3.2.4—Theory of mind

Theory of mind is the ability to represent another person's beliefs, intentions, knowledge or feelings, including the possibility that they are mistaken. It supports prediction and communication but is not identical to empathy.

Tasks often test whether a child distinguishes reality from another person's belief. Performance depends on language, executive control, familiarity and task demands, so a failed task does not isolate one missing mental ability.

If a child sees a toy moved while another person is absent, predicting where that person will search tests access to information rather than the child's own knowledge. The mismatch is the key evidence.

Passing a false-belief task does not prove mature social understanding in every setting, and failing it does not prove an absence of all perspective-taking.