As humans, we are consciously aware of unobservable mental states, including our own during episodic memory and other people's by having a "theory of mind" (ToM). Episodic memory and ToM are closely related: they share a neural substrate and emerge close in time in ontogenetic development. This relationship is central to prominent child development and cognitive neuroscience theories of ToM, bu...

The potential utility of a distinction between 'automatic (or spontaneous) and implicit' versus 'controlled and explicit' processes in theory of mind (ToM) is undercut by the fact that the terms can be employed to describe different but related distinctions within cognitive systems serving that function. These include distinctions in the underlying cognitive systems, processes, or representatio...

According to Howe (2002), humor originates from perceiving the thoughts of the subject of the humor, implying the involvement of perspective-taking or related mental processes. However, how does the ability to infer the mental states of others, or theory of mind (ToM) operate with the comprehension of humor is yet certain. The current research continued to examine this idea using fMRI, hoping t...

The ability to mentalize and attribute beliefs, intentions and desires to others has been found by the vast majority of studies to be impaired in patients with schizophrenia. However, it is not yet clear if this deficit in Theory of Mind (ToM) is independent of their also well established deficits in basic cognitive functioning. In the present study, we sought to clarify the above relationship ...

This study examined 'Theory of Mind' (ToM) functioning, its association with psychometric schizotypy and with self-reported psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and depressive symptoms, in a community sample of adolescents. Seventy-two adolescents (mean age 14.51years) from Barcelona, Spain, completed questionnaires assessing PLEs, depressive symptoms, and schizotypy. A verbal ToM task and a vocab...

Whether theory of mind (ToM) is preserved in Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains a controversial subject. Recent studies have showed that performance on some ToM tests might be altered in AD, though to a lesser extent than in behavioural-variant Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD). It is however, unclear if this reflects a genuine impairment of ToM or a deficit secondary to the general cognitive decli...

Theory-of-mind (ToM) is a conceptual framework used for interpreting human social activity (Astington, 2003). ToM has traditionally been conceptualized as an understanding of false belief, which is the understanding that people have different beliefs about the same object or situation and that those beliefs may not be consistent with reality. Hearing children acquire false belief between 4and 5...