Synonyms
Definition
An influential experimental paradigm designed to assess whether an individual possesses a theory of mind, based on his or her ability (or lack thereof) to attribute false beliefs to others.
Introduction
Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, the false-belief test has played pivotal roles in both developmental psychology and comparative psychology. In both fields, it has long functioned as a litmus test for assessing the presence and development of a theory of mind in human infants and great apes.
In developmental psychology, the standard method for conducting this test is widely referred to as the Sally-Anne test. Experimental data has been largely consistent insofar as the majority of children under the age of four – along with most autistic children (Baron-Cohen et al. 1985) – fail this test, while children between the ages of four and five reliably pass it (Gopnik and Astington 1988). As a result, it has long been the opinion of psychologists...
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References
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See, A. (2016). False-Belief Test, The. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3120-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3120-1
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