The Role of Theory of Mind and Empathy in Film Narrative Comprehension

我们如何理解和分享不同角色的经历，以遵循电影情节？我们怎么能认同我们从未经历过的情况呢？在观看电影时，观众不仅要感知屏幕上发生的一切，还必须理解他们所看到的一切。类似于我们如何解释来自真实的世界的社会信息，我们系统地将心理状态（信念、欲望、意图和情感）归因于电影角色，这些角色通过一个被称为心理理论（ToM）的过程以某种方式行事。在这样做的时候，我们经常沉浸在他们的生活和故事中，认同和同情角色的情感经历。研究社会认知的核心过程，即移情和心理理论，关于电影认知的基本原理是双重的。第一个理论目标将电影视为研究对象。具体来说，这个博士项目的目的是（a）了解这些心理过程如何有助于我们理解复杂的视觉叙事和（B）确定电影导演使用哪些电影元素和技术来增强电影叙事-包括人物的意图，信仰和情感-以及它在观众中引起共鸣反应的能力。为了探索这一点，我们将结合联合收割机的行为和功能神经成像方法，包括脑电图和fNIRS，在正常的参与者。第二个更具翻译性的目标认为电影是一种强大而独特的方法，可以解决长期存在的关于自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）等疾病的ToM和同情心受损的问题。与通常使用的社会认知评估任务不同，这些任务要求参与者从静态的、脱离背景的图像中识别出心理状态，而电影则需要随着时间的推移以动态的方式推断和更新这些状态，这与现实生活中的情况类似。由于其自然的社会性质，电影认知可以帮助阐明特定的社会认知过程受损的ASD。

How do we understand and share the experiences of different characters to follow a movie plot? How can we identify with situations that we have never lived before? When watching a film, viewers must not only perceive whatever is happening on the screen but they must also make sense out of what they are seeing. Similar to how we interpret social information from the real world, we systematically attribute mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions and emotions) to movie characters that lead them to behave in a certain manner through a process known as Theory of Mind (ToM). In doing so, we often immerse ourselves in their lives and stories, identifying and empathising with the characters' emotional experiences. The rationale for examining the core processes of social cognition, i.e. empathy and ToM, regarding film cognition is twofold. A first theoretical objective considers film as the object of study. Specifically, this PhD project aims to (a) understand how these psychological processes contribute to our understanding of complex visual narratives and (b) to identify which cinematographic elements and techniques film directors use to enhance movie narratives -including characters' intentions, beliefs and emotions- and its power to elicit empathetic responses in viewers. To explore this, we will combine behavioural and functional neuroimaging methods, including EEG and fNIRS, in normal participants. A second more translational objective considers film as a powerful and unique method to address long-standing questions regarding the impairment of ToM and empathy in disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD). In contrast to commonly-used sociocognitive assessment tasks that require participants to recognise mental states from static, decontextualized images, cinema requires inferring and updating these in a dynamic way over time, similar to real-life situations. Because of its naturalistic social nature, film cognition could help elucidate the specific sociocognitive processes impaired in ASD.