Co-operative research on the development of the theory of mind (naive psychology) during childhood and later

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The first group of investigators aimed at examining cross-cultural differences in the theory of mind and its understanding. Among othersthey studied, through a literature survey as well as questionnaires, notions of self held by Japanese and lndian lay adults and children. It was suggested that the Oriental notions of self have both similarities and dissimilarities to those reported by Western researchers. The second group investigated the effects of learning scientific psychology on the development of the theory of mind. College students were exposed to instruction in or textbooks of cognitive psychology, and tested how and how much their theory of mind was affected by it. What findings in cognitive psychology woul have impact was also reviewed. Their view sometimes shifted to the one regarding mind as an active agent of information processing, through the recognition of lay people's competence in daily life situations and related findings. The third group studied relationships between the theory of mind and two adjacent theories, namely, naive biology and naive sociology. As for the mindbody differentiation, it was found that whereas 3-year-old often believe that the mind could control bodily processes directly, 4-year-old and older childern understand the sutonomous nature of bodily processes. It was asso found that only junior high schoolers and older subjects prossess the notion of individual freedom and of the mind as the subject of such freedom. Based on these findings, we discussed how to conceptualize the development of the theory of mind or naive psychology, and identified a number of topics for future research.