Abstract
AbstractIn this article, we propose a new framework for investigating how accurately and by what process people read others' minds—a process that requires perceivers to make a retrodictive inference. In this context, we discuss the value of a novel methodological approach that complements the conceptual framework. This framework is formulated on the basis of a series of empirical articles emerging over the past few years in which the ideas appear in nascent form. Retrodiction is the process in which, on observing a person's behavior (often but not exclusively a facial expression), people are equipped not only to sense the underlying inner state but also to infer the event that caused that inner state. Indeed, the goal of mindreading need not always be to identify an inner state explicitly but to infer the event that caused the inner state. Doing so is adaptive in that it permits access to a more expansive view of the world through the lens of another mind. This view of mindreading naturally leads to a reconsideration of methods that are fit for purpose and leads to testable hypotheses.
Highlights
IntroductionInterpreting information signaled in another person’s behavior to understand what they think and how they feel, is one of the central aspects of human social cognition
Interpreting information signaled in another person’s behavior to understand what they think and how they feel, is one of the central aspects of human social cognition.This kind of mindreading is known as retrodiction and refers to the perceiver (aFo person observing another person’s behavior) tracking backwards from the target’s behavior to determine the mental state experienced by the target (Gallese & Goldman, 1998)
Retrodiction refers to the process of identifying the cause of extant behavior, where, according to Teoh et al (2017), the cause can either be understood at a proximal level or at a distal level
Summary
Interpreting information signaled in another person’s behavior to understand what they think and how they feel, is one of the central aspects of human social cognition. This kind of mindreading is known as retrodiction and refers to the perceiver Fo person observing another person’s behavior) tracking backwards from the target’s (the person being observed by the perceiver) behavior to determine the mental state experienced by the target (Gallese & Goldman, 1998). The goal of this article is to ee articulate a framework for understanding retrodiction and we shall examine a method that is suited to investigating the underlying process. We shall go on to consider the ev value of mindreading as an adaptive process that furnishes the mindreader with iew knowledge of the world that they might not otherwise have known
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