshua A. Tabak ◽  
Gül Günaydýn ◽  
Jeanne M. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Relational Theory ◽  
Emotional Expressivity ◽  
Evolutionary Time ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Social Cognitive Model ◽  
Social Cognitive Models

AbstractAccording to socio-relational theory, men and women encountered different ecologies in their evolutionary past, and, as a result of different ancestral selection pressures, they developed different patterns of emotional expressivity that have persisted across cultures and large human evolutionary time scales. We question these assumptions, and propose that social-cognitive models of individual differences more parsimoniously account for sex differences in emotional expressivity.

Basic Values and the Dark Triad Traits

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 220-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter K. Jonason ◽  
Joshua D. Foster ◽  
Phillip S. Kavanagh ◽  
Valdiney V. Gouveia ◽  
Béla Birkás
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Life History ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Dark Triad ◽  
Normative Values ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Abstract Ideas

Abstract. In samples from America, Brazil, and Hungary (N = 937), we examined the associations between the Dark Triad traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) and individual differences in excitement (i.e., valuing personal enjoyment), promotion (i.e., valuing achievements), existence (i.e., valuing physical survival), suprapersonal (i.e., valuing abstract ideas), interactive (i.e., valuing social relationships), and normative (i.e., valuing cultural norms) values. The traits were associated with the values of excitement and promotion, psychopathy was associated with a diminished emphasis on existence, psychopathy and Machiavellianism were associated with limited interactive or normative values, whereas narcissism was associated with a greater emphasis on suprapersonal, interactive, and normative values. We also found that sex differences in psychopathy were mediated by individual differences in the existence and normative values. Results are discussed from a life history framework.

scholarly journals Individual differences in the development of early peer aggression: Integrating contributions of self-regulation, theory of mind, and parenting

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 253-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheryl L. Olson ◽  
Nestor Lopez-Duran ◽  
Erika S. Lunkenheimer ◽  
Hyein Chang ◽  
Arnold J. Sameroff
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Corporal Punishment ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Peer Interactions ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Preschool Age ◽  
Peer Aggression ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal Study ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal

AbstractThis prospective longitudinal study focused on self-regulatory, social–cognitive, and parenting precursors of individual differences in children's peer-directed aggression at early school age. Participants were 199 3-year-old boys and girls who were reassessed following the transition to kindergarten (5.5–6 years). Peer aggression was assessed in preschool and school settings using naturalistic observations and teacher reports. Children's self-regulation abilities and theory of mind understanding were assessed during a laboratory visit, and parenting risk (corporal punishment and low warmth/responsiveness) was assessed using interview-based and questionnaire measures. Individual differences in children's peer aggression were moderately stable across the preschool to school transition. Preschool-age children who manifested high levels of aggressive peer interactions also showed lower levels of self-regulation and theory of mind understanding, and experienced higher levels of adverse parenting than others. Our main finding was that early corporal punishment was associated with increased levels of peer aggression across the transition from preschool to school, as was the interaction between low maternal emotional support and children's early delays in theory of mind understanding. These data highlight the need for family-directed preventive efforts during the early preschool years.

Mind Reading in Films Task to Assess Social Cognitive Deficits in Autism Spectrum Conditions

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-100
Author(s):  
Soraya TAHAZADEH ◽  
Usha BARAHMAND ◽  
Fereshteh YAGHOOTI ◽  
Mohamad Ali NAZARI
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
High Functioning Autism ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Autism Spectrum Conditions ◽  
Mind Reading ◽  
Eyes Task

"Background and Objectives. Various tasks with a variety of stimuli have been devised to measure aspects of theory of mind. In the present study, with due consideration of Iranian culture, we introduce a sensitive video-based test, called Mind Reading in Films Task (Films Task), for the evaluation of complex emotions and mental states. This new social ecological task for mindreading comprises several short film scenes, some measuring cognitive theory of mind and some measuring affective theory of mind. Method. This study included two experiments. In experiment 1, the validity of the newly devised Films Task was investigated by comparing the responses of 342 students to the Films Task and to the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (Eyes Test). In experiment 2, the predictive power and sensitivity of the Films Task was assessed. Twenty adults with high functioning autism spectrum conditions (ASC) were compared with 20 matched healthy controls in terms of their responses to the Eyes Task, Films Task and Empathy Quotient questionnaire. The ROC curve was used to determine the best cut-off point and the diagnostic value. Results. Our findings substantiate the discriminative capacity of the Films Task to distinguish individuals with autism spectrum conditions from their healthy non-clinical counterparts. Limitations: Intelligence and comorbid psychiatric conditions were not controlled, limiting the utility of the measure. Conclusions. Results imply the potential utility of the Films Task as a viable alternative to the Eyes Task in measuring individual differences in social cognitive ability in the general population."

Individual Differences in Theory of Mind Predict Inequity Aversion in Children

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-571
Author(s):  
Lily Tsoi ◽  
Katherine McAuliffe
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Inequity Aversion ◽  
Parent Ratings ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Developmental Shift ◽  
Fairness Norms

Early in human development, children react negatively to receiving less than others, and only later do they show a similar aversion to receiving more. We tested whether theory of mind (ToM) can account for this developmental shift we see in middle childhood. We conducted a face-to-face fairness task that involved a ToM manipulation, measured individual differences in ToM, and collected parent-ratings of children’s empathy, a construct related to ToM. We find that greater ToM capacities lead to more rejections of unequal offers, regardless of the direction of inequality, demonstrating that children with greater ToM are more likely to engage in costly compliance with fairness norms. Moreover, drawing attention to mental states sufficiently elicits aversion to advantageous inequity in younger children. These findings contribute to our growing understanding that people’s concerns for fairness rely not just on their own thoughts and beliefs but on the thoughts, beliefs, and expectations of others.

scholarly journals Attachment and reflective function: Their role in self-organization

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 679-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER FONAGY ◽  
MARY TARGET
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Intentional Stance ◽  
Reflective Function ◽  
Self Development ◽  
The Relationship

The paper traces the relationship between attachment processes and the development of the capacity to envision mental states in self and others. We suggest that the ability to mentalize, to represent behavior in terms of mental states, or to have “a theory of mind” is a key determinant of self-organization which is acquired in the context of the child's early social relationships. Evidence for an association between the quality of attachment relationship and reflective function in the parent and the child is reviewed and interpreted in the context of current models of theory of mind development. A model of the development of self-organization is proposed which has at its core the caregiver's ability to communicate understanding of the child's intentional stance. The implications of the model for pathological self-development are explored, with specific reference to the consequences of maltreatment.

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