Theory of Mind Without the Concept of «Mind» Itself

Meshcheryakov B.G.; Dubovskaya I.S.; Dubyaga E.V.

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Cultural-Historical Psychology

Publisher: Moscow State University of Psychology and Education

ISSN (printed version): 1816-5435

ISSN (online): 2224-8935

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/chp

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Started in 2005

Published quarterly

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Cultural-Historical Psychology
2011. Vol. 7, no. 2, 66–73
ISSN: 1816-5435 / 2224-8935 (online)

Theory of Mind Without the Concept of «Mind» Itself ¹⁰⁸⁸

Meshcheryakov B.G.
Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, Senior Researcher, Dubna State University, Dubna, Russian Federation, Dubna, Russia
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6252-2822
e-mail: borlogic1@gmail.com

Dubovskaya I.S.
Master in Psychology, alumni of the the Psychology chair of the «Dubna» University, Dubna, Russia

Dubyaga E.V.
Master in Psychology, alumni of the the Psychology chair of the «Dubna» University, Dubna, Russia

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The article provides the results of research carried out on the samples of preschoolers (N = 55) and adults (N = 19). They were given the task to range ten animals (from ladybird to monkey) on the scale «the cleverest — the silliest». The preschoolers' results do not comply with the anthropomorphic hypothesis that supposes that children assess animals' intelligence depending on their similarity to a human. Children differ from adults not only in ranking different animals but also in the essence of characteristics used for evaluation of animals' intelligence. The indicator that estimates the resemblance of children's ranking of animals' intelligence with the averaged adults' ranking does not correlate significantly with the results of solving tasks on mind theory performed by the preschoolers.

Keywords: theory of mind, psychological intelligence, children's representations of animals' intelligence, anthropomorphic hypothesis.

Column: The Problem Of Development

For Reference

Meshcheryakov B.G., Dubovskaya I.S., Dubyaga E.V. Theory of Mind Without the Concept of «Mind» Itself. Kul'turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya = Cultural-Historical Psychology, 2011. Vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 66–73. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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