Theory of mind test

Post Reply New Topic

I saw him, his eyes, and his eyes move, THE END.

I think "yes" or even "that's me" could be acceptable. Those are literal answers but if you say them with the correct tone and body language they are also a prompt for them to open a conversation. The wrong response would be to answer and then look away without waiting for a response. It's typical small talk. You exchange information that is already known in the literal sense as a prompt for further conversation. It's similar to making a comment on the weather. You don't say "It sure is a hot one today" to inform a person that the weather is hot. They already know it's hot. It's either politeness or a prompt to enter further conversation.

I can tell that D is the right answer, but, if I were being honest, my reaction would probably be closest to B.

None of the above. I'd answer yes because I know he knows I am Dr. Jones but I would interpret his question as "Dr. Jones, may I speak to you?". I would answer yes to let him know that he can speak to me and then I'd wait for him to say what he wants to say or ask me what he wants to ask. By yes I wouldn't mean "yes my name is Dr. Jones" I would mean "yes you can speak to me".

Of course I might not notice he's reading my name tag which would change the whole thing but I've been in a similar situation without a nametag. I already knew the person's name and I said the person's name in a tone that sounds a bit like a question. What I was doing was asking the person if I could speak to the him/her and I often do it before I ask for something. It's similar to the given scenario because we both know that I know the other person's name. We're close friends how could I not know his/her name? There's no name tag involved but it's almost the same scenario.

Okay. Now I have a question. Are those responses a gauge to whether or not someone has theory of mind? If it is, which is the answer for if you have ToM and the answer for not having ToM?

This happened to me before, many years ago. I was working at Sears and someone said to me, "Hi Jones". I looked at him puzzled. How did he know my name? Am I supposed to know this person? Later, I looked down and remembered I had my name badge on LOL.

My reaction to this situation is a smile, and say "Hello, you found me.". However, I would think in my head; (such the case as if he is not blind) "Can't he read? The damn name badge is on my shirt; what else do I need to print there - THX1138? - No, maybe if I put my name in flashing lights, with different colors to attract his gaze there, he just might get the faint idea who I am...he must be trying to open a conversation, but hello would suffice..."

Before having read D, I'd have gone with B, and if I found myself in that hypothetical situation, I'd probably forget what I was meant to do and still go with B. If I didn't previously know the person, I wouldn't smile and say hello, that would probably give him the impression that I knew him, when I didn't.

Come to think it, this describes me more than the other options...

Thank you all for your responses so far. I found all your different perspectives to be very interesting.

To answer Redrobins question, the test is supposed to gauge how far along the theory of mind chain of reasoning you can get. The higher the letter of your answer, the greater your theory of mind.
Like this
A) You work out nothing from the eyes moving
B) You work out by the eyes moving that he read your badge
C) You work out by the eyes moving that he read your badge and knows you are Mr Jones.
D) You work out by the eyes moving that he read your badge and knows you are Mr Jones, and therefore he is not seeking information.

As many of you have pointed out, its not a very good test as in real life you could behave in lots of different ways. Also, saying "yes" to his question would not make you appear rude as such if you said it politely, so in real life you wouldn't have made any real error.

Also, its easy to see what the "correct" answer is when you are reading the question and can think about it. But in real life situations when you don't have time to think you might demonstrate less TOM.

Its just a silly test I thought of, so don't take it too seriously. I just thought it would be interesting to see peoples responses thats all

I am not sure I would notice the eyes moving as I don't really look at eyes.

I am not sure what I would think if I saw the eyes moving. I might realize that means he read my name from my badge, or I might just file the information as irrelevant and not think about it.

I would do A.

c, most likely. i might do "d" but there would be an awkward pause while i tried to figure it out.

I've actually been in a similar situation.

I hadn;t noticed the person look at my name badge and when they spoke to me by name I responded by asking "How do you know my name?"

Rude.