Theory of mind
Human beings possess the basic ability to interpret another person’s mental state (Myers, 2014). This has possible adaptive advantages given that properly anticipating another person’s needs, intentions or desires can help us to ensure our own survival or comfort. Each time we try to determine what another person is feeling or thinking, we are exercising what psychologists refer to as “theory of mind”, an important mental capacity that develops from as early as seven months into adulthood (Myers, 2014). Knowledge of how this ability matures has important implications for teachers of children and adolescents.
Theory of mind, specifically defined as “the ability to infer others' mental states” (Myers, 2014, p.178), is demonstrated by very young children as they form relationships with other children. For example, in order for one child to tease another child, the teaser must observe the anguish in the target child as evidence that the teasing is successful. Similarly when a child notices another child’s distress over a lost toy and decides to share, they are showing basic empathy. Also, one child may wish to persuade another to play in their group, and must observe the reaction of the child to infer the success of the attempts to persuade. In each of these three examples, children are using theory of mind (Myers, 2014).
As they develop, children can infer more about others' mental states (Myers, 2014). For example, by the age of four or five, a child can determine that another can have a false belief. Jenkins and Astington showed children of different ages a “Band-Aid” box and asked them what they thought was inside (Myers, 2014). Children of all ages answered “Band-Aid”. The researchers then opened the box and showed the children that it actually contained pencils and not Band-Aids. The researchers asked the same children what they believed another child who had not seen inside the box would think was inside. 4- to 5-year-olds said Band-Aids, and 3-year-olds answered pencils. The 4- to 5-year-olds were able to infer that children who had not seen the inside of the box would believe falsely about the box’s contents. The 3-year-olds anticipated that others would not hold a different belief about the box contents and did not account for the different perspective of the other children (Myers, 2014). In short, the 4- to 5-year-olds had developed greater theory of mind than the 3-year-olds.
Teachers who understand how theory of mind develops in children of different ages can develop more appropriate curriculum. For example memory tasks which require 3-year-olds to accurately anticipate the perceptions of others should probably be avoided in favor of more object oriented memory tasks. Rather than ask 3-year-olds to guess what their friend would think, they should be asked to remember based on what they can directly perceive for themselves. As children age beyond five years it would then be more appropriate to gradually increase the inference demands on the child. Several activities have been identified which improve the development of theory of mind skills (Alic, 2009, TOM in preschoolers, paragraph 5). These include pretend play and role playing, talking about past events, reading stories, discussing situations such as misunderstandings, teasing, and forgetfulness, imagining, discussing opinions and perspectives (Alic, 2009, TOM in preschoolers, paragraph 5).
References
Alic, Margaret. (2009). Theory of Mind. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/theory-of-mind.
Myers, David G. (2014). Psychology (10th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Theory of mind, specifically defined as “the ability to infer others' mental states” (Myers, 2014, p.178), is demonstrated by very young children as they form relationships with other children. For example, in order for one child to tease another child, the teaser must observe the anguish in the target child as evidence that the teasing is successful. Similarly when a child notices another child’s distress over a lost toy and decides to share, they are showing basic empathy. Also, one child may wish to persuade another to play in their group, and must observe the reaction of the child to infer the success of the attempts to persuade. In each of these three examples, children are using theory of mind (Myers, 2014).
As they develop, children can infer more about others' mental states (Myers, 2014). For example, by the age of four or five, a child can determine that another can have a false belief. Jenkins and Astington showed children of different ages a “Band-Aid” box and asked them what they thought was inside (Myers, 2014). Children of all ages answered “Band-Aid”. The researchers then opened the box and showed the children that it actually contained pencils and not Band-Aids. The researchers asked the same children what they believed another child who had not seen inside the box would think was inside. 4- to 5-year-olds said Band-Aids, and 3-year-olds answered pencils. The 4- to 5-year-olds were able to infer that children who had not seen the inside of the box would believe falsely about the box’s contents. The 3-year-olds anticipated that others would not hold a different belief about the box contents and did not account for the different perspective of the other children (Myers, 2014). In short, the 4- to 5-year-olds had developed greater theory of mind than the 3-year-olds.
Teachers who understand how theory of mind develops in children of different ages can develop more appropriate curriculum. For example memory tasks which require 3-year-olds to accurately anticipate the perceptions of others should probably be avoided in favor of more object oriented memory tasks. Rather than ask 3-year-olds to guess what their friend would think, they should be asked to remember based on what they can directly perceive for themselves. As children age beyond five years it would then be more appropriate to gradually increase the inference demands on the child. Several activities have been identified which improve the development of theory of mind skills (Alic, 2009, TOM in preschoolers, paragraph 5). These include pretend play and role playing, talking about past events, reading stories, discussing situations such as misunderstandings, teasing, and forgetfulness, imagining, discussing opinions and perspectives (Alic, 2009, TOM in preschoolers, paragraph 5).
References
Alic, Margaret. (2009). Theory of Mind. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/theory-of-mind.
Myers, David G. (2014). Psychology (10th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.