Children's Reasoning and the Mind

This book offers a thorough investigation into the development of the cognitive processes that underpin judgements about mental states (often termed 'theory of mind'). Is the process a form of simulation or is it more like a rule-governed algorithm? If it is a simulation, then in what sense? And what form does it take? If the process is rule-governed, then what kind of mentalistic rules does the child acquire and how? What form does reasoning about mental states take? How does the development of executive function feature in these reasoning processes? These questions are examples of some of the specific issues that have not been adequately dealt with in the past. However, they have been raised in a number of recent research articles and also in work in preparation by some of the most prominent researchers in the field, many of whom have contributed their views to this dynamic book.