|
 |
|
|
Theory of Mind - I Know What You Think I Know You Know
By James Keightley of giggleberries
Evolutionary psychologists investigate how human behaviour and abilities have developed as a result of our ancestor’s long period of evolution. Humans (Homo sapiens) belong to the family of anthropoids which consists of old world primates, monkeys and apes, who are our primitive ancestors dating back 35 million years. They are the forbearers of our genetic makeup and evolutionary psychologists look to them for the answers to our own development. I intend to highlight the integral aspects of evolutionary psychology and the approaches in understanding our evolution by focusing on Theory of Mind, an aspect of the origin of the human mind, and its importance in the wider understanding of our advancement. Evolution is the historical development of a biological group or species that have genetically inherited abilities promoting their survival through natural and sexual selection, so they can procreate and continue the transmission of adaptive genes. Darwin (1836) advocated, ‘species are not fixed at creation but continue to change’. Five million years ago, Homo sapiens diverged from their common ancestors along their own evolutionary path, yet we remain similar in many ways. We are in fact genetically closer to chimpanzees than they are to gorillas, and consequently are referred to as the, ‘third chimpanzee’ by Diamond (1991). For these reasons, evolutionary psychologists look to our ancestors for the clues to the evolution of our adaptive abilities and why we remain similar in some respects and distinguishable in others, having surpassed many of our ancestor’s abilities.
Tooby & Cosmides (1992) defined evolutionary psychology as, “psychology informed by the fact that the inherited structure of the human mind is the product of evolutionary processes”. Understanding this process and why certain adaptive abilities evolve, is the functional approach of being able to look back to our ancient and prehistoric ancestors and to pick out dominating features that appear endemic amongst species and question their adaptive value. This approach embraces present knowledge, evolutionary principles and past environmental conditions, to deduce and infer general laws, about what cognitive and social capacities existed. They have applied this approach to look at the origin of the human mind, particularly Theory of Mind, to understand its evolution and overshadowing capacity, as something that sets us apart as humans. Theory of Mind is the ability to respond to assumptions within the social sphere based on the beliefs and desires of another. From our own experiences, external markers and understanding of intentional systems, we are able to empathize and predict the reactions and intentions of others. Whiten (1996) identified four key aspects to theory of mind, which he describes as ‘mind reading’. These are; Implicit Mind Reading means understanding that a person’s actions are related to the perception of their acting. Counter Deception is the ability to distinguish between the form behaviour may take on the surface, and their actual intentions. Recognition of Intervening Variables is awareness that certain shifting conditions may produce a particular response. Experience Projection is the ability to make predictions based on experience. Brains are structured to quickly solve the adaptive problems faced by our ancestors. Humphreys (1997) proposes ‘every animal’s world is full of problems’ and although they differ from animal to animal, they are reliant on intelligence, imitation and trial and error learning, to solve the problems necessary to meet their minimum survival needs. Premack & Woodruff’s (1988) studies of Sarah, a chimpanzee, demonstrated that non-human apes exercise rudimentary aspects of theory of mind in solving such problems. Observing actors experiencing difficulty getting a banana that was out of reach, Sarah was able to choose a photograph depicting the correct solution of using a chair; evidence of her ability to interpret intentions and draw on experience, which is indicative of experience projection and implicit mind reading. Further support of our primitive ancestors capacities is illustrated by Byrne (1999) who advocates that apes operate on a ‘programme level’ as they are able to represent abstract thoughts and realize causality by simulating and then computing actions and possible outcomes. This enables them to conjecture how rivals might behave and adapt accordingly; elements that echo theory of mind and also Humphrey’s (1976) definition of high intelligence, ‘The ability to infer by a novel conjunction of events’. However, the capacity of theory of mind, in non-human apes is limited. Intelligence surpassed our ancestors to have an adaptive value for humans to overcome new social and technical pressures. Whiten (1999) suggests this was due to our lifestyles migrating to the African savannahs and encountering new social complexities as hunter-gatherers. This demanded a higher level of intelligence, where there were adaptive values in being able to safeguard social groups, out manoeuvre, manipulate and exploit others using competitive, calculating and co-operative skills. As others operated at the same level it resulted in a rapid increase in social sophistication. Consequently, the adaptive value of theory of mind and the ability to learn the empathetic skills, rather than simply being able to read external behaviour, would place individuals at a survival advantage with in an increasingly complex social world. Thus, psychologists have looked at the contemporary development of theory of mind in children and how essential empathetic skills grow. Baron-Cohen (1999) identified eight aspects that might contribute to this advancement; intentionally communicating with others, repairing failed communication, teaching others, intentionally persuading others, intentionally deceiving others, building shared plans and goals, intentionally sharing a focus or topic of attention and pretending. Juxtapose are his studies of autistic children who he suggests are evidence of what it is like to have no theory of mind due to their lack of social skills and language delay. Thus, claiming the close relationship of theory of mind to language and it being crucial to effective socialization. Casting back it can be seen how the functional approach of evolutionary psychologists has enabled them to explore how our adaptive abilities have evolved. They have encapsulated the claims of evolutionary psychology by demonstrating that it is the product of our ability to survive, due to the advantage of inheriting the very adaptive abilities that we strive to genetically transmit through reproduction. Focusing particularly on the evolution and adaptive purpose of theory of mind provides a more coherent understanding of its own meaning to evolutionary psychology. It examines the wider understanding of how humans have surpassed their common ancestors in social and intellectual complexities, and the adaptive purpose it served for our advancement, by being able to read more than just external behavioural markers.
|
|
 |
|
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
The copyright for this content entitled "Theory of Mind - I Know What You Think I Know You Know" has been specified by the contributor as:
All Rights Reserved
This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
|
|
|
This intel was contributed by Jimbob
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
