Last 5 Wednesdays, 1-2:50pm, North Hall 1109.
Enrollment Code: 60301
Human social behavior requires us to be very good at understanding the actions and interactions of other human beings. We achieve this understanding because we can see the outward actions of others as emanating from their inner mental states (i.e. their thoughts and goals). This capacity is remarkable, because those inner states cannot themselves be directly observed. How then, do we achieve this everyday mind reading? This seminar will introduce students to recent scientific research aimed at understanding this ability. We will cover the first manifestations of mind reading early in infancy, the consequences that result from the breakdown of mind reading, the relation between mind reading and other cognitive and social capacities and whether mind reading may be a capacity we share with other non-human species.
Professor Tim German, Psychology, researches the nature acquisition and development of "theory of mind": our human capacity to understand social behavior in terms of underlying mental states (e.g. beliefs and desires). His studies encompass developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, anthropology, comparative psychology, cognitive neuroscience and developmental neuropsychology.
