Detecting agents

This talks reviews a recent set of behavioral studies that examine the scope and nature of the representational system underlying theory of mind development. Studies with typically developing infants, adults, and children with autism all converge on the claim that there is a specialized input system that uses not only morphological cues, but also behavioral cues to categorize novel objects as agents. Evidence is reviewed in which 12- to 15-month-old infants treat certain non-human objects as if they have perceptual/attentional abilities, communicative abilities, and goal-directed behavior. Results from adults and children with autism are strikingly similar, despite adults' contradictory beliefs about the objects in question and the failure of children with autism to ultimately develop more advanced theory of mind reasoning. The implications for a general theory of theory of mind development are discussed.