Second-order Belief is a Concept Found in the Theory of Mind

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Second-order belief is a concept found in theory of mind, which allows us to conceptualize the process of thinking about thinking. Perner and Wimmer built upon their predecessors’ findings by creating a second-order false belief task that not only took reasoning into consideration but the child’s false belief as well. It is Perner and Wimmers understanding that second-order belief is a mandatory precursor for further cognitive development in social behaviorism (Miller, 2012).
In order to understand how second-order belief works it is necessary to look back at first-order theory of mind. Although second-order is more advanced than first-order they both entail complexities of their own. In a first-order task a child is given orders to judge the relationship between a subject (a theoretical person) and a situation in their environment or world. Scott A. Miller uses an example in his book “Theory of mind beyond the preschool years” where a theoretical person titled “A” thinks, wants, plans, and so on about an event occurring titled “X”. While A is thinking that X is occurring, Y is in fact happening and X is the false belief. However, what we think and what is actually happening is interconnected, so if person A believes that X is occurring then person A’s actions are shaped by that belief. In situations regarding second-order theory of mind, there is an additional factor included titled person “B”. Now, A is thinking about what B is thinking, judging B’s mental state. Unlike first-order theory of mind though, second-order involves a change in the belief that the child must detect. In order to do this the child must be able to realize that beliefs can have beliefs as well and can be recursive. When I say recursive what I mean is “...

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... speculation that perhaps these studies are not demonstrating a genuine understanding of false belief (Bjorklund, 2012).
High success rate in first and second-order tasks is seen largely in typically developing children. Children with cognitive development deficits, such as autism, which involves difficulties in social understanding and interaction, have demonstrated an inability to preform first-order false belief tasks successfully. Further studies have concluded that children with cognitive disorders, not limited to autism, never master first-order false belief which reasons why a child with a deficit would not be able to perform a second-order false belief task with typical results (Miller, 2012). This reasoning aids in explaining my results with the thirteen-year old subject that was unable to complete the second-order belief test with successfully results.

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