Is the Theory of Mind of a Four Year Old Similar in Form if not Content to that of an Adult - Essay Example

The theory of mind develops at a very early age. By the time age 5 months, infants can be able to recognize typical facial expressions even though they may not understand what it means. As they grow older they are able to interpret facial expression to understand what a person feels. For instance a one year toddler may look at the facial expressions of the mother in order to get cues as to whether it is safe to accept an unfamiliar person. Wimmer and Perner (1983) in their research investigating false belief understanding of children found that while three year olds were not able to recognize their own and other’s false beliefs, four year olds were able to do so.

This experiment involved Maxi character living chocolate in the cupboard and then leaving the room, and Maxi’s mother taking the chocolate from the cupboard and placing in a drawer in the absence of Maxi. When Maxi returns, the children were asked to identify where Maxi would search for his chocolate. While three year olds would not be able to discern Maxi’s false belief, and therefore given the wrong answer that Maxi would search for it in the Drawer, four year olds are able to comprehend Maxi’s false belief, and not their own to predict what Maxi’s action would be. . those of adults, found that while the four years old children categorized familiar objects correctly as real just like the adults, but categorized unfamiliar objects as make believe and unreal.

Comparing the four year olds and six year olds categorization of the unfamiliar machines, the four year olds were noted to have far more accurate judgements for physical items than biological items. This shows that children’s understanding of reality versus fantasy interacts with their causal knowledge to draw inferences in a rational way. This form of theory of the mind is clearly similar to that of an adult, even though contents may not be similar. This result is further supported by Keysar, Lin and Barr (2003) who note that after from age four to six, children have an adult like theory of mind which enables them to understand the actions of various persons in terms of their mental states, where the children are able to differentiate the mental states of others from their own mental states.

Using two experiments, the researchers in fact noted that a dissociation in adults in the ability to reflectively and distinguish one’s own beliefs from those of others and the ability to be able to use this to interpret the actions of others shows that the adult theory of mind lacks full human comprehension system. Even across cultures, Toyama’s (2011) study of how Japanese children and adults reason found that there was no significant difference. In this experimental study, children aged 4 to 10 years old and adults in college were evaluated in their reasoning concerning the consequences of psychogenic body reactions.

In the first experiment while the children though biological cures to be effective in treating the psychogenic reactions, the adults though psychological cures were