Theory of Mind 2

According to the presenter, “theory” of the mind is not a theory, but an automatic ability to attribute mental states to ones self and others to predict and explain behavior. Uta Frith described “theory” of mind as a social behavior that can be observed and taught. This ability to mentalize (TOM) can be seen in human socialization:

·       Recognizing mental states of others

·       Communicating them to others

·       Manipulate them in others

·       Reflect on mental states

Firth discussed the developmental stages of “theory” of mind (prerequisites of mentalizing, joint attention, implicit mentalizing and explicit mentalizing) and how deficits in these areas by the age of 18 months puts a child at a higher risk of Autism. When we first discussed Theory of mind I was a bit skeptical at first because as behaviorist we are taught to observe, measure and manipulate behavior based off of things we actually see within the environment. Anything considered “mental” like “thoughts” or “feelings” are not considered behavior because they cannot be seen. I feel like Firth was able to describe the attributes of “theory” of mind in a way that it could be observed and measured like a behavior. For example she described joint attention as a developmental step of mentalizing, many of the children I work with have joint attention as a program along with teaching various play skills and social scripts. The presenter was able to present “theory” of mind in a way that could be understood from a behavioral standpoint.