<P> Theory of mind appears to be an innate potential ability in primates including humans, that requires social and other experience over many years for its full development . Different people may develop more, or less, effective theory of mind . Empathy is a related concept, meaning the recognition and understanding of the states of mind of others, including their beliefs, desires and particularly emotions . This is often characterized as the ability to "put oneself into another's shoes". Recent neuro - ethological studies of animal behaviour suggest that even rodents may exhibit ethical or empathetic abilities . Neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development maintain that theory of mind is a byproduct of a broader hypercognitive ability of the human mind to register, monitor, and represent its own functioning . </P> <P> Research on theory of mind, in humans and animals, adults and children, normally and atypically developing, has grown rapidly in the 35 years since Premack and Guy Woodruff's paper, "Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind?". The emerging field of social neuroscience has also begun to address this debate, by imaging the brains of humans while they perform tasks demanding the understanding of an intention, belief or other mental state in others . </P> <P> An alternative account of Theory of Mind is given within operant psychology and provides significant empirical evidence for a functional account of both perspective - taking and empathy . The most developed operant approach is founded on research on derived relational responding and is subsumed within what is called "relational frame theory". According to this view, empathy and perspective - taking comprise a complex set of derived relational abilities based on learning to discriminate and respond verbally to ever more complex relations between self, others, place, and time, and through established relations . </P> <P> Contemporary discussions of ToM have their roots in philosophical debate--most broadly, from the time of Descartes' Second Meditation, which set the groundwork for considering the science of the mind . Most prominent recently are two contrasting approaches in the philosophical literature, to theory of mind: theory - theory and simulation theory . The theory - theorist imagines a veritable theory--"folk psychology"--used to reason about others' minds . The theory is developed automatically and innately, though instantiated through social interactions . It is also closely related to person perception and attribution theory from social psychology . </P>

When does theory of mind begin in development