articlePsychological ReviewJan 1, 2009Closed access

Do humans have two systems to track beliefs and belief-like states?

University of Birmingham · University of Warwick

PubMed
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Abstract

The lack of consensus on how to characterize humans' capacity for belief reasoning has been brought into sharp focus by recent research. Children fail critical tests of belief reasoning before 3 to 4 years of age (H. Wellman, D. Cross, & J. Watson, 2001; H. Wimmer & J. Perner, 1983), yet infants apparently pass false-belief tasks at 13 or 15 months (K. H. Onishi & R. Baillargeon, 2005; L. Surian, S. Caldi, & D. Sperber, 2007). Nonhuman animals also fail critical tests of belief reasoning but can show very complex social behavior (e.g., J. Call & M. Tomasello, 2005). Fluent social interaction in adult humans implies efficient processing of beliefs, yet direct tests suggest that belief reasoning is cognitively…

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1,261
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29.86
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100%
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Authors

2

Topics & keywords

Keywords
  • Theory of mind
  • Psychology
  • Social cognition
  • Cognitive psychology
  • Cognition
  • Analogy
  • False belief
  • Social cognitive theory
UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Quality Education
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