What is, Theory of Mind. Why children lying around the ages 3-5 is developmentally appropriate.

Lying Is a developmental milestone indicating g your child has now developed the Theory of Mind. They now understand that other people can hold different beliefs can be different from reality. When child tell a lie, they are simply testing this theory.

Theory of mind is the ability to attribute mental states — beliefs, intents, desires, emotions, and knowledge — to ourselves and others. Having a theory of mind allows us to understand that others have unique beliefs and desires that are different from our own, enabling us to engage in daily social interaction as we interpret the mental states and infer the behaviors of those around us. Children demonstrate they are learning Theory of Mind by demonstrating the following:

Paying Attention to Other People

According to psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, attention is one of the first underlying precursors to the development of a fully-fledged theory of mind.

This involves recognizing that seeing is not merely looking; rather, we can selectively direct our attention to specific objects. A key example of this attention is joint attention.

Joint attention occurs when two people direct their attention towards the same thing of interest – often done via pointing so as to direct another’s attention to the same source.

When infants understand this gesture, they are simultaneously processing another person’s mental state, recognizing that this object is something that another person thinks is of interest (Baron-Cohen, 1991), thus illustrating the beginning phases of the theory of mind.

Intentionality (knowing that people act according to the things they want)

A second core component that contributes to the development of the theory of mind is that of intentionality, or the understanding that others’ actions are goal-directed and arise out of unique beliefs and desires.

To understand that people act in a way that is motivated by their desires (for example, I am hungry so I will reach for that apple) is to understand that other people have their own desires (she must be hungry), thus demonstrating a theory of mind, or attributing mental states to others.

Imitation (Copying Other People)

Imitating others is a third building block of theory of mind. The ability to imitate others is to recognize recognizing that others have their own beliefs and desires.

For example, bridging attention and intentionality, imitation can result when a child realizes that others direct their attention (to an object, etc.) and do so intentionally (motivated by goal-directed behavior).

Internalizing these two concepts, the child then engages in imitation and may direct his or her eyes toward that specific object or scene.

 

Tasks Listed From Easiest to Most Difficult

· Understanding “wanting”: The first step is the realization that others have diverse desires, and to get what they want, people act in different ways.

· Understanding “thinking”: The second step is the understanding that others also have diverse beliefs about the same thing and that people’s actions are based on what they think is going to happen.

· Understanding that “seeing leads to knowing”: The third stage is recognizing that others have different knowledge access, and if someone hasn’t seen something, they will need extra information to understand.

· Understanding “false beliefs”: The fourth stage is being aware of the fact that others may have false beliefs that differ from reality.

· Understanding “hidden feelings”: The final stage is being aware that other people can hide their emotions and can feel a different emotion from the one they display.

Autism

Although research demonstrates that humans have the capacity to understand theory of mind, some have a better ability to do so than others.

Children who are diagnosed with autism, a spectrum disorder marked by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, and nonverbal communication (Speaks, 2011), exhibit a deficit in theory of mind capabilities.

Eighty percent of participants with autism failed a false belief task in an initial study conducted by Simon Baron-Cohen (1985).

And while more recent studies support this claim, they also reveal that children with autism can pass false belief tasks when explicitly asked to do so, as opposed to five-year-old children who can do so automatically.

The difference, however, is that outside of the lab setting, individuals with autism do not show spontaneous false belief attribution (Senju, 2012). On the neurological side, children and adults with autism also show less activation in brain regions, such as the mPFC and TPJ, that are associated with theory of mind (Castelli et al., 2002).

Resource used: https://www.simplypsychology.org/theory-of-mind.html#How-Does-ToM-Develop