Published: | Updated:

WHAT IS FALSE-BELIEF TASK?

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have determined that the part of the brain responsible for thinking about others' feelings - a process called theory of mind - is developed by the age of three.

The MIT research is the first that has used functional magnetic resonance imaging in order to scan three-year-olds' brains while the children perform a task that activates theory of mind.

The exercise most commonly used to check a person's theory of mind capability is called the false-belief test.

The false-belief test determines if a person can understand that other people might hold beliefs that are not correct.

The new study explains: 'A classic example is the Sally-Anne test, in which a child is asked where Sally will look for a marble that she believes is in her own basket but that Anne has moved to a different spot while Sally wasn't looking.

'To pass, the subject must reply that Sally will look where she thinks the marble is (in her basket), not where it actually is.' 

Advertisement

Read articles that feature this panel

Children as young as 3 years old have already developed a 'social brain,' new study reveals

When a human considers what another human feels they employ theory of mind. Scientists previously thought theory of mind was developed at...

Most watched News videos