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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–2Cite as

Theory of Mind and Evidence of Brain Modularity

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Synonyms

Commonsense psychology; Folk psychology; Mentalizing; Mind reading

Definition

Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to one’s cognitive ability to ascribe and regard the mental states of others. Brain modularity refers to the theory that at least some cognitive functions are facilitated by innate neural structures that have been honed and selected through evolution.

Introduction

The term Theory of Mind was coined in 1978 by David Premack and Guy Woodruff during their investigation into the capacity of a chimpanzee to “impute mental states,” an ability previously considered to belong solely to the human race (Premack and Woodruff 1978). Since then, countless studies have tested various aspects of ToM ability, and while the existence of such abilities are accepted nearly ubiquitously across the scientific community, the underlying mechanism allowing for ToM remains a point of contention.

Theory of Mind

The ability to compute the mental states – beliefs, desires, knowledge, goals, etc. – of...

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References

  • Baron-Cohen, S. (1991). The theory of mind deficit in autism: How specific is it? British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9(2), 301–314. doi:10.1111/j.2044-835x.1991.tb00879.x.

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  • Carruthers, P. (2006). The Architecture of the Mind. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

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  • Fodor, J. A. (1983). The Modularity of Mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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  • Premack, D., & Woodruff, G. (1978). Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1(04), 515–526. doi:10.1017/s0140525x00076512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wimmer, H., & Perner, J. (1983). Beliefs about beliefs: Representation and constraining function of wrong beliefs in young children’s understanding of deception. Cognition, 13(1), 103–128. doi:10.1016/0010-0277(83)90004-5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Connor Welsh

Authors
  1. Connor Welsh
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Connor Welsh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of South Carolina - Beaufort, Bluffton, SC, USA

    Carey Fitzgerald

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Welsh, C. (2017). Theory of Mind and Evidence of Brain Modularity. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3641-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3641-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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