Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASCs) are marked by social-communicative difficulties and unusually fixed or repetitive interests, activities, and behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). In this thesis, I review empirically and conceptually based philosophic proposals that maintain the social-communicative difficulties exhibited by persons on the autism spectrum result from a lack of capacity to understand other persons as minded. I will argue that the social-communicative difficulties that characterize ASCs may instead result from a lack of ability to access other minds, and that this lack of ability is due to a contingent lack of external resources.

In this study, the development of a second-order false belief task is investigated by considering the impact of the acquisition of Turkish evidential markers, namely &ndash / DI (direct evidence) and &ndash / mIs (inference or hearsay). A neutral version of the tasks served as a control form. 21 kindergarten children (aged 4-5 years), 47 primary school children (aged 6- 12 years) and 10 adults participated in the study. Our results revealed that there is no effect of acquisition of evidentials on false belief understanding. Together with the other studies, there is a facilitative effect of &ndash / DI (direct evidence) in understanding of stories/narratives in general rather than false belief understanding for the children at the age of 4 to 6/7. In addition to the second-order false belief tasks (FBT_2), a simple working memory task (WST), a complex working memory task (LST), a perspective taking task (PTT) and a double- embedded relative clause task (REL_2) were used in order to investigate the developmental trend of these tasks and their possible relationship with second-order false belief understanding. Also, to the best of our knowledge this is the first time that a REL_2 task has been devised in a Turkish study. The general developmental trend was found for all tasks. Even if some significant correlations were found for FBT_2 score predicted from other tasks, analyses showed that only the contribution of age was significant. Since all of these domains are not related to second-order false belief reasoning but develop at the same time, it is not incompatible with the serial bottleneck hypothesis. In sum, the findings are matching with the modularity view that ToM is a faculty of the human mind at their own pace that does not share intrinsic content with other faculties such as language and working memory (Leslie et al., 2004). However, it develops together with those other faculties and they may constrain the expression of child

This study was conducted to investigate the processes underlying the relation between executive functioning and false belief knowledge. We explored the hypothesis that children with advanced executive functioning skills are better equipped to capitalize on the experiences that are necessary to learn how to reason about others’ mental states. To examine this possibility, we recruited 3.5-year-old children with age-appropriate variability in executive functioning skills to participate in a training study designed to promote their performance on false belief tasks. We found that individual differences in executive functioning task scores strongly and consistently predicted the extent to which children benefited from false-belief training. Importantly, the relation between executive functioning and false belief improvement remained significant after controlling for age, initial performance on mental state reasoning tasks, language skills, and executive functioning improvement across the testing period. Thus, our results support the hypothesis that executive functioning skills influence the extent to which children are able to capitalize on relevant experience to better predict and understand others’ false-belief-based behaviour. This claim is discussed with respect to possible alternative explanations for our findings, and ensuing implications for understanding the interplay between neuromaturational factors and experience. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2007-09-28 14:43:16.88

This thesis consists of four independent papers. The first two papers use experimental methods to study pro-social behaviors. The other two use theoretical methods to investigate questions about belief formation. The first paper “Communication: Content or Relationship?” investigates the effect on communication on generosity in a dictator game. In the basic experiment (the control), subjects in one room are dictators and subjects in another room are recipients. The subjects are anonymous to each other throughout the whole experiment. Each dictator gets to allocate a sum of 100 SEK between herself and an unknown recipient in the other room. In the first treatment we allow each recipient to send a free-form message to his dictator counterpart, before the dictator makes her allocation decision. In order to separate the effect of the content of the communication, from the relationship-building effect of communication, we carry out a third treatment, where we take the messages from the previous treatment and give each of them to a dictator in this new treatment. The dictators are informed that the recipients who wrote the messages are not the recipients they will have the opportunity to send money to. We find that this still increases donation compared to the baseline but not as much as in the other treatment. This suggests that both the impersonal content of the communication and the relationship effect matters for donations. The second paper, “Limbic justice – Amygdala Drives Rejection in the Ultimatum Game”, is about the neurological basis for the tendency to punish norm violators in the Ultimatum Game. In the Ultimatum Game, a proposer proposes a way to divide a fixed sum of money. The responder accepts or rejects the proposal. If the proposal is accepted the proposed split is realized and if the proposal is rejected both subjects gets zero. Subjects were randomly allocated to receive either the benzodiazepine oxazepam or a placebo substance, and then played the Ultimatum Game in the responder role, while lying in and fMRI camera. Rejection rate is significantly lower in the treatment group than in the control group. Moreover a mygdala was relatively more activated in the placebo group than in the oxazepam group for unfair offers. This is mirrored by differences in activation in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and right ACC. Our findings suggest that the automatic and emotional response to unfairness, or norm violations, are driven by amygdala and that balancing of such automatic behavioral responses is associated with parts of the prefrontal cortex. The conflict of motives is monitored by the ACC. In order to decide what strategy to choose, a player needs to form beliefs about what other players will do. This requires the player to have a model of how other people form beliefs – what psychologists call a theory of mind. In the third paper “Evolution of Theories of Mind” I study the evolution of players’ models of how other players think. When people play a game for the first time, their behavior is often well predicted by the level-k, and related models. According to this model, people think in a limited number of steps, when they form beliefs about other peoples' behavior. Moreover, people differ with respect to how they form beliefs. The heterogeneity is represented by a set of cognitive types {0,1,2,...}, such that type 0 randomizes uniformly and type k&gt;0 plays a k times iterated best response to this. Empirically one finds that most experimental subjects behave as if they are of type 1 or 2, and individuals of type 3 and above are very rare. When people play the same game more than once, they may use their experience to predict how others will behave. Fictitious play is a prominent model of learning, according to which all individuals believe that the future will be like the past, and best respond to the average of past play. I define a model of heterogeneous fictitious play, according to which there is a hierarchy of types {1,2,...}, such that type k plays a k time iterated best response to the average of past play. The level-k and fictitious play models, implicitly assume that players lack specific information about the cognitive types of their opponents. I extend these models to allow for the possibility that types are partially observed. I study evolution of types in a number of games separately. In contrast to most of the literature on evolution and learning, I also study the evolution of types across different games. I show that an evolutionary process, based on payoffs earned in different games, both with and without partial observability, can lead to a polymorphic population where relatively unsophisticated types survive, often resulting in initial behavior that does not correspond to a Nash equilibrium. Two important mechanisms behind these results are the following: (i) There are games, such as the Hawk-Dove game, where there is an advantage of not thinking and behaving like others, since choosing the same action as the opponent yields an inefficient outcome. This mechanism is at work even if types are not observed. (ii) If types are partially observed then there are Social dilemmas where lower types may have a commitment advantage; lower types may be able to commit to strategies that result in more efficient payoffs. The importance of categorical reasoning in human cognition is well-established in psychology and cognitive science, and one of the most important functions of categorization is to facilitate prediction. Prediction on the basis of categorical reasoning is relevant when one has to predict the value of a variable on the basis of one's previous experience with similar situations, but where the past experience does not include any situation that was identical to the present situation in all relevant aspects. In such situations one can classify the situation as belonging to some category, and use the past experiences in that category to make a prediction about the current situation. In the fourth paper, “Optimal Categorization”, I provide a model of categorizations that are optimal in the sense that they minimize prediction error. From an evolutionary perspective we would expect humans to have developed categories that generate predictions which induce behavior that maximize fitness, and it seems reasonable to assume that fitness is generally increasing in how accurate the predictions are. In the model a subject starts out with a categorization that she has learnt or inherited early in life. The categorization divides the space of objects into categories. In the beginning of each period, the subject observes a two-dimensional object in one dimension, and wants to predict the object’s value in the other dimension. She has a data base of objects that were observed in both dimensions in the past. The subject determines what category the new object belongs to on the basis of observation of its first dimension. She predicts that its value in the second dimension will be equal to the average value among the past observations in the corresponding category. At the end of each period the second dimension is observed, and the observation is stored in the data base. The main result is that the optimal number of categories is determined by a trade-off between (a) decreasing the size of categories in order to enhance category homogeneity, and (b) increasing the size of categories in order to enhance category sample size. In other words, the advantage of fine grained categorizations is that objects in a category are similar to each other. The advantage of coarse categorizations is that a prediction about a category is based on a large number of observations, thereby reducing the risk of over-fitting. Comparative statics reveal how the optimal categorization depends on the number of observations as well as on the frequency of objects with different properties. The set-up does not presume the existence of an objectively true categorization “out there”. The optimal categorization is a framework we impose on our environment in order to predict it. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2010. Sammanfattning jämte 4 uppsatser.</p>

Since a deficit in empathy is not only characteristic among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but categorically used in defining ASD, it is of utmost importance to explore educational avenues to build prosocial skills among this group. This study sought to explore the primary research question: What impact does the implementation of an empathy-focused video modeling intervention have on frequency of empathic behaviour among adolescents with ASD? The secondary research questions examined were: In what ways does employing a video modeling simulation intervention using the Model Me Kids Friendship program impact the ability of adolescents with ASD to demonstrate empathic behaviour? How do adolescents with ASD express or speak about their empathic behaviour following participation in a simulation intervention using Model Me Kids Friendship? How do the Educational Resource Facilitators (teaching assistants) perceive the same individuals’ empathic behaviour following participation in a simulation intervention using Model Me Kids Friendship (MMF)? This mixed methods study explores 1 particular video modeling simulation program as a focused approach to building empathic behaviour among adolescents with ASD. The theoretical framework presented blends theory of mind, simulation theory, and psychological theories of empathic behaviour including the inherent motor, cognitive, and emotional components. Individuals with ASD may not learn empathic behaviours solely through observation as typically developing children do, but findings suggest that through video simulation, practice may, in fact, lead to increased empathic behaviour. The quantitative findings were not significant but did show increase in motor empathy behaviour ratings among intervention group participants. Support for video modeling as a vehicle to teach empathic behaviour was provided by qualitative data collected over the course of 4 months contextualizing specific examples of empathic behaviour exhibited by participating teens with ASD. There is a link made between high levels of systematizing among teens on the spectrum (the drive to analyze and build a system) and video modeling as a means to foster empathic behaviour, thereby supporting an increased use of video simulation strategies to teach social skills among this group.

Hypercomputation, which is the general concept embracing all machinery capable of carrying out more tasks than Turing Machines and beyond the Turing Limit, has implications for various fields including mathematics, physics, computer science and philosophy. Regarding its philosophical aspects, it is necessary to reveal the position of hypercomputation relative to the classical computational theory of mind in order to clarify and broaden the scope of hypercomputation so that it encompasses some phenomena which are regarded as problematic because of their property of being uncomputable. This thesis points to a relation between hypercomputation and the agent-causation theory of free will by exploring that theory&#039 / s alleged infinite-regress feature, which has been regarded by some authors as problematic and used against the agent causation theory. In order to cope with this problem, we propose a certain hypercomputer, viz. the reverse Zeus machine. The reverse Zeus machine can help to understand the infinite-regress aspect of agent causation better than accelerating Turing machines (or ordinary Zeus machines). Accelerating Turing machines are abstract machines which perform temporal patterning in an accelerating manner by executing each step in half the time required for the previous step. This allows them to compute infinitely many operations in finite time. Although reverse Zeus machines have the same working principle as accelerating Turing machines, we show that agent causation can be represented by reverse Zeus machines better than by the classical Zeus machines.

This essay aims to provide an overview of some key theories and frameworks regarding moral cognition and its neural correlates, in order to examine the possibilities of enhancement of moral cognition. Moral cognition arises from the functional integration of several distinct brain regions and networks. These neural systems correspond to different socioaffective abilities, such as empathy and compassion, as well as sociocognitive abilities, such as theory of mind. Due to this neural distinction, these moral abilities, behaviors, and emotions can be targeted and trained separately. Recent research suggests that training sociocognitive and socioaffective abilities increases cortical thickness in corresponding brain regions and networks, hence providing support for adult neural plasticity in relation to moral cognition. Increased cortical thickness also corresponds to enhanced performance in socioaffective and sociocognitive abilities. Training compassion and empathy induce enhanced abilities to pick up emotional cues, as well as strengthen the motivation to alleviate others’ distress. Practicing theory of mind allows for a better understanding of the perspective of others, which has been indicated to reduce biases between individuals or societal groups. Thus, enhanced moral cognition can contribute to an increase in consideration for those affected by our choices and behavior, which may yield more compassionate, just, and safe societies.

[pt] Esta dissertação tem como objetivo principal avaliar o desempenho linguístico de crianças com problemas de aprendizagem, de modo a verificar em que medida essas dificuldades equivalem às características do quadro do DEL (Déficit Específico da Linguagem). Pretende-se ainda avaliar o desempenho de crianças com problemas de aprendizagem por meio de uma tarefa clássica de crenças falsas para caracterização do desenvolvimento da Teoria da Mente (ToM), tendo em vista que esse desenvolvimento tem sido apontado como comprometido diante de um déficit linguístico. Este trabalho também visou a ampliar a amostra de crianças sem queixas de linguagem submetidas à  avaliação por meio do MABILIN (Módulos de Avaliação de Habilidades Linguísticas), em desenvolvimento no LAPAL (Laboratório de Psicolinguí­stica e Aquisição da Linguagem - PUC-RIO), na padronização do teste, de modo a obter-se uma caracterização do desenvolvimento linguístico no Português do Brasil (PB), que possa ser tomada como referência na avaliação de problemas de linguagem e, particularmente, do DEL. Foram avaliadas 30 crianças de cerca de 6 anos de idade, com e sem queixas de aprendizagem, de nível sócio-econômico baixo na rede de ensino público da Secretaria de Estado de Educação do Distrito Federal. Os resultados obtidos mostram que o desempenho de crianças com queixas de aprendizagem foi, de maneira geral, inferior ao das crianças sem queixas de aprendizagem. Tanto em tarefas de compreensão de sentenças simples ativas, passivas reversíveis/irreversíveis, coordenadas, relativas e interrogativas QU, como em tarefas cuja compreensão se faz dependente de concordância de gênero e número, a diferença entre as crianças com queixas de aprendizagem e as crianças sem queixas mostrou-se significativa. Os resultados indicam dificuldades de ordem linguística compartilhadas com o DEL, ainda que o efeito de grupo, independentemente das variáveis linguísticas manipuladas, apontando para um pior desempenho do grupo com queixas de aprendizagem, sugira dificuldades de outra ordem interferindo no desempenho linguístico. O resultado no teste de ToM revela que o grupo de crianças com queixas de aprendizagem, mais do que grupo controle, tem dificuldade em prever a ação de um personagem a partir da atribuição de uma crença falsa a este. Dificuldades no uso de pistas para a solução de tarefas linguísticas e na elaboração de inferências dependentes de ToM pode, portanto, comprometer o desempenho escolar desse grupo. / [en] The primary aim of this dissertation is to evaluate the linguistic performance of 30 children with learning impairment in order to verify the extent to which these difficulties are equivalent to those that characterize the performance of SLI (Specific Language Impairment) children. The performance of children with learning impairment was also evaluated by means of a classic false belief task intended to assess their development as far as Theory of Mind is concerned, since this development has been pointed to be compromised in face of linguistic impairment. Moreover, this research aimed to enlarge the sample of children without language impairment whose linguistic performance is assessed by means of a set of tests (Modules for the Evaluation on Linguistic Abilities), that has been developed in LAPAL (Laboratório de Psicolinguí­stica e Aquisição de Linguagem - PUC-RIO), intended to identify those aspects of language that are particularly affected in SLI Brazilian Portuguese speaking children. The performance of 30 children with and without learning impairment, of low economical background and age average by 6 years old was evaluated at a public school in the outskirts of Brasilia, Federal District, Brazil. The results show that the performance of children with learning impairment was, generally, lower in comparison with children without learning impairment. The performance in comprehension tasks focusing on simple active and passive sentences, reversible/irreversible, coordinated, relative clauses, WH interrogatives, and in tasks focusing on the processing of gender and number agreement was significantly different between children with and without learning impairment. The results indicate linguistics difficulties shared with Specific Language Impairment in the learning impaired group, even though the effect of group, independently of the linguistic variable manipulated, suggests that difficulties of a different order might affect their linguistic performance. The result of the test of false belief task shows that the group with learning impairment, more than the control group, has difficulty in foreseeing the action of a character from a false belief attribution. Difficulties in using clues in the solution of the linguistic tasks and in the elaboration of dependent inferences of ToM can therefore impair the school performance of this group.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:40:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Antonio Jose Nunes Faria.pdf: 502483 bytes, checksum: 036788bbf260a39cce78360cb08528fd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-02-12 / Identifies the bibliographical publications in journals on joint attention, which is characterized by the ability of triadic coordination of attention between the self, the other, and a third event, object or symbol. The results are related to the review of literature on the subject, concerning the investigation about the influence of joint attention on autism. Thus, studies published and indexed in the data bases MEDLINE, LILACS and SCIELO were previously identified. It highlights joint attention as a possible predictor of risk of children autism, and concludes that its development tends to occur in the first year of life. Joint attention represents an important type of communication, besides being a possible way for children to learn about things in their environment. / Identifica a produção bibliográfica editada em periódicos sobre atenção compartilhada, que é caracterizada como sendo a capacidade de coordenação triádica da atenção entre o ser, o outro e um terceiro evento, objeto ou símbolo. Os resultados são concernentes à revisão da literatura publicada sobre a temática, com a preocupação de investigar qual a influência da atenção compartilhada no autismo infantil. Para tanto, foram previamente identificados estudos publicados e indexados nas bases de dados analisadas MEDLINE, LILACS e SCIELO. Destaca a atenção compartilhada como uma possível indicadora de risco de autismo infantil e conclui que seu desenvolvimento tende a acontecer no primeiro ano de vida e representa um tipo importante de comunicação, além de ser um possível caminho para a criança aprender sobre as coisas em seu meio.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-05-30T11:29:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 anapauladasilva.pdf: 2533607 bytes, checksum: 7b0623425f98f5584a4d2751a3a2e92b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-07-02T11:56:47Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 anapauladasilva.pdf: 2533607 bytes, checksum: 7b0623425f98f5584a4d2751a3a2e92b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-02T11:56:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 anapauladasilva.pdf: 2533607 bytes, checksum: 7b0623425f98f5584a4d2751a3a2e92b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-28 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Focaliza-se, neste trabalho, a interface Lingua(gem) e Teoria da Mente (ToM), enfatizando-se o raciocínio de Crenças Falsas (CFs). Investiga-se se demandas linguísticas interferem no modo como crianças em processo de aquisição do Português Brasileiro (PB) lidam com tarefas-padrão de CFs de 1ª ordem. A definição de ToM tem sido compreendida como a habilidade de o ser humano compreender seus próprios estados mentais e os dos outros e, dessa forma, predizer suas ações ou comportamentos (ASTINGTON & GOPNIK, 1988, 1991; FELDMAN, 1992; WELLMAN, 1991). Adota-se uma perspectiva psicolinguística de aquisição da linguagem – Bootstrapping Sintático (GLEITMAN, 1990), aliada a uma concepção minimalista de língua (CHOMSKY, 1995-2001). Considera-se, ainda, a proposta de DE VILLIERS (2005-2007), segundo a qual a sintaxe de complementação é um prérequisito para que o domínio da ToM se estabeleça. Foi elaborada uma atividade experimental constituída de 3 pré-testes e de uma tarefa clássica de CF de mudança de localização (cf. WIMMER & PERNER, 1983). Os 3 pré-testes foram aplicados a 24 crianças de 3-4 anos, com vistas a verificar: (i) a capacidade de a criança avaliar o caráter verdadeiro ou falso de determinadas proposições a partir de historinhas inventadas; (ii) a compreensão de sentenças interrogativas com QU- deslocado e in situ com verbos epistêmicos; e (iii) a compreensão de sentenças simples e complexas com verbos epistêmicos. Já o teste padrão de CF contou com a participação das 24 crianças com 3-4 anos e, ainda, com 24 crianças de 5-6 anos de idade. Foram manipuladas as seguintes variáveis linguísticas: a) tipo de QU- (in situ e deslocado); b) tipo de sentença (simples – Para o João, onde a bola está? e complexa – Onde o João acha que a bola está?). A hipótese é a de que a sintaxe de complementação não é condição suficiente para que o domínio de CFs se estabeleça. Os resultados indicam que: em relação aos 3 pré-testes, crianças, nessa faixa etária, são capazes de estabelecer o mapeamento de um evento a uma proposição e de julgar seu valor-verdade, independentemente da estrutura sintática que o apresenta; em relação à tarefa de CF, (i) houve uma diferença significativa entre as respostas das crianças das duas faixas-etárias, pois as crianças de 3-4 anos obtiveram um número de acertos inferior ao das de 5-6 anos; (ii) nas respostas envolvendo sentenças simples e complexas, não se verificou uma diferença relevante; e (iii) houve diferença significativa quanto ao tipo de QU- , na faixa-etária de 3-4 anos, pois o número de acertos foi maior quando não houve deslocamento do pronome interrogativo. Tais resultados são compatíveis com a hipótese apresentada, uma vez que as crianças menores obtiveram um número de acertos pouco expressivo tanto nas condições com sentenças simples quanto naquelas com sentenças complexas, e as maiores conseguiram um número bastante expressivo em ambas as condições. Isso sugere que a capacidade de operar recursivamente e o domínio de verbos epistêmicos não são condições suficientes para a compreensão de CFs. / This work focuses on the interface between Language and Theory of Mind (ToM), with emphasis on the reasoning of False Beliefs (FBs). It is investigated whether linguistic demands interfere with the way in which children in the process of acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) deal with standard tasks of First-Order FBs. The definition of ToM has been understood as the ability of humans to understand their own mental states and those of others and thus predict their actions or behaviors (ASTINGTON & GOPNIK, 1988, 1991; FELDMAN, 1992; WELLMAN, 1991). We adopt a psycholinguistic perspective of language acquisition - Syntactic Bootstrapping (GLEITMAN, 1990), combined with a minimalist conception of language (CHOMSKY, 1995-2001). We also consider DE VILLIERS’s (2005-2007) proposal, according to which the syntax of complementation is a prerequisite so that the domain of ToM can be established. An experimental activity was elaborated and it consists of three pre-tests and a classic FB task of location-change (cf. WIMMER & PERNER, 1983). The three pre-tests were applied to 24 children aged 3-4 years old, in order to verify: (i) the child’s ability to assess the true or false character of certain propositions from invented stories (ii) the understanding of interrogative sentences with wh- moved and in situ with epistemic verbs, and (iii) an understanding of simple and complex sentences with epistemic verbs. Whereas the standard test of FB took into account the participation of 24 children aged 3-4 years old and also 24 children aged 5-6 years old. The following linguistic variables were manipulated: a) type of wh-(in situ and moved), b) sentence type (simple - To John, where is the ball? and complex - Where does John Think the ball is?). The hypothesis is that the syntax of complementation is a necessary prerequisite, but not sufficient, so that the domain of FBs is established. The results indicate that: for the three pre-tests, children in this age group are able to establish the mapping of an event to a proposition and judge its truth value, regardless of the syntactic structure in which it appears, in relation to the task of FB, (i) there was a significant difference between the children’s responses of both age-groups, because the 3-4 year-old children had a lower number of correct answers in relation to those of 5-6 years old, (ii) in the responses involving simple and complex sentences, there was no relevant difference, and (iii) there was a significant difference in the type of wh- in the 3-4 year-old age group, because the number of correct answers was higher when there was no displacement of the interrogative pronoun. These results are consistent with the hypothesis presented, since the younger children had a very expressive number of correct answers in both conditions with simple sentences and in those with complex sentences, and the oldest ones achieved a very significant number in both conditions. This suggests that the ability to operate recursively and the domain of epistemic verbs are not sufficient conditions for understanding FBs.