Understanding of Others Two Aspects of Self Public

Understanding of Others Two Aspects of Self: • Public Self: Self that others can see • Private Self: Inner, reflective self not available to others

• When are children aware of both aspects of self? – Awareness of private self implies an awareness of mental states such as desires and beliefs that • Are not accessible to others • Guide behavior – Awareness of mental states is critical for understanding others

• Naïve Psychology – A commonsense level of understanding of other people (and oneself)

• Naïve psychology includes concepts that are used to understand human behavior: – Ex: “Why did Jimmy go to Billy’s house? ” • Desires (“He wanted to play with Billy”) • Beliefs (“He thought Billy was at home”)

• We apply these concepts to explain other people’s behavior (and our own) – Desires and beliefs motivate actions • These concepts are “invisible” – Can’t see a belief or a desire (or other mental states like intentions, emotions, etc. )

Development of a Theory of Mind • Between 2 and 5 years, construct a theory of mind (TOM) – Part of naïve psychology

• Theory of Mind – A basic understanding of how the mind works and how it influences behavior • Ex: Desires and beliefs produce actions

• Between about 2 and 3 years, children – Talk about mental states (e. g. , feelings, desires) – Understand that desires can influence actions • Don’t understand that beliefs may also influence actions – Treat beliefs as accurate views of reality that everyone shares » Don’t appreciate that beliefs can vary across people and may be inaccurate

• False Belief Tasks – Test a child’s understanding that other people’s actions will be based on their own beliefs, even when the child knows that other people’s beliefs are incorrect • 3 -year-olds typically fail false belief tasks • By age 5, children pass false belief tasks