Periodic Reporting for period 1 - INTOM (Infant Theory of Mind)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2019-09-01 do 2021-08-31
Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to attribute mental states such as beliefs and desires to others. Recent research using combined behavioural and brain imaging techniques has indicated that this ability may develop as early as 6-months of age. However, there are a number of open questions surrounding this research topic.
One of these questions is whether it may be possible to pass ToM tests without actually possessing a Theory of Mind. This could be the case if can use simple rules or be cued to attend to certain locations during ToM tasks to successfully pass the tasks. A second question concerns the replicability of ToM tasks. Several studies whose results have been taken as evidence for Theory of Mind do not appear to replicate such that the participants’ responses may not provide a reliable indication of performance.
The overall objectives of this project involved addressing these questions through a series of empirical studies designed to both replicate and extend previous findings by testing alternative explanations that had been provided for performance on Theory of Mind tasks. This work was expected to be complemented by training the research fellow on new techniques and technology (specifically the use of an eye-tracker which they had not used before).
One of these questions is whether it may be possible to pass ToM tests without actually possessing a Theory of Mind. This could be the case if can use simple rules or be cued to attend to certain locations during ToM tasks to successfully pass the tasks. A second question concerns the replicability of ToM tasks. Several studies whose results have been taken as evidence for Theory of Mind do not appear to replicate such that the participants’ responses may not provide a reliable indication of performance.
The overall objectives of this project involved addressing these questions through a series of empirical studies designed to both replicate and extend previous findings by testing alternative explanations that had been provided for performance on Theory of Mind tasks. This work was expected to be complemented by training the research fellow on new techniques and technology (specifically the use of an eye-tracker which they had not used before).
Work on the project involved the research fellow training to become competent in the use of eye-tracking technology that they had not previously used and to become proficient in programming experiments involving eye-tracking. This training has led to further work investigating whether changes to webcam-based eye-tracking techniques could improve the performance of these techniques; this line of research was not originally planned and is due to be finished after the end of the project and presented at a conference.
To fully elucidate the different theoretical positions relating to performance on Theory of Mind tasks a literature review was conducted that resulted in a published scientific paper highlighting the main theoretical positions and the empirical evidence supporting each of them.
Some changes to the planned empirical work on the project was necessary due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The planned replications of experiments requiring in-person testing could not be done at the start of the project. Thus, work focused on investigating statistical practices and interpretations that could bias understanding of scientific results – this work involved the animal and infant cognition fields and highlighted the prevalence of formally incorrect reporting of statistical results. The work on this project has led to one of the collaborative teams receiving further funding to continue related projects.
Two further research projects were conducted. One project involved assessing the impact of the apparent dominance status of the characters presented within Theory of Mind tasks. The initial study did not detect a significant influence of dominance on performance and a follow-up study has been prepared to replicate the study prior to publication. A second project involved replicating a task that assessed Theory of Mind using anticipatory looking behaviour. This task was the basis of the original proposal but had since been found not to consistently replicate. To do this, we joined an international collaborative attempt to replicate this research. The full results of this international collaboration are still under analysis and are being prepared for publication.
In total, the project has resulted in the publication of two empirical papers, one editorial and one preprint. At least two more publications are planned. In addition, the results of the project have been presented at two international conferences; with a third poster presentation at a conference already accepted. The project has also led to the (co-)supervision of two Masters students and increased collaborations between different departments at the host institution.
To fully elucidate the different theoretical positions relating to performance on Theory of Mind tasks a literature review was conducted that resulted in a published scientific paper highlighting the main theoretical positions and the empirical evidence supporting each of them.
Some changes to the planned empirical work on the project was necessary due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The planned replications of experiments requiring in-person testing could not be done at the start of the project. Thus, work focused on investigating statistical practices and interpretations that could bias understanding of scientific results – this work involved the animal and infant cognition fields and highlighted the prevalence of formally incorrect reporting of statistical results. The work on this project has led to one of the collaborative teams receiving further funding to continue related projects.
Two further research projects were conducted. One project involved assessing the impact of the apparent dominance status of the characters presented within Theory of Mind tasks. The initial study did not detect a significant influence of dominance on performance and a follow-up study has been prepared to replicate the study prior to publication. A second project involved replicating a task that assessed Theory of Mind using anticipatory looking behaviour. This task was the basis of the original proposal but had since been found not to consistently replicate. To do this, we joined an international collaborative attempt to replicate this research. The full results of this international collaboration are still under analysis and are being prepared for publication.
In total, the project has resulted in the publication of two empirical papers, one editorial and one preprint. At least two more publications are planned. In addition, the results of the project have been presented at two international conferences; with a third poster presentation at a conference already accepted. The project has also led to the (co-)supervision of two Masters students and increased collaborations between different departments at the host institution.
The work conducted during the project on the status of replications and on the statistical reporting and interpretation of non-significant results has the potential for societal impact through the highlighting of problems and communicating of improvements in statistical practices within scientific research. Improving how statistical results are communicated increases the quality of quantitative scientific work.
In addition, the work conducted on improvements to eye-tracking techniques that can be used with low-cost devices such as webcams has the potential to increase the accessibility and feasibility of using this technique for research and other activities.
In addition, the work conducted on improvements to eye-tracking techniques that can be used with low-cost devices such as webcams has the potential to increase the accessibility and feasibility of using this technique for research and other activities.