Theory of mind: beyond the preschool years

This is the first book to provide a comprehensive review of the burgeoning literature on theory of mind (TOM) after the preschool years and the first to integrate this literature with other approaches to the study of social understanding. By highlighting the relationship between early and later developments, the book provides readers with a greater understanding of what we know and what we still need to know about higher-order TOM. Although the focus is on development in typical populations, development in individuals with autism and in older adults is also explored to give readers a deepe.

Theory of mind -- A little history -- Goals of the book -- Organization of the book -- First-order developments -- First-order false belief -- Other epistemic measures -- Other mental states -- Developments in infancy -- Autism -- Neuroimaging of theory of mind -- Relations to other developments -- Conclusions -- Second-order false belief -- Precursors -- The second-order task -- Developmental findings -- Antecedents of second-order understanding -- Autism -- Aging -- Conclusions -- Other higher-order developments: part 1 -- An overview of measures -- Developmental findings -- Executive function and language -- Autism -- Aging -- Conclusions -- Other higher-order developments: part 2 -- Interpretative diversity -- Opacity -- Origins of beliefs -- Understanding of mental activities -- Variations of the first-order paradigm -- Conclusions -- Consequences of higher-order understanding -- Deliberately false statements -- Social outcomes -- Cognitive outcomes -- Other outcomes -- Conclusions -- Historical connections: what did we know before theory of mind? -- Perspective taking -- Metacognition -- Epistemological conceptions -- Attribution -- Person perception -- Relationships and gro…