The beginnings of the theory of mind debate for any who are interested is well covered in Davies, M. and Stone T., eds., 1995, *Folk Psychology: The Theory of Mind Debate*.
Given the origins of the idea that each of us has a theory of the other's mind I have always found it amusing how "theory of mind" has factored into the debate over "Animal Consciousness".
Anyone who is interested in this can read this article in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness-animal/
On 5/3/06, Jim Devine <jdevine03 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 5/3/06, Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu> wrote:
> > Wojtek suffers from a serious defect of imagination. He honestly cannot
> > conceive, even hypothetically, of anyone disagreeing with him. Hence
> > when someone doesm it has to be due to some character defect or
> > dishonest motive...
>
> >The "theory of mind" is quite simply, the ability to think about
> one's own mind and the mind of another. It is called a "theory"
> because, at best, when we think about what may be going on in the mind
> of another person it is an educated guess. Some people [including
> Simon Baron-Cohen, cousin of Ali G] have referred to this ability as
> "mind reading". Probably this is an accurate description.
>
> >[Neurotypical] Children as young as age three or four can already
> "read minds". That is, they are able to know that others have
> different thoughts than they do, they know that others may not know
> everything they do, and they can guess what another may think or do
> about something they do, say, or even think. They are not perfect at
> this, hence you may get a child who makes up fantastic stories in
> order to cover up what they actually did (e.g., "The dog ate my
> homework.").
>
> >How this applies to autism is that researchers have found the theory
> of mind to be an area of deficiency for most people with autism and
> Asperger's Syndrome. <
>
> [from http://groups.msn.com/TheAutismHomePage/theoryofmind.msnw ]
>
> >[The theory of an absence of a] Theory of mind [among those with
> autism] refers to the notion that many autistic individuals do not
> understand that other people have their own plans, thoughts, and
> points of view. Furthermore, it appears that they have difficulty
> understanding other people's beliefs, attitudes, and emotions.
>
> >Many of the tasks used to test this theory have been given to
> non-autistic children as well as children with mental retardation, and
> the [lack of a] theory of mind phenomenon appears to be unique to
> those with autism. In addition, [the presence or absence of] theory of
> mind appears to be independent of intelligence even though people with
> Asperger's syndrome exhibit this problem to a lesser degree.
>
> >Interestingly, people with autism have difficulty comprehending when
> others don't know something. It is quite common, especially for those
> with savant abilities [for example, those seen in the Dustin Hoffman
> character in the fictional film "Rainman"], to become upset when
> asking a question of a person to which the person does not know the
> answer.
>
> >By not understanding that other people think differently than
> themselves, many autistic individuals may have problems relating
> socially and communicating to other people. That is, they may not be
> able to anticipate what others will say or do in various situations.
> In addition, they may have difficulty understanding that their peers
> or classmates even have thoughts and emotions, and may thus appear to
> be self-centered, eccentric, or uncaring.
>
> >Although this is an egocentric view of the world, there is nothing in
> the [lack of a] theory of mind to imply that autistic individuals feel
> superior to others. <
>
> [from "Theory of Mind" by Stephen M. Edelson, Ph.D., Center for the
> Study of Autism, Salem, Oregon http://www.autism.org/mind.html]
>
> I am not saying that WS has autism or Asperger's Syndrome, since
> e-mail tends to produce autistic tendencies in us all. And there is
> nothing wrong with being autistic. After all, such luminaries as
> Albert Einstein and Bill Gates may have (had) it. I have a tad of
> autism (mild Asperger's syndrome) myself.
> --
> Jim Devine / "Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment
> for economists." -- John Kenneth Galbraith.
>
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>
-- Jerry Monaco's Philosophy, Politics, Culture Weblog is Shandean Postscripts to Politics, Philosophy, and Culture http://monacojerry.livejournal.com/
His fiction, poetry, weblog is Hopeful Monsters: Fiction, Poetry, Memories http://www.livejournal.com/users/jerrymonaco/
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