The Relationship between Theory of Mind and Intelligence: A Formative g Approach

Abstract

Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to understand that other people’s mental states may be different from one’s own. Psychometric models have showed that individual differences in ToM can largely be attributed to general intelligence (g) (Coyle et al., 2018). Most psychometric models specify g as a reflective latent variable, which is interpreted as a general ability that plays a causal role in a broad range of cognitive tasks, including ToM tasks. However, an alternative approach is to specify g as a formative latent variable, that is, an overall index of cognitive ability that does not represent a psychological attribute (Kovacs & Conway, 2016). Here we consider a formative g approach to the relationship between ToM and intelligence. First, we conducted SEM with reflective g to test the hypothesis that ToM is largely accounted for by a general ability. Next, we conducted SEM with formative g to determine whether the relationship between ToM and intelligence is more influenced by language ability (Study 1). Finally, we conducted a psychometric network analysis to examine associations among ToM and intelligence measures (Study 2). Results suggest that the relationship between ToM and intelligence is largely due to language-based factors, not a general ability.

What is theory of mind? A psychometric study of theory of mind and intelligence

“…Research has found that ToM is related broadly to IQ, usually measured as school achievement (Baker et al, 2014;Coyle, Elpers, Gonzalez, Freeman, and Baggio, 2018;Dodell-Feder et al, 2013;Navarro, Goring, & Conway, 2021), nevertheless, ToM has not been psychometrically examined together with Gf and Gc. Gf and Gc represent two correlated, but different dimensions of intelligence and several reliable tasks are used to measure each construct.…”

Development and validation of the Four-Item Mentalising Index.

“…There are also concerns about the validity of existing measures; they often have poor or untested psychometric properties and concerns have been raised about whether they are truly measuring mentalising or other social-cognitive processes such as emotion processing (see Olderbak et al, 2019). Accordingly, recent research has found poor associations between self-report and cognitive measures of social cognition (e.g., empathy; Murphy & Lilienfeld, 2019), as well as relatively low correlations between different mentalising tasks (Morrison et al, 2019;Navarro et al, 2020;Warnell & Redcay, 2019). This is likely because these measures are combining and conflating several constructs, including mentalising, emotion perception, and empathy (Quesque & Rossetti, 2020).…”

What is Theory of Mind? A Psychometric Study of Theory of Mind and Intelligence

“…While ToM has been related broadly to IQ, usually measured as school achievement (Baker et al, 2014;Coyle, Elpers, Gonzalez, Freeman, and Baggio, 2018;Dodell-Feder et al, 2013;Navarro, Goring, & Conway, 2021), it has not been psychometrically compared to specific measures of Gf and Gc. Gf and Gc represent two correlated, but different dimensions of intelligence and several reliable tasks are used to measure each construct.…”