• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.77-93
• /
• 2010

The aim of this study was to identify neural correlates underlying the detection of faux pas, a test of theory of mind (ToM), in Korean healthy adults. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we compared the brain activities associated with faux pas stories and the activities associated with control stories. Faux pas stories compared with the control stories produced activations bilaterally in the superior frontal gyrus (BA 9) and in the precuneus (BA 7). The left medial frontal gyrus (BA 9), the left superior temporal gyrus (BA 38), the left inferior temporal gyrus (BA 20) and the right inferior parietal lobule (BA 40), the right postcentral gyrus (BA 1), the right lingual gyrus (BA 18), the right transverse temporal gyrus (BA 41) were also activated. The orbitofrontal cortex and the amygdala were not found to be involved in the detection of faux pas. This result suggests that brain activations associated with ToM are dependent on the type of mental state drawn by the task.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.1-18
• /
• 2008

The present study was to investigate the developmental change of adolescent's theory of mind. In addition, the relations between theory of mind and the social competence were investigated. Sixty students in each the 6th and 8th grade group were participated in this study. Adolescents' understanding of mind were measured by four kinds of mindreading tasks; the second-order false belief tasks, understanding the ambiguous social behaviors tasks, understading the hidden meaning of a figurative statement tasks, and the "faux pas" tasks. Social skills were measured by social skill scales. Eighth graders performed better than the 6th graders on the understanding the ambiguous social behaviors tasks and faux pas tasks but not on the second-order false belief tasks and understanding the hidden meaning of figurative statement tasks. The results suggests that the mindreading ability continues to develop during the adolescence, especially the ability to interpret others' ambiguous social behaviors by reading their mental states and the ability to understand that a person says a faux pas it is due to a mistaken belief. In addition, the understanding the ambiguous social behaviors tasks was found to be the best task to predict social behaviors. The results suggests that the mindreading ability would be a significant explanatory factor on social competence.

• Psychiatry investigation
• /
• v.15 no.12
• /
• pp.1144-1153
• /
• 2018

Objective One of the areas of social cognition is Theory of Mind (ToM) is defined as the capacity to interpret, infer and explain mental states underlying the behavior of others. When social cognition studies on neurodevelopmental disorders are examined, it can be seen that this skill has not been studied sufficiently in children with Specific Learning Disorder (SLD). Methods In this study, social cognition skills in children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), SLD or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) evaluated before puberty and compared with controls. To evaluate the ToM skills, the first and second-order false belief tasks, the Hinting Task, the Faux Pas Test and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task were used. Results We found that children with neurodevelopmental disorders as ADHD, ASD, and SLD had ToM deficits independent of intelligence and language development. There was a significant correlation between social cognition deficits and problems experienced in many areas such as social communication and interaction, attention, behavior, and learning. Conclusion Social cognition is an important area of impairment in SLD and there is a strong relationship between clinical symptoms and impaired functionality.