Implicit Theory of Mind across the life span – Anticipatory looking data

Recently, Theory of Mind (ToM) research has been revolutionized by new methods. Eye-tracking studies measuring subjects' looking times or anticipatory looking have suggested that implicit and automatic forms of ToM develop much earlier in ontogeny than traditionally assumed and continue to operate outside of subjects’ awareness throughout the lifespan. However, the reliability of these implicit methods has recently been put into question by an increasing number of non-replications. What remains unclear from these accumulating non-replication findings, though, is whether they present true negatives (there is no robust phenomenon of automatic ToM) or false ones (automatic ToM is real but difficult to tap). In order to address these questions, the current study implemented conceptual replications of influential anticipatory looking ToM tasks with a new variation in the stimuli. In two separate preregistered studies, we used increasingly realistic stimuli and controlled for potential confounds. Even with these more realistic stimuli, previous results could not be replicated. Rather, the anticipatory looking pattern found here remained largely compatible with more parsimonious explanations. In conclusion, the reality and robustness of automatic ToM remains controversial.

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Are we less social in noisy environments? No effect of noise on implicit Theory of Mind performance

10.31234/osf.io/jmkfh ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Louisa Kulke ◽

hannes rakoczy

Keyword(s):

Theory Of Mind ◽

Environmental Noise ◽

False Belief ◽

Implicit Theory ◽

Noisy Environments ◽

Testing Environment ◽

Gaze Patterns ◽

Replication Research ◽

Different Levels ◽

Anticipatory Looking

Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to attribute beliefs and desires to others, has been a recent focus of replication research. While some researchers found an implicit form of ToM, which could be measured with different tasks, including anticipatory looking measures, other researchers could not replicate these finding. The testing conditions may play a role for the success of replications. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the effect of a noisy testing environment on results in an anticipatory looking false belief task. The original findings could only be partially replicated, leaving room for alternative explanations. Environmental noise did not significantly affect gaze patterns. Therefore, previous failed replications are unlikely to be related to different levels in environmental noise.

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Implicit Theory of Mind under realistic social circumstances measured with mobile eye-tracking

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-80614-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Louisa Kulke ◽

Max Andreas Bosse Hinrichs

Keyword(s):

Theory Of Mind ◽

Real Life ◽

Social Situation ◽

Implicit Theory ◽

Eye Tracker ◽

Social Situations ◽

Social Stimuli ◽

Gaze Patterns ◽

Robust Evidence ◽

Anticipatory Looking

AbstractRecently, there has been a debate whether implicit Theory of Mind can be reliably measured using anticipatory looking tasks. Previous anticipatory looking paradigms used video stimuli to measure implicit Theory of Mind; however, numerous replications of these paradigms were unsuccessful. This lack of replications may be due to video stimuli not being sufficiently engaging. As Theory of Mind is an inherently social phenomenon, robust evidence might only be observed in a real social situation. Therefore, the current preregistered study aimed to test anticipatory looking with real-life social stimuli. A mobile eye-tracker was used to measure gaze patterns indicative of Theory of Mind while participants observed a real-life interaction of an experimenter and a confederate. The realistic scenario did not provide clear evidence for implicit Theory of Mind. Furthermore, anticipatory looking behavior did not reliably occur during familiarization trials, in line with previous research. However, looking patterns were slightly more in line with belief tracking than in some more controlled studies using video stimuli. In general, implicit Theory of Mind was not reliably reflected in anticipatory looking patterns even if they were measured in realistic social situations. This questions the suitability of anticipatory looking measures for implicit Theory of Mind.

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Is Implicit Theory of Mind a Real and Robust Phenomenon? Results From a Systematic Replication Study

Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0956797617747090 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 29 (6) ◽

pp. 888-900 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Louisa Kulke ◽

Britta von Duhn ◽

Dana Schneider ◽

Hannes Rakoczy

Keyword(s):

Theory Of Mind ◽

Convergent Validity ◽

Large Scale ◽

False Belief ◽

Replication Study ◽

Implicit Theory ◽

Empirical Basis ◽

False Belief Reasoning ◽

Belief Reasoning ◽

Anticipatory Looking

Recently, theory-of-mind research has been revolutionized by findings from novel implicit tasks suggesting that at least some aspects of false-belief reasoning develop earlier in ontogeny than previously assumed and operate automatically throughout adulthood. Although these findings are the empirical basis for far-reaching theories, systematic replications are still missing. This article reports a preregistered large-scale attempt to replicate four influential anticipatory-looking implicit theory-of-mind tasks using original stimuli and procedures. Results showed that only one of the four paradigms was reliably replicated. A second set of studies revealed, further, that this one paradigm was no longer replicated once confounds were removed, which calls its validity into question. There were also no correlations between paradigms, and thus, no evidence for their convergent validity. In conclusion, findings from anticipatory-looking false-belief paradigms seem less reliable and valid than previously assumed, thus limiting the conclusions that can be drawn from them.

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The Developmental Differences of Implicit Theory of Mind in Infants Using Anticipatory Looking Paradigm

Korean Journal of Child Studies ◽

10.5723/kjcs.2021.42.4.505 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 505-516

Author(s):

Heejung Sul ◽

Hana Song

Keyword(s):

Theory Of Mind ◽

Age Groups ◽

Developmental Differences ◽

False Belief ◽

Implicit Theory ◽

Age Group ◽

Eye Tracker ◽

False Belief Task ◽

Video Clips ◽

Anticipatory Looking

Objectives: This study examined the developmental differences of implicit theory of mind in infants aged 12 to 24 months according to two types of tasks within the anticipatory looking paradigm, as well as the interaction between age group and type of task.Methods: In all, 69 infants participated in this study aged 12, 18, and 24 months. Two types of implicit false-belief tasks using an anticipatory looking paradigm were administered to all the infants for about 4 minutes 20 seconds. While all of the infants watched two types of computerized video clips (FB1, FB2) through the computer screen, an eye-tracker (TobiiX120) recorded the traces of anticipatory looking of infants. The anticipatory looking of infants in test trials was then analyzed.Results: Results showed that the differences between the 12-month-olds and the other age groups (18-month-olds, 24-month-olds) were significant, but even some of the 12-month-olds showed evidence of an implicit theory of mind. The level of implicit theory of mind of 18-month infants did not significantly differ from that of 24-month infants. In addition, a difference by type of implicit false-belief task was significant. Infants showed a higher level of implicit theory of mind in Task1 (FB1) than in Task2 (FB2). However, the interaction effect between age and type of task was not significant.Conclusion: The findings of this study hold implications for the development of implicit theory of mind early in life, and indicate the validity of the anticipatory looking paradigm with two types of tasks. Several limitations and suggestions for future study are also presented.

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