The Dynamic Differences between Self- and Other-Oriented Mental Inferences: An ERP Study on a 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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Childhood Abuse and Adult Sociocognitive Skills: Distinguishing Between Self and Other Following Early Trauma

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260520906190 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 088626052090619 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Anna R. Hudson ◽

Lize De Coster ◽

Hanne Spoormans ◽

Sylvia Verbeke ◽

Kaat Van der Jeught ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Childhood Abuse ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Adult Survivors ◽

False Belief ◽

Imitative Behavior ◽

Clinical Implications ◽

Therapeutic Practice ◽

Self And Other ◽

Imitation Inhibition ◽

Early Trauma

Experience of childhood abuse (CA) impairs complex social functioning in children; however, much less is known about its effects on basic sociocognitive processes and even fewer studies have investigated these in adult survivors. Using two behavioral tasks, this study investigated spontaneous theory of mind (ToM) and imitative behavior in 41 women with CA and 26 unaffected comparison (UC) women. In the spontaneous ToM task, UCs showed a larger ToM index than CAs, indicating more facilitation by knowledge of another’s false belief. In the imitation–inhibition task, CAs experienced less interference than UCs when observing another’s incongruent movements. After controlling for depression, differences in ToM became marginally significant, yet remained highly significant for inhibiting imitative behavior. The findings suggest CA survivors have altered perspective-taking and are less influenced by others’ perspectives, potentially due to changes in self-other distinction. Clinical implications regarding therapeutic practice with survivors of CA are discussed.

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