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How to construct a minimal theory of mind
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Butterfill, Stephen A. (Stephen Andrew) and Apperly, Ian (2013) How to construct a minimal theory of mind. Mind and Language, Volume 28 (Number 5). pp. 606-637. doi:10.1111/mila.12036
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1468-0017
Abstract
What could someone represent that would enable her to track, at least within limits, others' perceptions, knowledge states and beliefs including false beliefs? An obvious possibility is that she might represent these very attitudes as such. It is sometimes tacitly or explicitly assumed that this is the only possible answer. However, we argue that several recent discoveries in developmental, cognitive, and comparative psychology indicate the need for other, less obvious possibilities. Our aim is to meet this need by describing the construction of a minimal theory of mind. Minimal theory of mind is rich enough to explain systematic success on tasks held to be acid tests for theory of mind cognition including many false belief tasks. Yet minimal theory of mind does not require representing propositional attitudes, or any other kind of representation, as such. Minimal theory of mind may be what enables those with limited cognitive resources or little conceptual sophistication, such as infants, chimpanzees, scrub-jays and human adults under load, to track others' perceptions, knowledge states and beliefs.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BD Speculative Philosophy |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Philosophy | ||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Philosophy of mind | ||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Mind and Language | ||||
| Publisher: | Blackwell Publishing | ||||
| ISSN: | 1468-0017 | ||||
| Official Date: | November 2013 | ||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | Volume 28 | ||||
| Number: | Number 5 | ||||
| Page Range: | pp. 606-637 | ||||
| DOI: | 10.1111/mila.12036 | ||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||
| Version or Related Resource: | Butterfill, S. A. (2010). How to construct a minimal theory of mind. Philosophy Department, University of Magdeburg, 29 June 2010. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/41060 | ||||
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