Sharedness and privateness in human early social life

  • Authors:

  • Maurizio Tirassa;Francesca Marina Bosco;Livia Colle

  • Affiliations:

  • Universití di Torino, Dipartimento di Psicologia e Centro di Scienza Cognitiva, via Po, 14, 10123 Torino, Italy;Universití di Torino, Dipartimento di Psicologia e Centro di Scienza Cognitiva, via Po, 14, 10123 Torino, Italy;Universití di Torino, Dipartimento di Psicologia e Centro di Scienza Cognitiva, via Po, 14, 10123 Torino, Italy

  • Venue:
  • Cognitive Systems Research
  • Year:
  • 2006

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Abstract

This research is concerned with the innate predispositions underlying human intentional communication. Human communication is currently defined as a circular and overt attempt to modify a partner's mental states. This requires each party involved to possess the ability to represent and understand the other's mental states, a capability which is commonly referred to as mindreading, or theory of mind (ToM). The relevant experimental literature agrees that no such capability is to be found in the human species at least during the first year of life, and possibly later. This paper aims at advancing a solution to this theoretical problem. We propose to consider sharedness as the basis for intentional communication in the infant and to view it as a primitive, innate component of her cognitive architecture. Communication can then build upon the mental grounds that the infant takes as shared with her caregivers. We view this capability as a theory of mind in a weak sense.