The Situational Mental File Account of the False Belief Tasks: A New Solution of the Paradox of False Belief Understanding

Albert Newen; Julia Wolf

doi:10.1007/s13164-020-00466-w

The Situational Mental File Account of the False Belief Tasks: A New Solution of the Paradox of False Belief Understanding

Review of Philosophy and Psychology ◽

10.1007/s13164-020-00466-w ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 717-744 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Albert Newen ◽

Julia Wolf

Keyword(s):

False Belief ◽

Cognitive Factors ◽

False Belief Task ◽

Mental File ◽

Mental Files ◽

False Belief Understanding ◽

Helping Behaviour ◽

Three Stages ◽

The Common

AbstractHow can we solve the paradox of false-belief understanding: if infants pass the implicit false belief task (FBT) by nonverbal behavioural responses why do they nonetheless typically fail the explicit FBT till they are 4 years old? Starting with the divide between situational and cognitive accounts of the development of false-belief understanding, we argue that we need to consider both situational and internal cognitive factors together and describe their interaction to adequately explain the development of children’s Theory of Mind (ToM) ability. We then argue that a further challenge is raised for existing accounts by helping behaviour versions of the FBT. We argue that the common two-stage accounts are inadequate: we need to allow for three central stages in a continuous development. Furthermore, drawing on Perner et al.’s (Cognition 145: 77–88, 2015) and Perner and Leahy’s (Review of Philosophy and Psychology 7 (2): 491–508, 2016) recent mental files account, we provide a new account of the development of these three stages of ToM ability by describing the changes of the structure and organisation of mental files including the systematic triggering role of types of situations. Thereby we aim to establish a situational mental file (SMF) account as a new and adequate solution to the paradox of false-belief understanding.

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The Role of Strategic Planning in Accessing False-Belief Understanding

Child Development ◽

10.2307/1131761 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 67 (6) ◽

pp. 2948 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Suzanne Hala ◽

Michael Chandler

Keyword(s):

Strategic Planning ◽

False Belief ◽

False Belief Understanding

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Do bilingual and monolingual preschoolers acquire false belief understanding similarly? The role of executive functioning and language

First Language ◽

10.1177/0142723717752741 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 38 (4) ◽

pp. 382-398 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Vanessa Diaz ◽

M. Jeffrey Farrar

Keyword(s):

Executive Functioning ◽

Inhibitory Control ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Language Ability ◽

False Belief ◽

Bilingual Children ◽

Short Term ◽

False Belief Understanding

Bilingual children often show advanced executive functioning (EF) and false belief (FB) understanding compared to monolinguals. The latter has been attributed to their enhanced inhibitory control EF, although this has only been examined in a single study which did not confirm this hypothesis. The current study examined the relation of EF and language proficiency on FB reasoning in bilingual and monolingual preschoolers to answer two questions: (1) Are there differences in bilinguals’ and monolinguals’ FB, language proficiency, and EF? If so, (2) is there a differential role for language proficiency and EF in predicting FB reasoning in these two groups? Thirty-two Spanish–English bilinguals and 33 English monolinguals (three to five years old) were compared. While monolinguals outperformed bilinguals on language proficiency, after controlling for this, bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on FB reasoning, and marginally on EF. General language ability was related to FB performance in both groups, while short-term memory and inhibitory control predicted FB only for monolinguals.

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Let’s do it together! The role of interaction in false belief understanding

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology ◽

10.1016/j.jecp.2018.07.018 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 177 ◽

pp. 141-151 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Marta Białecka-Pikul ◽

Magdalena Kosno ◽

Arkadiusz Białek ◽

Marta Szpak

Keyword(s):

False Belief ◽

False Belief Understanding

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Two-and-a-half-year-olds succeed at a traditional false-belief task with reduced processing demands

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1609203113 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 113 (47) ◽

pp. 13360-13365 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Peipei Setoh ◽

Rose M. Scott ◽

Renée Baillargeon

Keyword(s):

Young Children ◽

False Belief ◽

Generation Process ◽

Limited Information ◽

False Belief Task ◽

Concurrent Processing ◽

False Belief Understanding ◽

Processing Demands ◽

Practice Trials ◽

False Belief Tasks

When tested with traditional false-belief tasks, which require answering a standard question about the likely behavior of an agent with a false belief, children perform below chance until age 4 y or later. When tested without such questions, however, children give evidence of false-belief understanding much earlier. Are traditional tasks difficult because they tap a more advanced form of false-belief understanding (fundamental-change view) or because they impose greater processing demands (processing-demands view)? Evidence that young children succeed at traditional false-belief tasks when processing demands are reduced would support the latter view. In prior research, reductions in inhibitory-control demands led to improvements in young children’s performance, but often only to chance (instead of below-chance) levels. Here we examined whether further reductions in processing demands might lead to success. We speculated that: (i) young children could respond randomly in a traditional low-inhibition task because their limited information-processing resources are overwhelmed by the total concurrent processing demands in the task; and (ii) these demands include those from the response-generation process activated by the standard question. This analysis suggested that 2.5-y-old toddlers might succeed at a traditional low-inhibition task if response-generation demands were also reduced via practice trials. As predicted, toddlers performed above chance following two response-generation practice trials; toddlers failed when these trials either were rendered less effective or were used in a high-inhibition task. These results support the processing-demands view: Even toddlers succeed at a traditional false-belief task when overall processing demands are reduced.

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The Role of Age and Oral Lexical Competence in False Belief Understanding by Children and Adolescents With Hearing Loss

The Volta Review ◽

10.17955/tvr.107.2.584 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 107 (2) ◽

pp. 123-139 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Antonia González ◽

Inmaculada Quintana ◽

Carmen Barajas ◽

María José Linero

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

False Belief ◽

False Belief Understanding ◽

Lexical Competence

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Peran LSM ‘Konservasi Kima Toli-Toli – Labengki’ Untuk Kelestarian Kima Sebagai Pelindung Ekosistem Laut

Resolusi: Jurnal Sosial Politik ◽

10.32699/resolusi.v3i2.1489 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Dian Trianita Lestari ◽

Iriyani Astuti Arief ◽

Shinta Arjunita Saputri

Keyword(s):

Common Good ◽

Qualitative Method ◽

Giant Clam ◽

Literature Study ◽

Giant Clams ◽

Three Stages ◽

The Common ◽

National Governments ◽

The Village

This study aims to determine and describe the role of Toli-Toli-Labengki Giant Clam Conservation for the giant clams’ sustainability in Toli-Toli Village, Lalonggasumeeto District. This study uses a qualitative method by applying Green Thought and International Organizations theory to see the role of NGOs in the restoration of giant clam habitat areas. Meanwhile, the data collection techniques used was interviews, literature study and documentation with data analysis techniques consisting of three stages, namely data reduction, data presentation and drawing conclusions. The results showed that the NGO Toli-Toli – Labengki Giant Clam Conservation played a role as: an independent actor who acts as an international organization and is not merely implementing the interests of the organization or its members, but for the common good; because for negotiations and produce mutually beneficial decisions by educating residents about the importance of giant clam for the sustainability of the coastal ecosystem of Toli-Toli Village so that in the end the community also get benefit; and instruments for collaborating with NGO Naturevolution to reduce plastic waste on the coastal area of the village to Labengki island. Considering the benefits of giant clams to marine ecosystems and the giant clams cultivation requires quite a lot of funds, this NGO should get more attention and support from both local and national governments.

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The relationship of counterfactual reasoning and false belief understanding: the role of prediction and explanation tasks

Psicológica Journal ◽

10.2478/psicolj-2020-0007 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 127-161

Author(s):

Antonio Contreras ◽

Juan Antonio García-Madruga

Keyword(s):

False Belief ◽

Theory Theory ◽

Counterfactual Reasoning ◽

False Belief Task ◽

Belief Attribution ◽

Theoretical Approaches ◽

Linguistic Comprehension ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship

AbstractThe relation between the prediction and explanation of the false belief task (FBT) with counterfactual reasoning (CFR) was explored. Fifty eight 3-5 year-olds received a prediction or an explanation FBT, a belief attribution task and some counterfactual questions of increasing difficulty. Linguistic comprehension was also controlled. CFR highly predicted FBT in the explanation version but not in the prediction one. Additionally, results in the explanation version indicate that CFR underlies achievements prior to the understanding of the representational mind and stimulates the explicitness of the mental domain. This study identifies the conditions under which CFR becomes a fundamental cognitive tool for social cognition. The results obtained contribute to the dialog between the two major theoretical approaches: theory-theory and simulation theory.

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Developing Theory of Mind Twenty-Five Years After the Publication of “Z Badań Nad Kompetencją Komunikacyjną Dziecka” (Edited by B. Bokus and M.Haman)

Psychology of Language and Communication ◽

10.2478/plc-2019-0006 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 105-136 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Maciej Haman

Keyword(s):

System Theory ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

False Belief ◽

Current Paper ◽

Research Progress ◽

False Belief Understanding ◽

The Arts

Abstract Twenty-five years ago, a book “Z badań nad kompetencją komunikacyjną dziecka”, edited by Barbara Bokus and Maciej Haman, was issued containing, among else, the first Polish review of the studies on the development of Theory of Mind. During these 25 years, the area developed extensively and a new “state-of-the-arts” paper is necessary. The current paper does not pretend to the role of a complete review, instead it focusses on two live issues in the Theory of Mind (ToM) research progress: early (before the age of four years) competences in false-belief understanding, which leads to the question of continuity versus discontinuity (e.g., “Two-system theory”) between early and later ToM abilities, and neuroimaging studies of Theory-of-Mind, which may also contribute to the continuity debate.

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