Cargando…

Understanding individual differences in theory of mind via representation of minds, not mental states

The human ability to make inferences about the minds of conspecifics is remarkable. The majority of work in this area focuses on mental state representation (‘theory of mind’), but has had limited success in explaining individual differences in this ability, and is characterized by the lack of a the...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Conway, Jane R., Catmur, Caroline, Bird, Geoffrey
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer US 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6557866/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30652239
http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13423-018-1559-x
_version_ 1783425511679066112
author Conway, Jane R.
Catmur, Caroline
Bird, Geoffrey
author_facet Conway, Jane R.
Catmur, Caroline
Bird, Geoffrey
author_sort Conway, Jane R.
collection PubMed
description The human ability to make inferences about the minds of conspecifics is remarkable. The majority of work in this area focuses on mental state representation (‘theory of mind’), but has had limited success in explaining individual differences in this ability, and is characterized by the lack of a theoretical framework that can account for the effect of variability in the population of minds to which individuals are exposed. We draw analogies between faces and minds as complex social stimuli, and suggest that theoretical and empirical progress on understanding the mechanisms underlying mind representation can be achieved by adopting a ‘Mind-space’ framework; that minds, like faces, are represented within a multidimensional psychological space. This Mind-space framework can accommodate the representation of whole cognitive systems, and may help to explain individual differences in the consistency and accuracy with which the mental states of others are inferred. Mind-space may also have relevance for understanding human development, intergroup relations, and the atypical social cognition seen in several clinical conditions.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6557866
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2019
publisher Springer US
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-65578662019-06-26 Understanding individual differences in theory of mind via representation of minds, not mental states Conway, Jane R. Catmur, Caroline Bird, Geoffrey Psychon Bull Rev Theoretical Review The human ability to make inferences about the minds of conspecifics is remarkable. The majority of work in this area focuses on mental state representation (‘theory of mind’), but has had limited success in explaining individual differences in this ability, and is characterized by the lack of a theoretical framework that can account for the effect of variability in the population of minds to which individuals are exposed. We draw analogies between faces and minds as complex social stimuli, and suggest that theoretical and empirical progress on understanding the mechanisms underlying mind representation can be achieved by adopting a ‘Mind-space’ framework; that minds, like faces, are represented within a multidimensional psychological space. This Mind-space framework can accommodate the representation of whole cognitive systems, and may help to explain individual differences in the consistency and accuracy with which the mental states of others are inferred. Mind-space may also have relevance for understanding human development, intergroup relations, and the atypical social cognition seen in several clinical conditions. Springer US 2019-01-16 2019 /pmc/articles/PMC6557866/ /pubmed/30652239 http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13423-018-1559-x Text en © The Author(s) 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
spellingShingle Theoretical Review
Conway, Jane R.
Catmur, Caroline
Bird, Geoffrey
Understanding individual differences in theory of mind via representation of minds, not mental states
title Understanding individual differences in theory of mind via representation of minds, not mental states
title_full Understanding individual differences in theory of mind via representation of minds, not mental states
title_fullStr Understanding individual differences in theory of mind via representation of minds, not mental states
title_full_unstemmed Understanding individual differences in theory of mind via representation of minds, not mental states
title_short Understanding individual differences in theory of mind via representation of minds, not mental states
title_sort understanding individual differences in theory of mind via representation of minds, not mental states
topic Theoretical Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6557866/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30652239
http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13423-018-1559-x
work_keys_str_mv AT conwayjaner understandingindividualdifferencesintheoryofmindviarepresentationofmindsnotmentalstates
AT catmurcaroline understandingindividualdifferencesintheoryofmindviarepresentationofmindsnotmentalstates
AT birdgeoffrey understandingindividualdifferencesintheoryofmindviarepresentationofmindsnotmentalstates