2 University Psychology Short Answers
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2 University Psychology Short Answers
Question 2. What is meant by the term theory of mind? Discuss problems individuals with ASD if they have an impaired theory of mind.
Theory of mind (ToM) is a vital social-cognitive skill that entails the ability to interpret one’s mental state and that of other people (Rabinowitz et al., 2018). Fundamentally, it is the capability to attribute mental status such as emotions, desires, values and, and knowledge. Most importantly, it is the ability to appreciate that other individuals’ thoughts and beliefs are entirely different from one’s own. Therefore it is vital to consider all factors causing different mental states (Baker et al., 2017). According to psychologists, there is no obvious way of knowing what people might be thinking. As a result, people only make predictions and develop theories based on what people say, how they behave, their personality, and their intentions.
Theory of mind is crucial, especially during the developmental stages. For instance, infants tend to be more egocentric, making them unable to think about other people’s mental states. As these children grow, their theory of mind emerges and develops (Warnell & Redcay, 2019). Additionally, ToM is vital as it presents the capability to predict and understand other people’s behavior. Developing a strong ToM is critical in the social world. It helps people comprehend how other people think, anticipate others’ actions, engage in social relations, and solve interpersonal issues. To interact with others, it is essential to understand their mental state and how this state can influence their behavior (Preckel et al., 2018). Accurately understanding how others think makes it easy for one to respond accordingly. Primarily, theory of mind begins to develop at three years as kids gain experience with social interactions. For instance, playing, imitating others, and establishing relationships with parents and peers helps kids develop vital insights into people’s way of thinking and how it differs from their own.
Generally, having an impaired theory of mind presents difficulties in determining other people’s intentions, a lack of understanding of how one’s behavior affects others, and challenges with social reciprocity. Studies show that theory of mind develops once a child learns communication techniques. However, kids with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have an impaired ToM or do not employ theory of mind (Jones et al., 2018). An impaired ToM is responsible for severe mindreading deficits in people with ASD. Autistic kids have severe challenges assigning a mental state to others. Most people with autism fail the basic false-beliefs test due to poor language skills. False-belief tests require shifting from one’s perspective to other people’s perspective.
Essentially, theory of mind abilities entirely relies on language abilities and comprehension, which is low in autistic people. Additionally, autistic kids with an impaired theory of mind have poor social and academic skills due to socio-communicative deficits caused by development delays resulting from the condition (Andreou & Skrimpa, 2020). Moreover, an impaired theory of mind in people with ASD causes slow development of the emphathizing system. A slow maturity of the emphathizing system limits the capacity to identify others’ psychological states and prevents proper emotional reactions.
Additionally, an impaired theory of mind in people with ASD undermines their ability to interact in socially normative ways in a particular social context. Most people with ASD have challenges reading and interpreting verbal and non-verbal social communications of others. Research shows autistic kids with an impaired theory of mind incorrectly predict behavior based on reality without considering others’ epistemic states (Mazza et al., 2017). Fundamentally, an impaired theory of mind in people with ASD results in weaker cognitive control and challenges in pragmatic understanding. Furthermore, kids with ASD and an impaired theory of memory may have a clear understanding of physical functions but fail to understand mental processes (Hoogenhout & Malcolm-Smith, 2017). As a result, these kids have challenges developing deception or knowing when someone else is deceiving them.
Q4. Discuss the importance of playful activity for the development of peer relations and friendships.
Playful activity provides people with an opportunity to develop vital inter and intrapersonal skills and competencies. In the process, people discover various positive qualities about themselves and their peers (Coelho et al., 2017). Additionally, play allows people, especially children, to learn metacommunicative tactics and negotiate ideas. Consequently, people learn how to respect other people’s opinions, perspectives, and suggestions. Generally, play lays a foundation for learning and acquiring the skill required for positive social interactions. Additionally, playful activities provide an avenue for people to lead and follow others. Playing teaches people how to be patient and wait for their turn.
Developing patience reduces conflict and fosters respectful peer relations and lasting friendships. By interacting with peers during playful activities, people become more sensitized to their peers’ needs and attitudes (Whitebread et al., 2017). For most people, playful activity plays a central role in building connections that enhance the development of the social dimension. Moreover, playing allows people to imitate what others do. As a result, people learn to comprehend different types of social behavior presented by their peers.
Besides good physical development, playful activity is effective for socio-emotional development needed to strengthen peer relations and friendships. Besides, playing is a simple way of initiating interactions and solving underlying conflicts with their peers (Williamson et al., 2020). Furthermore, playing promotes verbal and non-verbal communication. As a result, peers can understand each other regardless of the communication strategy used. Majority of people view play as having no significant purpose. On the contrary, play prepares people for a complex social world. Studies argue that play boost brain function required for coordination and cooperation among peers. Through playing, learn that each person is different from the other. As a result, people learn how to get along with others through compromise and bargaining (Barr, 2017). Through playing, people get to share. For instance, children often exchange and share toys each time they interact.
Besides having fun, playing involves working together. Team building allows peers to support each other emotionally and strategically toward a mutual goal (Wang et al., 2019). Through these experiences, people develop relations and friendships that provide additional sources of security and support. In the social world, these are particularly vital, especially during the developmental stages. Being accepted and respected by peers is a crucial source of affirmation and self-esteem. Mostly, play involves multiple competing teams with a mutual target. This play tactic encourages loyalty within the team. In the social world, strong peer relations and friendships are built upon loyalty and trust (Theobald et al., 2017). Additionally, play provides an avenue for people to form and join peer groups, where most individuals get psychological support. Furthermore, play allows children to develop language skills required for interaction and effective communication with their peers presently and in the future.
As peers play, they can comfortably relate and consolidate their concerns. As a result, these peers respond to each other’s problems with empathy and without negative judgment. Through playful activities, people discover their preferences (Zosh et al., 2017). They discover people with whom they have mutual goals and interests. People experiencing psychological and social difficulties may have challenges sharing personal issues directly. However, such people may be more comfortable sharing such troubles with their peers during play.
As evident in children’s lives, play breaks all forms of discrimination based on tribe and social status. Therefore, playful activities play a vital role in preventing and managing the adverse consequence of discrimination in society. Play is an effective way for adults to escape stressful commitments and be socially active in an unstructured and creative way (Brooker, 2017). Generally, sharing laughter and fun during play fosters empathy, compassion, trust, and intimacy with peers. Since play does not necessarily require adhering to a defined order of events, people comfortably loosen up, break the ice with strangers, make new friendships, and form business partnerships.
References
Andreou, M., & Skrimpa, V. (2020). Theory of mind deficits and neurophysiological operations in autism spectrum disorders: A review. Brain Sciences, 10(6), 393.
Baker, C. L., Jara-Ettinger, J., Saxe, R., & Tenenbaum, J. B. (2017). Rational quantitative attribution of beliefs, desires, and percepts in human mentalizing. Nature Human Behaviour, 1(4), 1-10.
Barr, D. (2017). Friendship and belonging. In Fostering Friendship (pp. 19-30). Routledge.
Brooker, L. (2017). Learning to play or playing to learn? Children’s participation in the cultures of homes and settings. Young children’s play and creativity: Multiple voices, 14-25.
Coelho, L., Torres, N., Fernandes, C., & Santos, A. J. (2017). Quality of play, social acceptance, and reciprocal Friendship in preschool children. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 25(6), 812-823.
Hoogenhout, M., & Malcolm-Smith, S. (2017). Theory of mind predicts severity level in autism. Autism, 21(2), 242-252.
Jones, C. R., Simonoff, E., Baird, G., Pickles, A., Marsden, A. J., Tregay, J., … & Charman, T. (2018). The association between theory of mind, executive function, and the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder. Autism Research, 11(1), 95-109.
Mazza, M., Mariano, M., Peretti, S., Masedu, F., Pino, M. C., & Valenti, M. (2017). The role of theory of mind on social information processing in children with autism spectrum disorders: A mediation analysis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47(5), 1369-1379.
Preckel, K., Kanske, P., & Singer, T. (2018). On the interaction of social affect and cognition: empathy, compassion, and theory of mind. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 19, 1-6.
Rabinowitz, N. C., Perbet, F., Song, H. F., Zhang, C., Eslami, S. M., & Botvinick, M. (2018). Machine theory of mind. arXiv preprint arXiv:1802.07740.
Theobald, M., Danby, S. J., Thompson, C., & Thorpe, K. (2017). Friendships. Health and wellbeing in childhood, 114-132.
Wang, Y., Hawk, S. T., Tang, Y., Schlegel, K., & Zou, H. (2019). Characteristics of emotion recognition ability among primary school children: Relationships with peer status and friendship quality. Child Indicators Research, 12(4), 1369-1388.
Warnell, K. R., & Redcay, E. (2019). Minimal coherence among varied theory of mind measures in childhood and adulthood. Cognition, 191, 103997.
Whitebread, D., Neale, D., Jensen, H., Liu, C., Solis, S. L., Hopkins, E., … & Zosh, J. (2017). The role of play in children’s development: a review of the evidence. LEGO Fonden.
Williamson, J., Lovatt, D., & Hedges, H. (2020). Looking beyond books and blocks: Peers playing around with concepts. In Peer Play and Relationships in Early Childhood (pp. 197-213). Springer, Cham.
Zosh, J. N., Hopkins, E. J., Jensen, H., Liu, C., Neale, D., Hirsh-Pasek, K., … & Whitebread, D. (2017). Learning through play: a review of the evidence. LEGO Fonden.