False-belief batteries
Verbal and non-verbal probes of mental-state representation.
Methods span developmental vignettes, eye-tracking, hyperscanning and computational models of theory of mind — each with ecological limits.
Triangulate tasks; a single Eyes Test score is not a person.
Tools
Eye-tracking / gaze
Implicit attention to faces, objects and speakers.
fMRI / MEG
Map mentalising and STS dynamics during social tasks.
Hyperscanning
Simultaneous recording of interacting brains.
Economic games
Quantify trust, fairness and punishment.
Computational ToM models
Bayesian and RL accounts of belief updating.
Protocols
Cross-cultural ToM batteries
Test which milestones generalise beyond WEIRD samples.
Interactive live paradigms
Replace passive videos with real partners when feasible.
Lesion-symptom social maps
Link focal damage to mentalising and value deficits.
Longitudinal adolescent cohorts
Track peer sensitivity and network maturation.
Limits
Task impurity
Language and executive load confound many ToM tests.
Actor vs observer gap
Lab videos miss embodied interaction dynamics.
WEIRD sampling
Norms for eye contact and mindreading vary widely.
Preregister social-media “brain change” claims; most overreach.
Sources & research
- Social cognition in humansConcise map of human social-cognitive processes.DOI
- The social brain: neural basis of social knowledgeSystems overview of the social brain.DOI
- Does the autistic child have a "theory of mind"?Landmark false-belief study in autism research.DOI
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