Theory of Mind

Theory of the Mind
Student’s name
University
Abstract
Theory of the mind denotes the characteristic of the mind responsible for certain aspects of a person’s body. The theory describes a person’s ability to understand and infer the emotions of an individual and react accordingly. The inferences allow the person choose accurate answers. Researchers prefer to either use the false belief experiment or intention-inferences procedures to determine capabilities of a person based on the theory of the mind. The story of Sally and Anne proves the existence of ToM since Anne choose an answer based on Sally’s expected perception. Mind-blindness distorts the ability of a person to view and understand the emotions of others in the society. Autistic, Schizophrenia, and alcohol disorders affect the ability of a person to develop their ToM capabilities leading to a lack of ToM decoding, speech and deciphering other peoples’ emotions. Neuroscientific usage of ToM has helped children develop critical characteristics as a child grows from different stages of their children.
Psychological concepts and areas of mental description are essential in understanding the current state of affairs in the society. Theory of the mind (ToM) deciphers one’s mental abilities while also understanding others mental abilities. Beliefs, needs, wants and knowledge are all functions of the mental state. Theory of the mind has been studied for decades and researchers have used both human and non-human capabilities to explain the diverse mental states.

Previous research shows that the concept behind ToM is primarily inferred through behavior and modeling likely action taken by the subjects. The results of the studies conclude that the concept is primarily theoretical, but its applications act as a remedy to the problems in the society. Developmental psychology, the precursor to ToM, demonstrated that people can view drawings differently, illustrate that minds are different (Buss, 2015). Mental verbs and emotional perspectives have been used to relay information to children and grown-ups, to influence or ensure all understand the concepts being taught.
People develop their cognitive skills from their childhood to their adulthood. ToM enables people to develop social skills and verbal communication techniques. The theory enables individuals to decipher that people have diverse viewpoints and mind representations are not necessarily existent. Empathy is rational characteristic enabling individuals understand others perceptions while neither being biased based on their beliefs. Theory of the mind depicts the rational mind, demonstrating that the true abilities of individuals such as understanding, reading and effective communication have been used to reconfigure individuals with autism. Jean Piaget understood that children develop egocentric features, and later Nicholas Humphrey reiterated the ability of individuals to predict and act accordingly based on the past emotions and react accordingly. The theoretical model enables individuals and specialists to identify and treat conditions affected by the mental states. Research indicates that more people use the model especially for victims of accidents that lost their speech, to regain their speech. The results indicate that the model can be applied in nearly all mental cases.
Experimental Research
Divergent views have been given on the appropriateness of the theory of the mind on children. The difficulty in understanding the children’s attitude or understanding of others and the world has been cited as the major drawback in using ToM on children. Theory of the mind intimates that the child’s surrounding is a major part of the child’s formation in the initial stages of the child’s life. Researchers have done diverse studies to ascertain ToM’s provisions through various tasks and experiments.
False Belief
The theory postulates that people have divergent views on everything in the society. The divergence views prove the importance of ToM in the society. The diversity of people knowledge forms their behavior, while their mental states also demonstrate their behavior (Lewis & Mitchell, 2014). However, it is essential to note that the mental states may sometimes differ from reality. Scientists have continuously used the Sally-Anne test to describe false belief in children. The scenario depicts two girls, Sally and Anne, each with a basket and a box. Also, Sally has a marble which the girl puts in the basket and gets outside. However, Anne takes the marble and puts it the box as instructed and later asked where Sally would come looking upon Sally’s return. Perceptively, if Anne answers that Sally will come looking at the basket, the child score correctly. The answer demonstrates that the child can understand the actions of others, even though Anne’s actions to hide the marble are secret. Studies undertaken so far have been consistent especially for minors below the age of 4 years, Furthermore; false belief has also been ascertained among adults and indicates that individuals are likely to use previous outcomes to relate to the present.
Unexpected Contents
The test evaluates mechanical workings of the mind, to decipher the true actions undertaken by individuals (Milligan, Astington & Dack, 2007). The task entails asking an individual what are the contents of a candy box named “smarties”, which the individuals answers to be “smarties”. However, the box contains pencils. The same individual is later asked the expected answer another person would give if asked the same questions. The hypothesis entails that the individual passes the test if the person answers the contents are likely “smarties” but fails if the individual thinks the person will know that the box contains pencils. Researchers have confirmed that children between the ages of four and five years have a high accuracy rate on the test, proving the applicability of the test in the society.
Precursors
Researchers initially used diverse models to understand the mental perceptions of the mind. However, all tasks functioned to achieve the same goal, to demonstrate the structure of the theory of the mind. The tests evaluated how a child observed expected and unexpected actions from adults (Gourlin, 2014). The researchers observed that the child would observe more the unexpected actions while stare less at the expected actions. Similarly, the children were found to follow the actions of a person’s hand but fail to consider an inanimate object’s hand. The ability of the minor illustrates the application of ToM in real life.
Discrepancies
Discrepancies are existent among human beings relating to the person’s impairment. Mind-blindness implies failing to decipher or understand the perspective of others while only understanding one’s perspective. The patients are unable to decipher the intentions of others, fail to understand the effect of their behaviors on others and are unable to interact properly in the society. The deficiencies are common with people suffering from Schizophrenia, autism; insomnia infested patients, patients with intense emotional pain and patients suffering from a non-verbal learning disorder.
Autism
Research indicates that autistic children are unable to employ the theory of the mind and fail to understand the actions of the others. The condition is primarily caused by the inactivity of their theory of the mind capabilities while having trouble in conveying psychological circumstances of others (Blacher, 2007). Some scientists posit that the failure to understand others comes from the failure of the autistic child to attribute other people mental states. Similarly, others posit that the disease distorts the child’s the understanding and emotional reactions of individuals. Autistic children are born without autistic skills, unlike normal individuals. However, some drawbacks early in a child’s life may deny the child the ability to develop appropriate joint-consideration behaviors. Researchers believe that the theory of the mind is continuous unlike been discretely present, demonstrating that people can be treated for the condition.
Schizophrenia
Patients with the condition have difficulty attributing other people’s intentions. The patients failed in false belief experiments and intention-inference experiments (Bora & Pantelis, 2009). Patients are likely to be deficient in enthusiasm, emotion or communication. Scientists intimate that impairment among the patients may affect the diagnosis of the patient’s conditions. Patients with insight can demonstrate their understanding, making it easier for therapists to correct the condition. Schizophrenic parents are likely to rarely interact with the children, misunderstand their actions and assume the children neutral cues to be negative. Proper interventions either at an individual or group level, assist in improving the perspective taking of individuals.
Disorders
Impairments based on the theory of the mind leads to many disorders. Typically, heavy alcohol consumption causes neurotoxicity of the brain, leading to ToM impairment (Uekermann, Channon, Winkel, Schlebusch & Daum, 2007). Patients with depressive episodes are unable to decode the theory of the mind provisions to effectively apprehend the environment and properly label actions to be taken. The pattern is common with persons with dysphoria, depressive episodes, and depressions. Specific Language Impairments illustrates lower scores on comprehension but with typical IQ scores.
Neuroscience in the Model
Anterior paracingulate cortexes are neurons above the eyes that are specifically used to discern one’s opinions from the other person’s opinion. Cortexes in the front develop cognitive and ToM capabilities, especially during the adolescent period. Creation of essential neurons in human beings during their development such as medial prefrontal cortex and temporal pole adjustment demonstrate the growth and enhancement of the ToM (Saxe & Baron-Cohen, 2006). The changes enable normal individuals to comprehend stories with characters while autistic individuals are likely to fail to decipher the outcomes. The development enhances one’s memory and improves one’s communication skills. Studies have confirmed that children who have successfully overcome autism are likely to more verbally knowledgeable while preferred to explain their interpretation unlikely normal children. Furthermore, autistic children have difficulty in cheating. Conclusively, ToM is an important concept in psychology that helps identify, understand and treat psychological conditions. Theory of the mind satisfies their goals in ensuring psychological deficiencies are treatable.
References
Blacher, J. (2007). Unlocking the Mystery of Social Deficits in Autism: Theory of Mind as Key.
Exceptional Parent, 37(8), 96-97.
Bora, E., Yucel, M., & Pantelis, C. (2009). Theory of mind impairment in schizophrenia: meta-
analysis. Schizophrenia research, 109(1), 1-9.
Buss, D. (2015). Evolutionary psychology: The new science of the mind. Psychology Press.
Gourlin, C. (2014). Development of theories of mind in deaf children. Psychological
perspectives on deafness, 2, 79.
Lewis, C., & Mitchell, P. (2014). Children’s early understanding of mind: Origins and
development. Psychology Press.
Milligan, K., Astington, J. W., & Dack, L. A. (2007). Language and theory of mind:
meta‐analysis of the relation between language ability and false‐belief understanding.
Child development, 78(2), 622-646.
Saxe, R., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2006). Editorial: The neuroscience of theory of mind.
Uekermann, J., Channon, S., Winkel, K., Schlebusch, P., & Daum, I. (2007). Theory of mind,
humour processing and executive functioning in alcoholism. Addiction, 102(2), 232-240.