ReviewLifespan development: The effects of typical aging on theory of mind
Highlights
► I review the extant literature on aging and social cognition. ► I cover studies investigating theory of mind and moral judgments. ► Theory of mind deficits are partially dependent on deficits in general cognition. ► The brain regions linked to theory of mind show task-specific deficits in aging. ► Aging is a unique method to study whether theory of mind is a specialized module.
Introduction
Social cognition, or how humans understand and interact with other humans, comprises a set of skills whose successful application is critical for the cohesion of individual and societal relationships. For humans, the development of social interaction may represent the pinnacle of evolution of our cognitive architectures. According to Dunbar [1], the relative explosion of neocortex size in humans compared with other primates and with non-primates is tightly associated with the larger social groups in which we embed ourselves. And indeed, understanding our social partners who in turn are attempting to predict our actions is a difficult computational task that may be unparalleled by other evolutionary pressures (such as the use of tools [2]), and thus may have provided selection pressures for larger neocortices. Theory of mind (ToM) is a hallmark ability underlying social interaction, which allows representation of the mental states of others. Evidence from the evolutionary perspective hence suggests that social cognition may comprise a set of abilities (including ToM) that are independent from general cognition, and theorists in cognitive development have separately posited the existence of a Theory of Mind Module [3]: a domain-specific cognitive device that is specialized for the understanding of mental states. An alternative hypothesis, supported by lesion work and by some work in autism, is that Theory of Mind is predicated on meta-representation, which is the domain-general ability to think about and manipulate other representations (such as a mental image of a drawing of a pencil) [4].
Another perspective that could inform this debate is investigating how ToM fares in later lifespan development. If ToM is impaired in aging, does it decline in ways that tie it to more basic cognitive operations? If so, would we be able to conclude that ToM is, in general, predicated on more domain-general cognitive abilities? Reflection on the possible trajectories for ToM in typical aging suggests two hypotheses. First, since ToM is tied to the functioning of a specific cognitive architecture, declines in that cognitive architecture (e.g., [5]) may also be associated with declines in social functioning. The weight of the evidence suggests that older adults do show marked declines in aspects of ‘fluid’ intelligence [5]; those aspects include skills such as working memory, processing speed, and numerical ability. If older adults perform worse at ToM, one explanation is that low fluid ability simply makes the task more difficult for them, independent of any domain-specific difficulties in ToM. Therefore, it is important to note whether effects are independent of differences in these crucial domains of cognition. Executive functioning (e.g., inhibiting prepotent responses, choosing among alternatives) also declines with age [6]. Presumably, such declines might also be associated with difficulties in some of the nuances of social cognition.
Alternatively, a lifetime of accumulation of knowledge about the social world may lead to us becoming much more efficient in our social interactions, and as a result, certain aspects of social cognition may comprise a domain in which experience trumps youth. This view sits well with the evidence from general cognition [5], which argues that older adults show sparing of ‘crystallized’ aspects of intelligence, such as verbal memory, general knowledge, and vocabulary. If older adults show preserved ToM ability, this may result from greater knowledge about social relationships that does not decline in aging. It is important to note here that spared ToM could be due either to fluid declines being compensated for by improved crystallized intelligence, or to a true lack of decline in a specialized ToM module. Initial evidence favored the general hypothesis that ToM is unimpaired with age, but in recent years the preponderance of data has edged toward the alternative that there are specific measurable deficits in ToM with increasing age. This review will first describe the early developmental trajectories of aspects of social cognition such as theory of mind and moral judgments. In doing so, the gradual development of ToM will be revealed, whereby more complex aspects of ToM emerge only once simpler aspects are mastered. Any differences in ToM due to age can thus be interpreted in light of how those specific aspects of ToM map onto the typical developmental trajectory. I will then discuss behavioral evidence concerning social cognition in typical aging, and finally turn to recent neuroimaging results that provide complementary evidence on the effects of normal aging on social cognition.
Section snippets
Theory of mind
ToM is variously referred to as mental state understanding, social understanding, or mentalizing. It is present in typically developing children by approximately age five [7], may be present in adult chimpanzees [8], and is developmentally delayed in individuals with autism spectrum disorders [9]. The typical developmental course of ToM abilities proceeds along roughly the following ‘stages’. Children initially develop shared attention mechanisms that allow them to direct others’ attention by
ToM in later life and its relation to general cognitive ability
The preceding section suggested a clear developmental path for ToM and more complex ToM-based abilities like moral judgments. Thus, one might expect that any declines in ToM due to age might first be observed in more complex tasks (e.g., second order ToM), and ultimately in more basic tasks (e.g., first order ToM). Because the literature and stimuli used to test ToM in aging are varied, this section begins with a brief historical summary of early findings in the field—which hinted that older
Neuroimaging investigations of ToM in aging
Thus far, the application of neuroimaging to understanding the mechanisms of ToM in aging has been spare. This is unfortunate, as given such conflict in findings in the behavioral literature, neuroimaging may be a particularly useful tool for understanding how, if at all, aging affects ToM processes. Early work focused on gross measures of anatomy, including whole brain volume and white matter integrity. Investigations using functional imaging to this date suggest a pattern of compensatory
Conclusion
Much of the early work in social understanding in aging highlighted the need to obtain multiple measures of cognitive functioning such that we might understand better how ToM relates to general cognitive abilities. This is an important question for aging, as if ToM declines independently from other abilities, it becomes critical to find ways to stem this decline; older adults may need help in relearning the subtleties of social communication, especially with strangers whose intentions are not
Acknowledgments
The author wishes to thank Jason Mitchell, Anne Krendl, Diana Tamir, and Rita Ludwig for comments and suggestions on this manuscript.
References (74)
Social cognition and the human brain
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
(1999)Pretending and believing: issues in the theory of ToMM
Cognition
(1994)- et al.
Beliefs about beliefs: representation and constraining function of wrong beliefs in young children's understanding of deception
Cognition
(1983) - et al.
Does the autistic child have a theory of mind
Cognition
(1985) - et al.
From simple desires to ordinary beliefs – the early development of everyday psychology
Cognition
(1990) - et al.
Domain specificity in conceptual development – neuropsychological evidence from autism
Cognition
(1992) When representations conflict with reality: the preschooler's problem with false beliefs and false photographs
Cognition
(1990)- et al.
Theory of mind and epistemological development: the relation between children's second-order false-belief understanding and their ability to reason about evidence
New Ideas in Psychology
(2002) - et al.
Moral judgment in adults with autism spectrum disorders
Cognition
(2011) - et al.
Damage to ventromedial prefrontal cortex impairs judgment of harmful intent
Neuron
(2010)
Other minds in the brain: a functional imaging study of theory of mind in story comprehension
Cognition
Reading the mind in cartoons and stories: an fMRI study of ‘theory of mind’ in verbal and nonverbal tasks
Neuropsychologia
Mini-mental state. A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician
Journal of Psychiatric Research
Theory of mind following traumatic brain injury: the role of emotion recognition and executive dysfunction
Neuropsychologia
A meta-analytic review of emotion recognition and aging: Implications for neuropsychological models of aging
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
Age effects on different components of theory of mind
Consciousness and Cognition
Effects of aging on mindreading ability through the eyes: an fMRI study
Neuropsychologia
Lifespan aging and belief reasoning: influences of executive function and social cue decoding
Cognition
Representational and executive selection resources in ‘theory of mind’: evidence from compromised belief-desire reasoning in old age
Cognition
Domain-general contributions to social reasoning: theory of mind and deontic reasoning re-explored
Cognition
Hemispheric specialization in human dorsal frontal cortex and medial temporal lobe for verbal and nonverbal memory encoding
Neuron
People thinking about thinking people. The role of the temporo-parietal junction in theory of mind
Neuroimage
Coevolution of neocortical size, group-size and language in humans
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
What's domain-specific about theory of mind
Social Neuroscience
Insights into the ageing mind: a view from cognitive neuroscience
Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Age, executive function, and social decision making: a dorsolateral prefrontal theory of cognitive aging
Psychology and Aging
Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Development of pointing as a social gesture
Developmental Psychology
Young childrens attribution of action to beliefs and desires
Child Development
The neural basis of the interaction between theory of mind and moral judgment
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Social-cognitive deficits in normal aging
Journal of Neuroscience
The moral judgment of the child
The role of mental state understanding in the development of moral cognition and moral action
New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development
Assignment of moral responsibility and punishment
Child Development
The child's understanding of commitment
Developmental Psychology
Impaired theory of mind for moral judgment in high-functioning autism
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Damage to the prefrontal cortex increases utilitarian moral judgements
Nature
Cited by (144)
Sex and age interact in reading the mind in the eyes
2022, Comprehensive PsychoneuroendocrinologyReading language of the eyes
2022, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral ReviewsCitation Excerpt :At the same time, remitted female patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective and bipolar disorder score better on the RMET and have higher empathy level than males (Dehelean et al., 2021). Non-verbal visual social cognition is believed to remain intact in elderly (Moran, 2013; Natelson Love et al., 2015; Reiter et al., 2017). In accord with this, a meta-analysis comparing 237 young (mean age about 22 years) with 271 older adults (defined as aged > 65 years; mean age about 71 years) from 7 studies indicated only slight to moderate declination of reading the mind in the eyes abilities, with a mean weighted effect size r = −0.43, p < 0.001 (Henry et al., 2013).
Pragmatic inferences in aging and human-robot communication
2022, Cognition