title: "I know you don't know I know…" children use second-order false-belief reasoning for peer coordination.
abstract: Numerous studies have investigated children's abilities to attribute mental states, but few have examined their ability to recruit these abilities in social interactions. Here, 6-year-olds (N = 104) were tested on whether they can use first- and second-order false-belief understanding to coordinate with peers. Children adjusted their decisions in a coordination game in response to either their partner's erroneous belief or their partner's erroneous belief about their own belief-a result that contrasts with previous findings on the use of higher order "theory of mind" (TOM) reasoning at this age. Six-year-olds are thus able to use their higher order TOM capacities for peer coordination, which marks an important achievement in becoming competent social collaborators.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grueneisen
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wyman
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomasello
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology*