EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
Introduction to Psychology
Steve Joordens, University of Toronto
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C O U R S E L E C T U R E Theory of Mind Notes taken on October 25, 2015 by Edward Tanguay |
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theory of mind
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our ability to perceive what others seem to be perceiving
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put ourselves in someone else's place and have a sense of what they are feeling
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critical for social behavior
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pro-social
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the extent that we can understand each other and behave in accordance with that understanding
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orders of consciousness
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first-order consciousness
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person #1 has a sense of what he is thinking
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second-order consciousness
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person #1 has a sense of what person #2 is thinking
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helps us to better predict what people may do
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third-order consciousness
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person #1 has sense of what person #2 is thinking about person #1
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I can model you modelling me
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when we are trying to surprise someone
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e.g. valentines day: break the mold of how you usually act, e.g. do something especially thoughtful
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False Belief Test
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ask a three year old child what is in a box of crayons
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child typically says crayons
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they show the child that there are candles in the box
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ask them again what is in the crayon box
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they typically say candles
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then they bring out a Snoopy doll from under the table and say that he has not heard anything that we been saying, what do you think Snoopy thinks is in the box
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they will typically say candles
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they seem to think whatever they know, everybody around them knows
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have a difficulty with the concept that what I know may be very different than what other people know
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between ages of three and five
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the develop the ability to model the minds of others
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begin to realize that their egocentric view of the world is not shared by everybody else
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theory of mind
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basis of people helping people
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children comfort another child because they can feel their sorrow
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just as she would want someone to help her just as if she were in that state
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they don't have to help people but they do it anyway
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we cannot help but share in the feelings of others
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a knock at the door
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someone says there is a wild animal attacking, open the door and let me in
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you know that if you open the door that the attacking animal could get in as well
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yet it is very hard to leave the person out there
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you feel their fear
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the only way for you to feel peace is for them to feel peace
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in this way, the theory of mind, being able to understand how others are feeling, hold us together as a species and helps us survive
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goes against some of our other anti-social tendencies
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studies with animals
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it can be argued that some animals have a rudimentary theory of mind
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a chimp and experimenters
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one of the experimenters likes Smarties
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experimenter goes out of room
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another experimenter moves smarties
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chimp sees this
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first experimenter comes back and goes to look for smarties
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chimp knows this
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chimp thinks this is funny because he knows that she knows that the Smarties will be gone
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it is hotly debated if animals have theory of mind
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but most researchers acknowledge that many animals can understand the minds of others
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children with autism and aspergers
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we use language but also many facial expressions and signs which we use to communicate
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this overwhelms people with autism
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they have trouble processing social stimuli
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they don't gain the ability well to model someone else's mind