A meta-analytic review of age differences in theory of mind
TL;DR: Looking across all types of task, older adults were found to perform more poorly than younger adults, with the degree of ToM difficulty they experienced moderate in magnitude, suggesting that ToM difficulties are not simply secondary to non-ToM related task demands.
Abstract: Age-related difficulties in understanding basic emotional signals are now well established, but less clear is how aging affects theory of mind (ToM), which refers to the understanding of more complex emotions and mental states. A meta-analysis of 23 datasets involving 1462 (790 younger and 672 older) participants was conducted in which six basic types of ToM task were identified (Stories, Eyes, Videos, False belief-video, False belief-other, and Faux pas). Each ToM task was also categorized according to domain (affective, cognitive, or mixed) and modality (verbal, visual-static, visual-dynamic, verbal and visual-static, or verbal and visual-dynamic). Overall, collapsed across all types of task, older adults were found to perform more poorly than younger adults, with the degree of ToM difficulty they experienced moderate in magnitude (r = -.41). The results also provide evidence for increased ToM difficulties in late adulthood regardless of specific task parameters, with deficits evident across all task types, domains, and modalities. With few exceptions, age deficits for ToM tasks were larger in magnitude compared with matched control tasks. These data have implications for our understanding of mental state attribution processes in late adulthood, suggesting that ToM difficulties are not simply secondary to non-ToM related task demands.
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TL;DR: A key finding of the present study is that the third-order false-belief task shows significant age differences in the application of recursive thinking that involves the prediction of others’ behaviour.
Abstract: This study explores the development of theory of mind, operationalized as recursive thinking ability, from adolescence to early adulthood (N = 110; young adolescents = 47; adolescents = 43; young adults = 20) The construct of theory of mind has been operationalized in two different ways: as the ability to recognize the correct mental state of a character, and as the ability to attribute the correct mental state in order to predict the character's behaviour The Imposing Memory Task, with five recursive thinking levels, and a third-order false-belief task with three recursive thinking levels (devised for this study) have been used The relationship among working memory, executive functions, and linguistic skills are also analysed Results show that subjects exhibit less understanding of elevated recursive thinking levels (third, fourth, and fifth) compared to the first and second levels Working memory is correlated with total recursive thinking, whereas performance on the linguistic comprehension task is related to third level recursive thinking in both theory of mind tasks An effect of age on third-order false-belief task performance was also found A key finding of the present study is that the third-order false-belief task shows significant age differences in the application of recursive thinking that involves the prediction of others' behaviour In contrast, such an age effect is not observed in the Imposing Memory Task These results may support the extension of the investigation of the third order false belief after childhood
88 citations
Cites background from "A meta-analytic review of age diffe..."
...The study of theory of mind in adolescence and early adulthood constitutes a methodological challenge, because it requires the creation of new theory of mind tasks in order to capture age differences (Henry et al., 2013; Moran, 2013)....
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TL;DR: The view of selective age-related differences on cognitive, but not affective, ToM in normal aging is supported by a dissociable pattern of correlations with executive functions.
86 citations
TL;DR: The first meta-analysis of this literature is reported, providing a timely summary of the breadth, magnitude and specificity of ToM difficulties in this population of people with frontotemporal dementia, finding difficulties in people with bvFTD were of a similar magnitude to the difficulties seen on measures of more basic social cue perception.
83 citations
TL;DR: A comprehensive review of the empirical literature on this issue can be found in this paper, where the authors provide new ground for contemporary research on leadership traits by highlighting the relevance of leaders' age, summarizing current knowledge, and providing new theoretical and empirical directions.
Abstract: Despite renewed interest in traditional trait approaches to leadership and despite recent demographic trends towards an aging workforce, research on leaders' age as a specific demographic trait variable has remained surprisingly sparse and fragmented. This article provides a comprehensive review of the empirical literature on this issue. Although a body of research relating leaders' age with their behaviors and outcomes has emerged, the existing findings exhibit little consistency and lack theoretical coherence. Integrating theories of emotional aging with research on emotions and leadership, we therefore develop a novel, emotion-based framework that explicates key mechanisms and boundary conditions underlying age–leadership linkages. Moreover, we outline opportunities for further theoretical extensions and provide recommendations for future empirical work. Overall, this article paves new ground for contemporary research on leadership traits by highlighting the relevance of leaders' age, summarizing current knowledge on this issue, and providing new theoretical and empirical directions.
82 citations
TL;DR: This article reported three studies from two independent research labs that attempted to test the replicability and convergent validity (using correlation analyses) of the Southgate et al. (2007) and the Surian and Geraci (2012) paradigms.
77 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a model for estimating the effect size from a series of experiments using a fixed effect model and a general linear model, and combine these two models to estimate the effect magnitude.
Abstract: Preface. Introduction. Data Sets. Tests of Statistical Significance of Combined Results. Vote-Counting Methods. Estimation of a Single Effect Size: Parametric and Nonparametric Methods. Parametric Estimation of Effect Size from a Series of Experiments. Fitting Parametric Fixed Effect Models to Effect Sizes: Categorical Methods. Fitting Parametric Fixed Effect Models to Effect Sizes: General Linear Models. Random Effects Models for Effect Sizes. Multivariate Models for Effect Sizes. Combining Estimates of Correlation Coefficients. Diagnostic Procedures for Research Synthesis Models. Clustering Estimates of Effect Magnitude. Estimation of Effect Size When Not All Study Outcomes Are Observed. Meta-Analysis in the Physical and Biological Sciences. Appendix. References. Index.
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"A meta-analytic review of age diffe..." refers methods in this paper
...A program developed by the first author was used to run all meta-analytic calculations based on several excellent resources, including Cooper and Hedges (1994), and Hedges and Olkin (1985)....
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TL;DR: Quantitative procedures for computing the tolerance for filed and future null results are reported and illustrated, and the implications are discussed.
Abstract: For any given research area, one cannot tell how many studies have been conducted but never reported. The extreme view of the "file drawer problem" is that journals are filled with the 5% of the studies that show Type I errors, while the file drawers are filled with the 95% of the studies that show nonsignificant results. Quantitative procedures for computing the tolerance for filed and future null results are reported and illustrated, and the implications are discussed. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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...Particularly problematic is “the file drawer problem” (Rosenthal, 1979), which refers to the fact that significant results are more likely to be published than nonsig- 1 Cohen’s (1977) guidelines suggest that a correlation (r) of .10 should be regarded as a small effect, .30 as medium, and .50 as…...
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a model for estimating the effect size from a series of experiments using a fixed effect model and a general linear model, and combine these two models to estimate the effect magnitude.
Abstract: Preface. Introduction. Data Sets. Tests of Statistical Significance of Combined Results. Vote-Counting Methods. Estimation of a Single Effect Size: Parametric and Nonparametric Methods. Parametric Estimation of Effect Size from a Series of Experiments. Fitting Parametric Fixed Effect Models to Effect Sizes: Categorical Methods. Fitting Parametric Fixed Effect Models to Effect Sizes: General Linear Models. Random Effects Models for Effect Sizes. Multivariate Models for Effect Sizes. Combining Estimates of Correlation Coefficients. Diagnostic Procedures for Research Synthesis Models. Clustering Estimates of Effect Magnitude. Estimation of Effect Size When Not All Study Outcomes Are Observed. Meta-Analysis in the Physical and Biological Sciences. Appendix. References. Index.
7,063 citations
TL;DR: This paper showed an adult chimpanzee a series of videotaped scenes of a human actor struggling with a variety of problems, some of which were simple, such as bananas vertically or horizontally out of reach, behind a box, and so forth; others were more complex, involving an actor unable to extricate himself from a locked cage, shivering because of a malfunctioning heater, or unable to play a phonograph because it was unplugged.
Abstract: An individual has a theory of mind if he imputes mental states to himself and others. A system of inferences of this kind is properly viewed as a theory because such states are not directly observable, and the system can be used to make predictions about the behavior of others. As to the mental states the chimpanzee may infer, consider those inferred by our own species, for example, purpose or intention, as well as knowledge, belief, thinking, doubt, guessing, pretending, liking, and so forth. To determine whether or not the chimpanzee infers states of this kind, we showed an adult chimpanzee a series of videotaped scenes of a human actor struggling with a variety of problems. Some problems were simple, involving inaccessible food – bananas vertically or horizontally out of reach, behind a box, and so forth – as in the original Kohler problems; others were more complex, involving an actor unable to extricate himself from a locked cage, shivering because of a malfunctioning heater, or unable to play a phonograph because it was unplugged. With each videotape the chimpanzee was given several photographs, one a solution to the problem, such as a stick for the inaccessible bananas, a key for the locked up actor, a lit wick for the malfunctioning heater. The chimpanzee's consistent choice of the correct photographs can be understood by assuming that the animal recognized the videotape as representing a problem, understood the actor's purpose, and chose alternatives compatible with that purpose.
5,979 citations