Is only seeing really believing?: Sources of the true belief in the false belief task

Abstract Background and Objective Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability that can be attributed to mental status beliefs, intents, emotions, proficiency, etc., to oneself and to others, and the understanding that others also have intentions, conceptions, desires, and perspectives that are different from one’s own. Daily social life depends on the ability to evaluate the behavior of other people on the basis of their mental state such as their beliefs, intentions, compassions, and goals. This study was conducted to explore the ToM abilities in preschoolers. Methods A total of 36 preschoolers participated in the study. Two stories were narrated to the children, the classic Sally-Anne Task and the Smarty’s Task. In both the tasks, the responses of the children were scored as either true belief or false belief. Results The results of the present study revealed mixed responses among the preschoolers. It was found that 3- to 4-year-old children had more false beliefs for both the tasks when compared with 4- to 5-year-old. Conclusion This study highlights the importance of ToM abilities in typically growing children and other clinical population. It can be concluded that the ToM abilities were improved in typically developing children. Future studies are required to explore the higher levels of embedding of ToM, and also to incorporate it in the clinical population.

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Reading and Theory of Mind in Adolescents with Cochlear Implant

The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education ◽

10.1093/deafed/enz046 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

pp. 212-223

Author(s):

Mario Figueroa ◽

Sònia Darbra ◽

Núria Silvestre

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Cochlear Implant ◽

Cochlear Implants ◽

Group Performance ◽

False Belief ◽

False Belief Task

Abstract Previous research has shown a possible link between reading comprehension and theory of mind (ToM), but these findings are unclear in adolescents with cochlear implants (CI). In the present study, reading comprehension and ToM were assessed in adolescents with CI and the relation between both skills was also studied. Two sessions were performed on two groups of adolescents aged between 12 and 16 years of age (36 adolescents with CI and 54 participants with typical hearing, TH). They were evaluated by means of a standardized reading battery, a false belief task, and Faux Pas stories. The results indicated that reading and cognitive ToM were more developed in the TH group than in adolescents with CI. However, early-CI and binaural group performance were close to the TH group in narrative and expository comprehension and cognitive ToM. The results also indicated that cognitive ToM and reading comprehension appear to be related in deaf adolescents.

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Spontaneous attribution of false beliefs in adults examined using a signal detection approach

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1177/1747021819884677 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 73 (4) ◽

pp. 555-567

Author(s):

Tian Ye ◽

Stephen M Fleming ◽

Antonia FDC Hamilton

Keyword(s):

Social Interaction ◽

Reaction Time ◽

Bayesian Analysis ◽

Signal Detection ◽

Signal Detection Theory ◽

False Belief ◽

Perceptual Sensitivity ◽

False Belief Task ◽

Detection Approach ◽

Classical Statistics

Understanding other people have beliefs different from ours or different from reality is critical to social interaction. Previous studies suggest that healthy adults possess an implicit mentalising system, but alternative explanations for data from reaction time false belief tasks have also been given. In this study, we combined signal detection theory (SDT) with a false belief task. As application of SDT allows us to separate perceptual sensitivity from criteria, we are able to investigate how another person’s beliefs change the participant’s perception of near-threshold stimuli. Participants ( n = 55) watched four different videos in which an actor saw (or did not see) a Gabor cube hidden (or not hidden) behind an occluder. At the end of each video, the occluder vanished revealing a cube either with or without Gabor pattern, and participants needed to report whether they saw the Gabor pattern or not. A pre-registered analysis with classical statistics weakly suggests an effect of the actor’s belief on participant’s perceptions. An exploratory Bayesian analysis supports the idea that when the actor believed the cube was present, participants made slower and more liberal judgements. Although these data are not definitive, these current results indicate the value of new measures for understanding implicit false belief processing.

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4. The analysis of knowledge

10.1093/actrade/9780199661268.003.0004 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Jennifer Nagel

Keyword(s):

True Belief ◽

Causal Theory ◽

False Belief ◽

Theory Of Knowledge ◽

Classical Analysis ◽

Alvin Goldman ◽

The Relationship ◽

Analysis Of Knowledge

‘The analysis of knowledge’ begins with Edmund Gettier who challenged the ‘classical analysis of knowledge’ that equates knowledge with justified true belief. His no-false-belief proposal had some flaws. Alvin Goldman then proposed the causal theory of knowledge: experience-based knowledge that requires the knower to be appropriately causally connected to a fact. Goldman went on to launch a fresh analysis of knowledge, focused on reliability. Reliabilism is when knowledge is true belief that is produced by a mechanism likely to produce true belief. But can knowing be analysed at all? The relationship between knowing and believing is considered in the knowledge-first and belief-first movements of epistemology.

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Temporo-parietal Junction Activity in Theory-of-Mind Tasks: Falseness, Beliefs, or Attention

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2009.21082 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 21 (6) ◽

pp. 1179-1192 ◽

Cited By ~ 110

Author(s):

Markus Aichhorn ◽

Josef Perner ◽

Benjamin Weiss ◽

Martin Kronbichler ◽

Wolfgang Staffen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Theory Of Mind ◽

True Belief ◽

Relevant Information ◽

False Belief ◽

Test Question ◽

Teleological Reasoning ◽

On Demand ◽

Lack Of Information ◽

Left And Right ◽

The Right

By combining the false belief (FB) and photo (PH) vignettes to identify theory-of-mind areas with the false sign (FS) vignettes, we re-establish the functional asymmetry between the left and right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ). The right TPJ (TPJ-R) is specially sensitive to processing belief information, whereas the left TPJ (TPJ-L) is equally responsible for FBs as well as FSs. Measuring BOLD at two time points in each vignette, at the time the FB-inducing information (or lack of information) is presented and at the time the test question is processed, made clear that the FB is processed spontaneously as soon as the relevant information is presented and not on demand for answering the question in contrast to extant behavioral data. Finally, a fourth, true belief vignette (TB) required teleological reasoning, that is, prediction of a rational action without any doubts being raised about the adequacy of the actor's information about reality. Activation by this vignette supported claims that the TPJ-R is activated by TBs as well as FBs.

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