Theory of Mind: A Developmental and Evolutionary Account

Theory of mind is not a theory about the mind, but a hypothetical entity that develops in individuals and catalyzes social cognition. Social cognition is effortless and automatic (it is not to be confused with social metacognition which involves active thinking about what another person is thinking about you). This automatic nature makes social cognition-and everything under its umbrella-a prime candidate for evolutionarily related studies.

A difficult idea to grasp and even more difficult to explain, the development of theory of mind is understood by way of its behavioral and neural manifestations in individuals-or lack-there-of as in persons with autism. Although individuals with autism are most commonly described as lacking empathy, this is not synonymous with lacking theory of mind. Both empathy and theory of mind do involve simulating another's experience within oneself-or "putting yourself in another's shoes" (with no apparent effort in the process). Empathy, though, is the ability to feel what another being feels, whereas theory of mind is the ability to understand that others' perspectives are different from your own and consequently comprehend that the intentions behind their actions may be different from your own. Researchers Sodian, Taylor, Harris and Perner explain that in order to reach this stage of development ,an individual must comprehend the existence of non-representational mental states (e.g., judgments, perceptions, and beliefs). "Pretend play" that is seen in 2-year olds is believed to be a reflection of this understanding. For any of this to occur, a being must be able to successfully imitate others as well as follow the gaze of an individual or group-these two crucial components of social cognition and theory of mind development are established by one year of age, but not seen in autistic children. Sodian et al., explain that theory of mind development is most apparent at around 4 or 5 years old with the understanding and committing of systematic (vs. random) acts of deception. There are a series of stages that lead up to this point and have been linked to evolutionarily adaptive mechanisms that enable prediction of others' actions in social situations.

Neuro-cognitive researchers have identified two major steps leading up to the final stage of theory of mind development: action understanding and intention understanding. Gallese reports on studies of mirror neurons in the macaque monkey. Results demonstrate that within moments of birth, the neuron activity exhibited during the performing of a simple behavior (such as putting out the tongue) is identical to that exhibited during the observation of the same behavior by another being. Gallese explains that this neural phenomenon underpins action understanding. The macaque monkey was able to put itself in another's shoes, with no effort, moments after birth. The behavior of the mirror neurons that reflect this understanding is what gives these specialized neurons their name.

Action understanding is a prerequisite for intention understanding and it is intention understanding that enables the adaptive ability of behavior prediction in social situations. Gallese reasons that intention understanding is shown through the direct neural matching in macaque monkeys that have observational access to only part of an entire chain of actions-or "motor schema". A motor schema in humans might be: 1) grasp a mug at its handle, 2) bring mug to lips and 3) drink contents inside mug. If the neural activity of an individual who only observed through the first step directly matches the neural activity of that same individual when he or she is actually performing the entire chain-intention understanding is demonstrated. This direct matching serves to conceptualize the fact that a person can simulate, and thus predict that another person grasping a mug will eventually drink of its contents even if the former does not witness the final goal being achieved by the latter person. Embodied simulation can be extended to the many motor schemas encountered and performed; it allows for the quick processing of information and accurate prediction of action that is crucial for smooth social interaction and judgment. In his research, Gallese eloquently links this motor-related mechanism to language aquisition in humans. He likens motor schema to language syntax in his neural exploitation hypothesis and suddenly, theory of mind grows in importance.

Theory of mind, as a concept, has found its place among the hard sciences. With the help of developmental, behavioral and neurological scientists, studies on this topic have led to discoveries relating to autism, social cognition, language and evolution.

Gloria Origgi. Theories of Theory of Mind. http://host.uniroma3.it/progetti/kant/field/tom.htm

Johanna Lantz. Theory of Mind in Autism: Development, Implications, and Intervention. http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/irca/education/TheoryofMind.html

Sodian, B., Taylor, C., Harris, P.L., & Perner, J. (1991) Early Deception and the Child's Theory of Mind: False Trails and Genuine Markers. Child Development, 62(3), 468-483. (available on university databases)

Gallese, V. (2007). Before and below 'theory of mind': embodied simulation and the neural correlates of social cognition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 362, 659-669