{"id":437661,"date":"2018-08-30T17:20:31","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T17:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essaypaper.org\/is-the-development-of-theory-of-mind-continuous-or-discontinuous\/"},"modified":"2018-10-24T09:10:23","modified_gmt":"2018-10-24T09:10:23","slug":"is-the-development-of-theory-of-mind-continuous-or-discontinuous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/is-the-development-of-theory-of-mind-continuous-or-discontinuous\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the development of theory of mind continuous or discontinuous?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Keeping in mind the unit 7 file (attached to order) Please answer, and support your answers with appropriate references:<br \/>Is the development of theory of mind continuous or discontinuous?<\/p>\n<p>Keeping in mind the unit 7 file (attached to order) Please answer, and support your answers with appropriate references:<br \/>Is the development of theory of mind continuous or discontinuous?<br \/>What is the evidence for and against the position that language is innate?<\/p>\n<p>Unit 7 \u2013 Theory of mind and Language<br \/>Unit Introduction<br \/>Having focused on prenatal and neonatal development, we will now turn to focus on early childhood development and particularly the development of two areas of<\/p>\n<p>cognition: theory of mind and the use of language.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of this unit, you should:<br \/>1.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Be able to describe and evaluate theories of and research on theory of mind development.<br \/>2.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Compare and contrast models stage-like vs. continuous models of theory of mind development.<br \/>3.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Critically compare and evaluate the nativist and constructivist views of language acquisition.<br \/>What is Theory of Mind (ToM)?<br \/>According to Lewis &amp; Mitchell (1994), having a \u2018theory of mind\u2019 means having the \u201cability to make inferences about others\u2019 representational states and to predict<\/p>\n<p>behaviour accordingly\u201d. For example, when we see someone behaving in a certain way (such as putting their umbrella up or saying \u201cit is raining hard\u201d), we will make the<\/p>\n<p>inference that they have a belief about the current weather conditions (i.e. they believe that it is raining). We can use our understanding of their mental state to<\/p>\n<p>predict other behaviour (e.g. driving to the shops rather than walking).<\/p>\n<p>The term \u2018theory of mind\u2019 was coined by Premack &amp; Woodruff (1978) and was actually used to refer to chimpanzees rather than humans. However, since the early 1980s, a<\/p>\n<p>vast body of research on theory of mind in humans (particularly children and clinical populations) has been carried out. Although this term is now universally used to<\/p>\n<p>refer to the understanding of mental states, a number of other terms have been used to describe similar phenomena. Whiten (1994) lists some of these:<\/p>\n<p>Alternative labels for, and Concepts about, Mindreading (Whiten, 1994)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Folk Psychology (Wundt, 1916)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Consciousness of the feeling of their fellows (Thorndike, 1911)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Imputation to others of firsthand experience (Lloyd Morgan, 1930)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Na\u00efve psychology (Heider, 1958)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Second order intentionality (Dennett, 1971)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Intersubjectivity (Trevarthen, 1977)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Theory of mind (Premack &amp; Woodruff, 1978)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Metarepresentation (Pylyshyn, 1978)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Belief-desire reasoning (Davidson, 1980)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Natural psychology (Humphrey, 1980)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Social referencing (Feinman, 1982)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Mindreading (Krebs &amp; Dawkins, 1984)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Mental simulation (Gordon, 1986)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Mentalising (Morton, 1989)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Perception of intentionality (Dasser et al., 1989)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0(Mental) attribution (Cheney &amp; Seyfarth, 1990)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Mentalistic theory of behaviour (Perner, 1991)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Representational theory of mind (Perner, 1991)<br \/>Someone with a theory of mind imputes mental states to himself and others. He understands that other people and himself have beliefs, thoughts, knowledge, feelings,<\/p>\n<p>desires etc. Crucially this ability allows us to grasp the concept that our behaviour is a consequence of what we believe to be true, which doesn\u2019t always correspond<\/p>\n<p>to what is actually true.<\/p>\n<p>For example, imagine a scenario in which you tell a lecturer that you couldn\u2019t make it to a lecture because your car broke down. The lecturer will probably believe<\/p>\n<p>this to be true, even if the reality is that you had a very late night and couldn\u2019t get out of bed in time. Of course, this can get complicated: If the lecturer saw<\/p>\n<p>you out the night before then they probably won\u2019t believe your story and will presume that you couldn\u2019t get out of bed. You, however, will believe that the lecturer<\/p>\n<p>believes you.<\/p>\n<p>Another example is the \u2018double cross\u2019 spy stories: The Russians think that the spy is working for them, but the spy is actually pretending that he\u2019s working for the<\/p>\n<p>Russians whilst working for the British all the time. This, of course, can get more complicated. In the \u2018double double cross\u2019, the spy thinks that the Russians think<\/p>\n<p>that he is working for them, but in reality the Russians know that the spy is double crossing them and is working for the British. All of this relies on us and the spy<\/p>\n<p>and the Russians having a theory of mind, which means that we are able to see that what people believe to be true can be different from what actually is true. In<\/p>\n<p>particular we are able to reason about what others believe to be true \u2013 this is why it\u2019s called a \u2018theory\u2019 of mind; it\u2019s the ability to hold reasoned rational<\/p>\n<p>explanations for the behaviour of others.<br \/>What about ToM in Children?<br \/>Of interest to us, of course, are the questions of how and when this ability to understand other people\u2019s (and our own) mental states develops. The \u2018classic\u2019 answer to<\/p>\n<p>the question of when theory of mind develops is that children below about 4 years of age do not have theory of mind. This finding results from a number of experiments<\/p>\n<p>Unit 7 \u2013 Theory of mind and Language<br \/>Unit Introduction<br \/>Having focused on prenatal and neonatal development, we will now turn to focus on early childhood development and particularly the development of two areas of<\/p>\n<p>cognition: theory of mind and the use of language.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of this unit, you should:<br \/>1.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Be able to describe and evaluate theories of and research on theory of mind development.<br \/>2.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Compare and contrast models stage-like vs. continuous models of theory of mind development.<br \/>3.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Critically compare and evaluate the nativist and constructivist views of language acquisition.<br \/>What is Theory of Mind (ToM)?<br \/>According to Lewis &amp; Mitchell (1994), having a \u2018theory of mind\u2019 means having the \u201cability to make inferences about others\u2019 representational states and to predict<\/p>\n<p>behaviour accordingly\u201d. For example, when we see someone behaving in a certain way (such as putting their umbrella up or saying \u201cit is raining hard\u201d), we will make the<\/p>\n<p>inference that they have a belief about the current weather conditions (i.e. they believe that it is raining). We can use our understanding of their mental state to<\/p>\n<p>predict other behaviour (e.g. driving to the shops rather than walking).<\/p>\n<p>The term \u2018theory of mind\u2019 was coined by Premack &amp; Woodruff (1978) and was actually used to refer to chimpanzees rather than humans. However, since the early 1980s, a<\/p>\n<p>vast body of research on theory of mind in humans (particularly children and clinical populations) has been carried out. Although this term is now universally used to<\/p>\n<p>refer to the understanding of mental states, a number of other terms have been used to describe similar phenomena. Whiten (1994) lists some of these:<\/p>\n<p>Alternative labels for, and Concepts about, Mindreading (Whiten, 1994)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Folk Psychology (Wundt, 1916)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Consciousness of the feeling of their fellows (Thorndike, 1911)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Imputation to others of firsthand experience (Lloyd Morgan, 1930)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Na\u00efve psychology (Heider, 1958)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Second order intentionality (Dennett, 1971)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Intersubjectivity (Trevarthen, 1977)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Theory of mind (Premack &amp; Woodruff, 1978)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Metarepresentation (Pylyshyn, 1978)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Belief-desire reasoning (Davidson, 1980)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Natural psychology (Humphrey, 1980)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Social referencing (Feinman, 1982)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Mindreading (Krebs &amp; Dawkins, 1984)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Mental simulation (Gordon, 1986)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Mentalising (Morton, 1989)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Perception of intentionality (Dasser et al., 1989)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0(Mental) attribution (Cheney &amp; Seyfarth, 1990)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Mentalistic theory of behaviour (Perner, 1991)<br \/>\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Representational theory of mind (Perner, 1991)<br \/>Someone with a theory of mind imputes mental states to himself and others. He understands that other people and himself have beliefs, thoughts, knowledge, feelings,<\/p>\n<p>desires etc. Crucially this ability allows us to grasp the concept that our behaviour is a consequence of what we believe to be true, which doesn\u2019t always correspond<\/p>\n<p>to what is actually true.<\/p>\n<p>For example, imagine a scenario in which you tell a lecturer that you couldn\u2019t make it to a lecture because your car broke down. The lecturer will probably believe<\/p>\n<p>this to be true, even if the reality is that you had a very late night and couldn\u2019t get out of bed in time. Of course, this can get complicated: If the lecturer saw<\/p>\n<p>you out the night before then they probably won\u2019t believe your story and will presume that you couldn\u2019t get out of bed. You, however, will believe that the lecturer<\/p>\n<p>believes you.<\/p>\n<p>Another example is the \u2018double cross\u2019 spy stories: The Russians think that the spy is working for them, but the spy is actually pretending that he\u2019s working for the<\/p>\n<p>Russians whilst working for the British all the time. This, of course, can get more complicated. In the \u2018double double cross\u2019, the spy thinks that the Russians think<\/p>\n<p>that he is working for them, but in reality the Russians know that the spy is double crossing them and is working for the British. All of this relies on us and the spy<\/p>\n<p>and the Russians having a theory of mind, which means that we are able to see that what people believe to be true can be different from what actually is true. In<\/p>\n<p>particular we are able to reason about what others believe to be true \u2013 this is why it\u2019s called a \u2018theory\u2019 of mind; it\u2019s the ability to hold reasoned rational<\/p>\n<p>explanations for the behaviour of others.<br \/>What about ToM in Children?<br \/>Of interest to us, of course, are the questions of how and when this ability to understand other people\u2019s (and our own) mental states develops. The \u2018classic\u2019 answer to<\/p>\n<p>the question of when theory of mind develops is that children below about 4 years of age do not have theory of mind. This finding results from a number of experiments<\/p>\n<p> \u00a0<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8220;PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH ESSAY PAPER LTD AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT&#8221;<\/h4>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14111 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/brainytermpapers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/get-your-custom-paper.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"380\" height=\"101\"\/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keeping in mind the unit 7 file (attached to order) Please answer, and support your answers with appropriate references:Is the development of theory of mind continuous or discontinuous? Keeping in mind the unit 7 file (attached to order) Please answer, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/is-the-development-of-theory-of-mind-continuous-or-discontinuous\/\" class=\"read-more\">Read More &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[144,16,145,146],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-437661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academic-papers","category-academic-writing","category-academic-writing-service","category-academy-management-assignment-help"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437661\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}