The Influential Mechanisms of Theory of Mind on Prosocial Behavior and the Effect of Mindfulness Intervention

Background:Theory of Mind(ToM)and empathy are crucial cognitive and emotional capacities that influence social interactions.While their role in promoting prosocial behavior has been established,the potential moderating effect of mindfulness on this relationship remains unexplored.Understanding these complex interactions is vital for developing effective interventions to foster prosocial behavior among college students.This study examines the influence of ToM on college students’prosocial behavior and explores the moderating role of mindfulness in this relationship.Methods:A mixed-methods approach combining questionnaires and experimental design was employed.Study 1:A survey of 759 college students(mean age 22.03 years;477 females)was conducted using the ToM Scale,Interpersonal Reactivity Index,Prosocial Behavior Tendency Scale,and Mindfulness Awareness Scale.Data were analyzed using correlation and moderated mediation analyses.Study 2:An 8-week mindfulness attention training program was implemented for the intervention group and compared with a control group.Mindfulness training served as a moderating variable to validate Model 59 from Study 1.Results:1.Study 1 found:(a)ToM was significantly positively correlated with prosocial behavior(r=0.31,p<0.01).(b)Empathy partially mediated the relationship between ToM and prosocial behavior(β=0.10,p<0.001,95%CI[0.06,0.14]).(c)Mindfulness negatively moderated the direct path between ToM and three dimensions of prosocial behavior,as well as the indirect path between empathy and kin altruism and reciprocal altruism.Specifically,high levels of mindfulness weakened the direct impact of ToM on prosocial behavior.High levels of mindfulness also weakened the indirect influence of ToM on prosocial behavior through empathy.2.Study 2 results showed:(a)The intervention group had significantly higher levels of trait mindfulness compared to the control group(t=2.56,p<0.05).(b)The validity of the moderated mediation model 59 from Study 1 was verified.Conclusion:While ToM and empathy play crucial roles in fostering prosocial behavior,mindfulness exhibits a more complex influence than anticipated,potentially inhibiting prosocial behavior under certain circumstances.These findings offer novel insights into the psychological mechanisms underlying prosocial behavior and underscore the importance of considering multiple interacting factors in its promotion.

The Evolution of Theory of Mind in the Human Evolution

Despite almost half a century of research for theory of mind, its evolutionary origin is largely unknown. This paper proposes that the evolutionary origin of theory of mind starts from the beginning of the human evolution to form hominins through bipedalism and the mixed habitat. The feet of the early hominins were still adapted for grasping trees rather than walking for long distances and running fast on the ground. The early hominins lived in the mixed habitat of grassy woodland with patches of denser forest, and freshwater springs. The difficulty of walking in the mixed habitat leads to division of labor for the home specialist group (small children, old people, and mothers with small children, and pregnant women) in the safe forest area and the exploration specialist group (young people without the care of small children) in the dangerous open area. The different tasks, attitudes, and mentalities in different specialist groups produce theory of mind as the ability to attribute different mental states to different specialist groups. (Uniformity of mind instead of theory of mind is for generalists without division of labor). The early Homo species with the open habitat developed theory of mind for hunter specialist group and gatherer specialist group. The middle Homo species with complex stone tools developed theory of mind for the cooperative specialist groups in the large production of complex stone tools. The late Homo species with complex social interaction developed theory of mind for mind reading to enhance cooperation and to detect cheaters in complex social interaction. For religion, the unusually harsh Upper Paleolithic Period developed theory of mind for imaginary specialists in terms of supernatural power, guidance, and comfort. Therefore, the three general types of theory of mind are for specialists in division of labor, mind reading in complex social interaction, and imaginary specialists in imaginary division of labor under harsh conditions. Self-awareness in the mirror self-recognition test is also explained.

Uta Frith’s thoughts on the Theory of Mind and Autistic Deficit: Dialogue between Art and Neuroscience

The contemporary scientist and German developmental psychologist at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience of University College London, Uta Frith has mainly focused her research on autism spectrum disorder and the related theory-of-mind deficit. To explain the autistic mentalistic deficit, the psychologist has used a specific tool: art, her initial pursuit cultivated at the Universität des Saarlandes, in Germany. Thus, this work seeks to reconstruct the artistic influences on Uta Frith’s scientific efforts, highlighting how the dialogical intersection of two seemingly distant disciplines, like art and neuroscience, can generate surprising new networks of signification and an understanding of the intrapsychic and interpsychic worlds. Art challenges us to develop moments of neuroscientific knowledge. On the other. In contrast, neuroscience offers the opportunity to develop further insights into the role of visual perception in contemplating works of art.

Transcranial direct current stimulation enhances theory of mind in Parkinson’s disease patients with mild cognitive impairment:a randomized,double-blind,sham-controlled study

Background:Parkinson’s Disease(PD)with mild cognitive impairment(MCI)(PD-MCI)represents one of the most dreaded complications for patients with PD and is associated with a higher risk of developing dementia.Although transcranial direct current stimulation(tDCS)has been demonstrated to improve motor and non-motor symptoms in PD,to date,no study has investigated the effects of tDCS on Theory of Mind(ToM),i.e.,the ability to understand and predict other people’s behaviours,in PD-MCI.Methods:In this randomized,double-blind,sham-controlled study,we applied active tDCS over the medial frontal cortex(MFC)to modulate ToM performance in twenty patients with PD-MCI.Twenty matched healthy controls(HC)were also enrolled and were asked to perform the ToM task without receiving tDCS.Results:In the patients with PD-MCI,i)ToM performance was worse than that in the HC,ii)ToM abilities were poorer in those with fronto-executive difficulties,and iii)tDCS over the MFC led to significant shortening of latency for ToM tasks.Conclusions:We show for the first time that active tDCS over the MFC enhances ToM in patients with PD-MCI,and suggest that non-invasive brain stimulation could be used to ameliorate ToM deficits observed in these patients.

Social brain dysfunctions in patients with Parkinson’s disease: a review of theory of mind studies

Human social interaction is essential in daily life and crucial for a promising life,especially in people who suffer from disease.Theory of Mind(ToM)is fundamental in social interaction and is described as the ability to impute the mental states of others in social situations.Studies have proposed that a complex neuroanatomical network that includes the frontal cortex mediates ToM.The primary neuropathology of Parkinson’s disease(PD)involves the frontal-striatal system;therefore,patients with PD are expected to exhibit deficits in ToM.In this review,we summarize the current research with a particular focus on the patterns of impaired ToM,potential mediators of ToM,and the impact of ToM deficits on clinical disability in PD.Further studies to investigate the progression of ToM and its relationship with dementia in subjects in PD are needed.

Theory of mind impairments in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis

Objective To determine deficits in theory of mind in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis(UHR),and to explore the relations between theory of mind and symptom severity.Methods Twenty seven ultra-high-risk patients in clinics of the Peking University Sixth

＂Greasing the Skids＂： Interdisciplinary Rhetoric and Mindblindness

The idea of mindblindness reaching outside of neuroscience is an important one. It is significant because there is concern in all quarters about the prevalence and meaning of autism diagnoses. Secondly, mindblindness rhetoric reflects the kinds of rhetorical devices scholars use to analyze this theory. Finally, mindblindness is a fertile ground for research collaboration between neuroscientists, social scientists and humanities scholars as it skirts the boundaries of disciplinarity. What about mindblindness theory makes it an interdisciplinary phenomenon, complete with interdisciplinary collaborations and mutual knowledge-seeking？ I argue in this paper that specific forms of rhetoric ＂grease the skids,＂ meaning that they can be construed flexibly in both the neuroscientific language and the ＂other-discipline＂ language. Because of the flexibility of these rhetorical conveyances, interdisciplinary collaboration has exploded around mindblindness dialogue, despite the traditional differences in disciplinary methodology.

A CHILDES Analysis of Mental State Verbs in Mandarin-speaking Children

Mental state verbs(MSVs)are believed to be closely related with the development of Theory of Mind(ToM).Studies on MSVs have yielded fruitful results abroad over the past three decades,especially in ToM,while it still has a long way to go for the Mandarin-speaking children.The present study focuses on mental state verbs in Mandarin-speaking children and explores the universality of ToM,as well as the development features.An analysis of their spontaneous speech from the CHILDES archives reveals,first,that Mandarin-speaking children use desire terms much earlier than other terms,suggesting a pattern of theory-of-mind development similar to that in English;second,the developmental trend of the MSVs is relatively steady while the number of different categories varies a lot.This study suggests a consistency in the overall sequence,but variation in the timing of beginning and end points,which is helpful to further related investigation.

How Do Young Children Manage Their Reputation among Peers?

Young children’s reputation management is closely related to their social development.The purpose of our study is to examine the interaction between theory of mind and partner choice on children’s reputation management.Participants consisted of 270 children who were 3 to 5 years old.First,we measured participants’theory of mind capabilities using the unexpected location task and unexpected content task and then randomly divided the participants into the control group,non-partner–choice group,and partner-choice group.We measured reputation management by comparing children’s willingness to share and sharing behavior between these groups.Thefindings are as follows:(1)Children from ages 3 to 5 demonstrated reputation management,and their reputation management followed a significant developmental trend.The reputation management of 4-to 5-year-old children was significantly better than that of 3-year-old children.(2)Scores on the theory of mind tasks positively predicted children’s reputation management.(3)Partner choice affected children’s reputation management.In the partner-choice group,children’s reputation management was more apparent.(4)Partner choice did moderate the relationship between theory of mind and children’s reputation management.In the partner-choice group,theory of mind had a stronger predictive effect on children’s reputation management.

Social skills and psychopathology are associated with autonomic function in children:a cross-sectional observational study

In recent years,the increase of psychopathological disorders in the population has become a health emergency,leading to a great effort to understand psychological vulnerability mechanisms.In this scenario,the role of the autonomic nervous system(ANS)has become increasingly important.This study investigated the association between ANS,social skills,and psychopathological functioning in children.As an ANS status proxy,we measured heart rate variability(HRV).Infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of the University Hospital of Padova because of preterm birth or neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy were sequentially recruited from January 2011 to June 2013 and followed long-term up to school age in this cross-sectional observational study.We recorded 5 minutes of HRV immediately before measuring performance in social abilities tasks(affect recognition and theory of mind,NEPSY-II)in 50 children(mean age 7.4±1.4 years)with and without risk factors for developing neuropsychiatric disorders due to pre-/perinatal insults without major sequelae.Children also completed extensive cognitive,neuropsychological,and psychosocial assessment.Parents were assessed with psychopathological interviews and a questionnaire(CBCL 6-18).Analysis in a robust Bayesian framework was used to unearth dependencies between HRV,social skills,and psychopathological functioning.Social task scores were associated with HRV components,with high frequency the most consistent.HRV bands were also associated with the psychopathological questionnaire.Only normalized HRV high frequency was able to distinguish impaired children in the affect recognition task.Our data suggest that ANS may be implicated in social cognition both in typical and atypical developmental conditions and that HRV has cross-disease sensitivity.We suggest that HRV parameters may reflect a neurobiological vulnerability to psychopathology.The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University Hospital of Padova(Comitato Etico per la Sperimentazione,Azienda Opedaliera di Padova,approval No.1693 P).

Artificial Social Intelligence:A Comparative and Holistic View

In addition to a physical comprehension of the world,humans possess a high social intelligence-the intelligence that senses social events,infers the goals and intents of others,and facilitates social interaction.Notably,humans are distinguished from their closest primate cousins by their social cognitive skills as opposed to their physical counterparts.We believe that artificial social intelligence(ASI)will play a crucial role in shaping the future of artificial intelligence(AI).This article begins with a review of ASI from a cognitive science standpoint,including social perception,theory of mind(ToM),and social interaction.Next,we examine the recently-emerged computational counterpart in the AI community.Finally,we provide an in-depth discussion on topics related to ASI.