Higher-order mentalising and executive functioning

Abstract

Higher-order mentalising is the ability to represent the beliefs and desires of other people at multiple, iterated levels -a capacity that sets humans apart from other species. However, there has not yet been a systematic attempt to determine what cognitive processes underlie this ability. Here we present three correlational studies assessing the extent to which performance on higher-order mentalising tasks relates to emotion recognition, self-reported empathy and self-inhibition. In Study 1a and 1b, examining emotion recognition and empathy, a relationship was identified between individual differences in the ability to mentalise and an emotion recognition task (the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task), but no correlation was found with the Empathy Quotient, a self-report scale of empathy. Study 2 investigated whether a relationship exists between individual mentalising abilities and four different forms of self-inhibition: motor inhibition, executive inhibition, automatic imitation and temporal discounting. Results demonstrate that only temporal discounting performance relates to mentalising ability; suggesting that cognitive skills relevant to representation of the minds of others' are not influenced by the ability to perform more basic inhibition. Higher-order mentalising appears to rely on the cognitive architecture that serves both low-level social cognition (emotion recognition), and complex forms of inhibition.

Thinking about others and the future: Neural correlates of perspective taking relate to preferences for delayed rewards

“…This trend was also observed in our data, providing some validation for rTPJ activity as a marker of egocentric bias control. Indeed, studies of children, who do not show the typical ceiling effects in false-belief accuracy, have shown positive links between this accuracy and preferences for delayed rewards (Launay et al, 2015 ; Marchetti, Castelli, Sanvito, & Massaro, 2014 ).…”

Empathic people have more friends: Empathic abilities predict social network size and position in social network predicts empathic efforts

“…In fact, understanding others' intentions or emotions without properly reacting to them can signal psychopathic (Decety et al, 2013) or Machiavellian (Davies and Stone, 2003;Jones and Paulhus, 2009) personality disorder. Mentalising ability, for example, correlates with emotion recognition, but it does not predict performance on other empathic measures that are associated with properly reacting to those emotions, (Launay et al, 2015). The crucial capability that shapes humans' understanding of and proper reaction to others' emotional states is called empathy (Batson, 1991(Batson, , 2009.…”

Genetic Influences on Social Relationships: Sex Differences in the Mediating Role of Personality and Social Cognition

“…Someone who is more skilled at identifying others' emotive expressions might require less cognitive load, and so might be able to manage a larger number of social partners. In support of this, higher-level mentalising abilities are positively correlated with social network size, suggesting that sociocognitive abilities support the maintenance of more social ties (Launay et al 2015;Powell et al 2012;Stiller and Dunbar 2007). It may be that reading a potential partner's facial expressions also plays a role in successful mate attraction, but sociocognitive skills would not be expected to influence other aspects of Sociosexual Orientation such as attitudes to promiscuity and fantasising behaviour, and so may not be associated with Sociosexual Orientation overall.…”

“…the effect that a one night stand might have on an existing romantic relationship). The capacity to inhibit prepotent responses in this way has been proposed as a key requisite for maintaining complex primate societies: individuals delaying or foregoing their own gratification in order to compromise with others allows greater coordination between group members (Dunbar and Shultz 2017;Launay et al 2015). Indeed, the capacity to inhibit prepotent responses increases with brain size across primate species (Shultz and Dunbar 2010;MacLean et al, 2014).…”

“…Indeed, the capacity to inhibit prepotent responses increases with brain size across primate species (Shultz and Dunbar 2010;MacLean et al, 2014). The ability to inhibit inappropriate responses or delay gratification has been linked to better social skills in both children (Carlson et al 2002(Carlson et al , 2004Casey et al 2011;Rhoades et al 2009;Mischel and Shoda 1976) and adults (Moffitt et al 2001;Launay et al 2015). Several studies have found that individuals who score high on trait Impulsivity find it more difficult to inhibit prepotent responses (Aichert et al 2012;Kam et al 2012;Logan et al 1997).…”