A theory-of-mind is a human-made theoretical construct in psychology and philosophy — a model positing that individuals attribute unobservable mental states (beliefs, intents, desires, knowledge, emotions) to themselves and others in order to predict and explain behavior. Parameters: (1) attribution mechanism — the cognitive process of inferring mental states; (2) target subjects — self and other agents; (3) predictive function — using attributed states to forecast behavior; (4) developmental aspect — the capacity emerges through structured learning stages. Persistence mechanism: academic discourse, empirical research programs, philosophical debate, and cross-cultural study of social cognition. [formal: teoria mentis | substrate: mind | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.78]
Accepted ontology entry
theory-of-mind
A theory-of-mind is a human-made theoretical construct in psychology and philosophy — a model positing that individuals attribute unobservable mental states (beliefs, intents, desires, knowledge, emotions) to themselves and others in order…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made theoretical construct in psychology and philosophy — a model positing that individuals attribute mental states (beliefs, intents, desires, knowledge) to themselves and others to predict and explain behavior. Built through cognitive science and philosophical discourse to persist as a research framework.
Names and aliases
- theory-of-minden · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrujn52001l0r671w6ugddc8INSTANCE_OF →
Theory of mind IS a specific kind of cognitive model: it is a model for representing and reasoning about others' mental states. A competent speaker calls theory of mind 'a cognitive model.' Nearest general is cognitive-model.
- cmrng8t8a02cyd1nlcuj11wc0DEPENDS_ON →
Theory of mind requires representational capacity to operate: ToM is the ability to represent others' mental states. Remove representational capacity and ToM has no mechanism to function — it collapses entirely. Epoch check confirms representation (0) predates theory-of-mind (0.78), consistent with a dependency direction.
- cmrqz8du2006eq89dzw1jt8z6DERIVED_FROM →
Folk psychology existed long before theory of mind as a formal concept. Folk psychology — our everyday capacity for attributing mental states to others — is the pre-scientific predecessor that fed into the academic concept of theory of mind (which emerged in cognitive science in the 1970s-80s). Which-came-first test: folk psychology came first.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 21, 2026, 11:43 PM UTC
- Content hash
- fbb834c3575cd1129f7eea6b90518b5257cd101fe7003c9231dd6ce1fd78231e