Social cognition, language acquisition and the development of the theory of mind

Theory of Mind (ToM) is the cognitive achievement that enables us to report our propositional attitudes to attribute such attitudes to others, and to use such Postulated or observed mental states ill the prediction and explan ation of behavior. Most normally developing children acquire ToM between ti le ages of 3 and 5 years, but serious delays beyond this chronological and mental age have been observed ill children with autism, as well is ill thos e with severe sensory impairments. We examine data from Studies of ToM ill normally developing children and those with deafness. blindness. autism and Williams syndrome, as well as data from lower primates. in a search tor an swers to key theoretical questions concerning the origin,, nature and repre sentation of knowledge about the mind. Ill answer to these, we offer a fram ework according to which ToM is jointly dependent upon language and social experience, and is produced by a conjunction of language acquisition with c hildren's growing, social understanding, acquired through conversation and interaction with others. We argue that adequate language and adequate socia l skills are jointly causally sufficient, and individually causally necessa ry, for producing ToM. Thus our account supports a social developmental the ory of tile genesis of human cognition, inspired by the work of Sellars and Vygotsky.