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Deng F, Bueber MA, Cao Y, Tang J, Bai X, Cho Y, Lee J, Lin Z, Yang Q, Keshavan MS, Stone WS, Qian M, Yang LH, Phillips MR. Assessing social cognition in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls using the reading the mind in the eyes test (RMET): a systematic review and meta-regression. Psychol Med 2024; 54:847-873. [PMID: 38173096 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291723003501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
The reading the mind in the eyes test (RMET) - which assesses the theory of mind component of social cognition - is often used to compare social cognition between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. There is, however, no systematic review integrating the results of these studies. We identified 198 studies published before July 2020 that administered RMET to patients with schizophrenia or healthy controls from three English-language and two Chinese-language databases. These studies included 41 separate samples of patients with schizophrenia (total n = 1836) and 197 separate samples of healthy controls (total n = 23 675). The pooled RMET score was 19.76 (95% CI 18.91-20.60) in patients and 25.53 (95% CI 25.19-25.87) in controls (z = 12.41, p < 0.001). After excluding small-sample outlier studies, this difference in RMET performance was greater in studies using non-English v. English versions of RMET (Chi [Q] = 8.54, p < 0.001). Meta-regression analyses found a negative association of age with RMET score and a positive association of years of schooling with RMET score in both patients and controls. A secondary meta-analysis using a spline construction of 180 healthy control samples identified a non-monotonic relationship between age and RMET score - RMET scores increased with age before 31 and decreased with age after 31. These results indicate that patients with schizophrenia have substantial deficits in theory of mind compared with healthy controls, supporting the construct validity of RMET as a measure of social cognition. The different results for English versus non-English versions of RMET and the non-monotonic relationship between age and RMET score highlight the importance of the language of administration of RMET and the possibility that the relationship of aging with theory of mind is different from the relationship of aging with other types of cognitive functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Deng
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- University of Nottingham School of Economics (Ningbo China), Zhejiang, China
| | - Marlys A Bueber
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Yourong Cao
- Guangxi Medical University School of Public Health, Guangxi, China
- The Reproductive Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guangxi, China
| | - Jeff Tang
- New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Xinyu Bai
- Guangxi Medical University School of Public Health, Guangxi, China
- Guangxi Academy of Medical Sciences & The People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guangxi, China
| | - Young Cho
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jiwon Lee
- Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Zhuozhi Lin
- Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Qi Yang
- Ningxia Medical University School of Public Health, Ningxia, China
| | - Matcheri S Keshavan
- Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - William S Stone
- Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Min Qian
- Department of Biostatistics, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA
| | - Lawrence H Yang
- New York University, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA
| | - Michael R Phillips
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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2
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Low J, Butterfill SA, Michael J. A view from mindreading on fast-and-slow thinking. Behav Brain Sci 2023; 46:e130. [PMID: 37462173 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x22002898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/20/2023]
Abstract
De Neys's incisive critique of empirical and theoretical research on the exclusivity feature underscores the depth of the challenge of explaining the interplay of fast and slow processes. We argue that a closer look at research on mindreading reveals abundant evidence for the exclusivity feature - as well as methodological and theoretical perspectives that could inform research on fast and slow thinking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason Low
- School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand ://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jason-Low-4
| | - Stephen A Butterfill
- Department of Philosophy, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK ://www.butterfill.com/
| | - John Michael
- Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, Milano, Italy ://www.unimi.it/en/ugov/person/john-michael
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Margoni F, Cho I, Gutchess A. Intent-Based Moral Judgment in Old Age. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2023; 78:1136-1141. [PMID: 35973063 PMCID: PMC10292836 DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbac114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Recent studies support the idea of an intent-to-outcome shift in moral judgments with age. We further assessed whether a reduced reliance on intentions is associated with aging in a preregistered study with 73 younger (20-41 years) and 79 older (70-84 years) adults, group-matched on education level. METHOD Participants were presented with a set of moral cases to evaluate, created by varying orthogonally the valence (neutral, negative) of the information regarding the agent's intentions and the action's outcomes. RESULTS The two age groups did not differ in the extent they relied on intentions in moral judgment. DISCUSSION These results suggest that an intent-to-outcome shift might not be found in all aging populations, challenging prevailing theories suggesting that aging is necessarily associated with a reduced reliance on intentions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Isu Cho
- Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA
| | - Angela Gutchess
- Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA
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Henry JD, Grainger SA, von Hippel W. Determinants of Social Cognitive Aging: Predicting Resilience and Risk. Annu Rev Psychol 2023; 74:167-192. [PMID: 35973407 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-033020-121832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
This review focuses on conceptual and empirical research on determinants of social cognitive aging. We present an integrated model [the social cognitive resource (SCoRe) framework] to organize the literature and describe how social cognitive resilience is determined jointly by capacity and motivational resources. We discuss how neurobiological aging, driven by genetic and environmental influences, is associated with broader sensory, neural, and physiological changes that are direct determinants of capacity as well as indirect determinants of motivation via their influence on expectation of loss versus reward and cognitive effort valuation. Research is reviewed that shows how contextual factors, such as relationship status, familiarity, and practice, are fundamental to understanding the availability of both types of resource. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of social cognitive change in late adulthood for everyday social functioning and with recommendations for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie D Henry
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia; , ,
| | - Sarah A Grainger
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia; , ,
| | - William von Hippel
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia; , ,
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Pollerhoff L, Stietz J, Depow GJ, Inzlicht M, Kanske P, Li SC, Reiter AMF. Investigating adult age differences in real-life empathy, prosociality, and well-being using experience sampling. Sci Rep 2022; 12:3450. [PMID: 35236872 PMCID: PMC8891267 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-06620-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
While the importance of social affect and cognition is indisputable throughout the adult lifespan, findings of how empathy and prosociality develop and interact across adulthood are mixed and real-life data are scarce. Research using ecological momentary assessment recently demonstrated that adults commonly experience empathy in daily life. Furthermore, experiencing empathy was linked to higher prosocial behavior and subjective well-being. However, to date, it is not clear whether there are adult age differences in daily empathy and daily prosociality and whether age moderates the relationship between empathy and prosociality across adulthood. Here we analyzed experience-sampling data collected from participants across the adult lifespan to study age effects on empathy, prosocial behavior, and well-being under real-life circumstances. Linear and quadratic age effects were found for the experience of empathy, with increased empathy across the three younger age groups (18 to 45 years) and a slight decrease in the oldest group (55 years and older). Neither prosocial behavior nor well-being showed significant age-related differences. We discuss these findings with respect to (partially discrepant) results derived from lab-based and traditional survey studies. We conclude that studies linking in-lab experiments with real-life experience-sampling may be a promising venue for future lifespan studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Pollerhoff
- Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
| | - Julia Stietz
- Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | | | - Michael Inzlicht
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Philipp Kanske
- Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Shu-Chen Li
- Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Centre for Tactile Internet with Human-in-the-Loop, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Andrea M F Reiter
- Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
- German Centre of Prevention Research On Mental Health, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
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Stietz J, Pollerhoff L, Kurtz M, Li SC, Reiter AMF, Kanske P. The ageing of the social mind: replicating the preservation of socio-affective and the decline of socio-cognitive processes in old age. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:210641. [PMID: 34457343 PMCID: PMC8386516 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Anticipating population ageing to reach a historically unprecedented level in this century and considering the public goal of promoting well-being until old age, research in many fields has started to focus on processes and factors that contribute to healthy ageing. Since human interactions have a tremendous impact on our mental and physical well-being, scientists are increasingly investigating the basic processes that enable successful social interactions such as social affect (empathy, compassion) and social cognition (Theory of Mind). However, regarding the replication crisis in psychological science it is crucial to probe the reproducibility of findings revealed by each specific method. To this end, we aimed to replicate the effect of age on empathy, compassion and Theory of Mind observed in Reiter and colleagues' study (Reiter et al. 2017 Sci. Rep. 7, 11046 (doi:10.1038/s41598-017-10669-4)) by using the same ecologically valid paradigm in an independent sample with similar age ranges. We were able to replicate the previously observed results of a preservation or even enhancement in socio-affective processes, but a decline in socio-cognitive processes for older adults. Our findings add to the understanding of how social affect and cognition change across the adult lifespan and may suggest targets for intervention studies aiming to foster successful social interactions and well-being until advanced old age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Stietz
- Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Lena Pollerhoff
- Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Marcel Kurtz
- Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Shu-Chen Li
- Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Centre for Tactile Internet with Human-in-the-Loop, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Andrea M. F. Reiter
- Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Philipp Kanske
- Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
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7
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Chander RJ, Grainger SA, Crawford JD, Mather KA, Numbers K, Cleary R, Kochan NA, Brodaty H, Henry JD, Sachdev PS. Development of a short-form version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test for assessing theory of mind in older adults. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2020; 35:1322-1330. [PMID: 32584445 DOI: 10.1002/gps.5369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2020] [Revised: 05/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET) is a 36-item assessment for theory of mind (ToM) performance. While this measure has been shown to be sensitive to age-related ToM difficulties, there are no established cutoffs or guidelines currently available that are specific to older adults. This article seeks to validate a short-form version of the RMET appropriate for use in such populations. METHODS Cross-sectional data from 295 participants (mean age 86 years) from the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study, a longitudinal community observational cohort. Participants underwent an assessment battery that included the RMET. Individuals who scored >1SD below the RMET scores of cognitively normal participants were deemed to have below average RMET scores. Various model-building methods were used to generate short-form solutions of the RMET, which were compared with previously validated versions in their predictive power for below average full RMET performance. RESULTS Individuals with below average RMET performance tended to be older and have poorer global cognition. Of the eight short-form solutions, the 21-item version generated using genetic algorithm exhibited the best classification performance with an area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) of 0.98 and had 93.2% accuracy in classifying individuals with below average ToM. A shorter 10-item solution derived by ant colony optimization also had acceptable performance. CONCLUSION We recommend the 21-item version of the RMET for use in older adult populations for identifying individuals with impaired ToM. Where an even shorter version is needed with a trade-off of slightly reduced performance, the 10-item version is acceptable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Russell J Chander
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CheBA), School Of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia
| | - Sarah A Grainger
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - John D Crawford
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CheBA), School Of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia
| | - Karen A Mather
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CheBA), School Of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia.,Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), Sydney, New South Wales, 2031, Australia
| | - Katya Numbers
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CheBA), School Of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia
| | - Rhiagh Cleary
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CheBA), School Of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia
| | - Nicole A Kochan
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CheBA), School Of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia
| | - Henry Brodaty
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CheBA), School Of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia.,Dementia Collaborative Research Centre (DCRC), University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia.,Neuropsychiatric Institute, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, 2031, Australia
| | - Julie D Henry
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Perminder S Sachdev
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CheBA), School Of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia.,Neuropsychiatric Institute, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, 2031, Australia
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Bradford EEF, Brunsdon VEA, Ferguson HJ. The neural basis of belief-attribution across the lifespan: False-belief reasoning and the N400 effect. Cortex 2020; 126:265-280. [PMID: 32092495 PMCID: PMC7181171 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Revised: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 01/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
The current study examined how social cognition – specifically, belief-state processing – changes across the lifespan, using a large sample (N = 309) of participants aged 10–86 years. Participants completed an event-related brain potential study in which they listened to stories involving a character who held either a true- or false-belief about the location of an object, and then acted in a manner consistent or inconsistent to this belief-state. Analysis of the N400 revealed that when the character held a true-belief, inconsistent outcomes led to a more negative-going N400 waveform than consistent outcomes. In contrast, when the character held a false-belief, consistent outcomes led to a more negative-going N400 waveform than inconsistent outcomes, indicating that participants interpreted the character's actions according to their own more complete knowledge of reality. Importantly, this egocentric bias was not modulated by age in an early time window (200–400 msec post-stimulus onset), meaning that initial processing is grounded in reality, irrespective of age. However, this egocentric effect was correlated with age in a later time window (400–600 msec post-stimulus onset), as older adults continued to consider the story events according to their own knowledge of reality, but younger participants had now switched to accommodate the character's perspective. In a final 600–1000 msec time window, this age modulation was no longer present. Interestingly, results suggested that this extended egocentric processing in older adults was not the result of domain-general cognitive declines, as no significant relationship was found with executive functioning (inhibitory control and working memory).
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Zani G, Butterfill SA, Low J. Mindreading in the balance: adults' mediolateral leaning and anticipatory looking foretell others' action preparation in a false-belief interactive task. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:191167. [PMID: 32218946 PMCID: PMC7029919 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2019] [Accepted: 01/02/2020] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Anticipatory looking on mindreading tasks can indicate our expectation of an agent's action. The challenge is that social situations are often more complex, involving instances where we need to track an agent's false belief to successfully identify the outcome to which an action is directed. If motor processes can guide how action goals are understood, it is conceivable-where that kind of goal ascription occurs in false-belief tasks-for motor representations to account for someone's belief-like state. Testing adults (N = 42) in a real-time interactive helping scenario, we discovered that participants' early mediolateral motor activity (leftwards-rightwards leaning on balance board) foreshadowed the agent's belief-based action preparation. These results suggest fast belief-tracking can modulate motor representations generated in the course of one's interaction with an agent. While adults' leaning, and anticipatory looking, revealed the contribution of fast false-belief tracking, participants did not correct the agent's mistake in their final helping action. These discoveries suggest that adults may not necessarily use another's belief during overt social interaction or find reflecting on another's belief as being normatively relevant to one's own choice of action. Our interactive task design offers a promising way to investigate how motor and mindreading processes may be variously integrated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Zani
- School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
| | | | - Jason Low
- School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
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10
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Cho I, Cohen AS. Explaining age-related decline in theory of mind: Evidence for intact competence but compromised executive function. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0222890. [PMID: 31539418 PMCID: PMC6754124 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Accepted: 09/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies suggest theory of mind (ToM) ability declines with age. However, prior tasks not only required ToM competence but also imposed high executive function (EF) demands, so decline in ToM ability could be caused by deterioration in ToM competence, EF, or both. It was predicted that if the elderly have intact ToM competence but compromised EF, then they should perform similarly to younger adults when using ToM tasks that lower executive demands, such as spontaneous-response tasks. Results showed that on tasks with reduced demands, older adults tracked belief to the same extent as younger adults, despite their declining EF. The findings support a model in which age-related decline in ToM ability is primarily caused by compromised EF, not ToM competence, suggesting that underlying ToM mechanisms are still intact in the elderly. We discuss implications of this work for competence-performance issues in ToM processing and the underlying sources of age-related deterioration of ToM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isu Cho
- Department of Psychology and Brain and Mind Institute, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Adam S. Cohen
- Department of Psychology and Brain and Mind Institute, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
- * E-mail:
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11
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Causal evidence of right temporal parietal junction involvement in implicit Theory of Mind processing. Neuroimage 2019; 196:329-336. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.04.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2019] [Revised: 04/02/2019] [Accepted: 04/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
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Kulke L, Johannsen J, Rakoczy H. Why can some implicit Theory of Mind tasks be replicated and others cannot? A test of mentalizing versus submentalizing accounts. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0213772. [PMID: 30909288 PMCID: PMC6433471 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2018] [Accepted: 03/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In the last 15 years, Theory of Mind research has been revolutionized by the development of new implicit tasks. Such tasks aim at tapping children’s and adults’ uninstructed, largely automatic mental state ascription, indicated in spontaneous looking behavior when observing agents who act on the basis of false beliefs. Studies with anticipatory looking, in particular, have suggested that basic ToM capacities operate from very early in life and remain in unconscious operation throughout the lifespan. Recently, however, systematic replication attempts of anticipatory looking measures have yielded a complex and puzzling mixture of successful, partial and non-replications. The present study aimed at shedding light on the question whether there is a system to this pattern. More specifically, in a set of three preregistered experiments, it was tested whether those conditions that could previously be replicated and those that could not differ in crucial conceptual respects such that the former do not strictly require ToM whereas the latter do. This was tested by the implementation of novel control conditions. The results were complex. There was generally no unambiguous evidence for reliable spontaneous ToM and no effect of the number of passed familiarization trials. Neither was there any unambiguous evidence that the previous mixed patterns of (non-)replications could be explained (away) by the sub-mentalizing account tested in the new control conditions. The empirical situation remains puzzling, and the question whether there is some such thing as implicit and spontaneous ToM remains to be clarified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louisa Kulke
- University of Göttingen, Institute of Psychology, Göttingen, Germany
- Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Göttingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Josefin Johannsen
- University of Göttingen, Institute of Psychology, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Hannes Rakoczy
- University of Göttingen, Institute of Psychology, Göttingen, Germany
- Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Göttingen, Germany
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