Understanding Other Minds Perspectives from Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

During that time, there has been dramatic growth in the fields of theory of mind, autism, and cognitive neuroscience. This new edition includes a whole section on the cognitive neuroscience of "mind-reading", bringing together varied research methods such as functional neuro-imaging, single cell recording, and neuropsychology. In addition, there is expanded coverage of primate studies and the evolution of a theory of mind, and new information relating theory of mind in clinical populations other than autism, such as schizophrenia. The original section on normal development has been updated, as has the debate over the relationship between theory of mind deficits and autism. Understanding other Minds: Perspectives from Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience remains the key sourcebook for this important area, which attracts researchers and clinicians in psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, and primatology . The new material in this edition will ensure that it is essential reading for these groups. From reviews of the first edition: [This book] will be of absorbing interest to all those involved in the fields of autism and child development. It also contains thought-provoking ideas of relevance to psychology and psychiatry in general. L. Wing, National Autistic Society This book would be of great interest to researchers of child development but also to many clinicians and teachers working with individuals with autism. British Journal of Psychiatry"...Understanding Other Minds is a well thought-out text, with all thechapter authors achieving a very high standard of presentation...an excellentintroduction for readers new to the area while also providing an importantresearch synthesis for the more expert."Psychological Medicine"This is an important work in a rapidly changing field. The editors and contributors attempt to explain the always-elusive concept of self-awareness. The also attempt to explain that perhaps uniquely human quality of realizing that other, also, are self-aware, and how this ability is crucial in normal human development. Unlike may other books on this subject, the editors approach the concept from several different perspectives and succeed in offering an explanation using all these modalities. The book's usefulness is perhaps limited to researchers and child/development psychologists, but anyone interested in the subject will find it exciting reading."--Doody's "Updated to integrate changes in theory, method, and data since the 1933 first edition, which was subtitled Perspectives from Autism, 21 studies cover the theory of mind from perspectives of normal development and autism, neurobiological aspects, clinical aspects, and anthropological and evolutionary issues. The range of topics is reflected in the disciplines from which the contributors hail. Among the specific concerns are developmental relationships between language and the theory of mind, the role of the frontal lobes and the amygdala, early diagnosis of autism, teaching the theory of mind to people with autism, whether chimpanzees use their gestures to instruct each other, and paleo-anthropological perspectives."--SciTech Book News "Understanding Other Minds is a well thought-out text, with all the chapter authors achieving a very high standard of presentation. The book provides an excellent introduction for readers new to the area while also providing an important research synthesis for the more expert. It contains a wealth of material of obvious relevance and interest to psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and developmental psychologists, but will also be of interest to those working in other branches of psychology."--Psychological MedicinePreface Section 1: Theory of mind in normal development and autism 2. H Wellman and K H Laguttuta: Developing understandings of mind 3. A Gopnick et al: Early theories of mind: what the theory can tell us about autism 4. S Baron-Cohen: Autism: Deficits in folk psychology exist alongside superiority in folk physics 5. J de Villiers: Language and theory of mind: what are the developmental relationships? 6. H Tager-Flusberg: Language and understanding minds: connections in autism 7. J Perner and B Lang: Theory of mind and executive function: is there a developmental relationship? 8. P Harris and H Leevers: Pretending, imagery and self-awareness in autism 9. F Happe: Parts and wholes, meaning and minds: central coherence and its relation to theory of mind 10. K Plaisted: Aspects of autism that theory of mind cannot easily explain Section 2: Theory of mind: neurobiological aspects 11. V Stone: The role of the frontal lobes and the amygdala in theory of mind 12. N Emery and D Perrett: How can studies of the monkey brain help us understand "theory of mind" and autism in humans? 13. H Brownell et al: Cerebral lateralization and theory of mind 14. C Frith and U Frith: The physiological basis of theory of mind: functional neuroimaging studies Section 3: Theory of mind: clinical aspects 15. R Corcoran: Theory of mind in other clinical samples: is a selective theory of mind deficit exclusive to autism? 16. T Charman: Theory of mind and the early diagnosis of autism 17. J Swettenham: Teaching theory of mind to individuals with autism Section 4: Theory of mind: Anthropological and evolutionary issues 19. S Mithen: Palaeoanthropological perspectives on the theory of mind 20. P Vinden and J Astington: Culture and Understanding Other Minds 21. A Klin, R Schultz, and D Cohen: Theory of mind in actionHow do children come to understand other minds? Why do children with autism have such trouble developing normal social understanding of other people's feelings? This new edition of the highly successful Understanding other Minds updates the field by linking autism research to the newest methods for studying the brain."The ten years since preparation of the first edition have seen dramatic growth in the fields of theory of mind, autism, and cognitive neuroscience. Extensively revised and including all new chapters, this new edition includes a whole section on the cognitive neuroscience of 'mind-reading', bringing together varied research methods such as functional neuro-imaging, single-cell recording, and neuropsychology."--BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights ReservedLike the first edition, this completely updated and revised text still focuses on the "theory of mind" hypothesis -- an important new psychological approach to autism -- and provides an invaluable discussion about the nature of what is widely recognized as the most severe childhood psychological disorder. But it provides expanded coverage of evolution and new sections on infancy, neurobiology, and cognitive neuroscience.