Developmental parallels in understanding minds and bodies.
A recent article by Onishi and Baillargeon presents evidence that 15-month-old infants attribute false beliefs (FBs) to other people. If correct, it lends dramatic new support to the idea that mental state concepts ("theory of mind") emerge from a specialized neurocognitive mechanism that matures during the second year of life. But it also raises new puzzles concerning the FB task--puzzles that have intriguing parallels in results from infants' reasoning about solid bodies.
Leslie
Alan M
AM
Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University, 152 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA. aleslie@ruccs.rutgers.edu
D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003469:Culture; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011582:Psychological Theory; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*