Successful cooperation depends on good 'mindreading' abilities

Date:
July 13, 2023
Source:
University of Birmingham
Summary:
Researchers found that people with strong mind reading abilities --
the ability to understand and take the perspective of another
person's feelings and intentions -- are more successful in
cooperating to complete tasks than people with weaker mind reading
abilities.


Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email

==========================================================================
FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A person's 'mindreading ability' can predict how well they are able to cooperate, even with people they have never met before.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that people with
strong mind reading abilities -- the ability to understand and take
the perspective of another person's feelings and intentions- are more successful in cooperating to complete tasks than people with weaker mind reading abilities.

These qualities, also called 'theory of mind', are not necessarily related
to intelligence and could be improved through training programmes to
foster improved cooperation, for example in the workplace or in schools
and colleges.

Lead researcher Roksana Markiewicz explained: "As a psychology
researcher, I often get asked if I can read minds and while this is
often said to me as a joke, humans do have mindreading abilities. Our
study shows that these qualities are clearly important in activities
that require cooperation." In the study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: LMC, the team measured theory of mind in over
400 participants. Participants were then sorted into pairs and joined a researcher on a zoom call where they played a series of communication
games. Each player had a set of visual clues on their screen, which
could not be viewed by their partner. They had to communicate about the different sets of clues and use them together to solve a puzzle.

Players who had high theory of mind (ToM) abilities and who were matched
with people who had similarly high ToM scores cooperated more effectively
than players matched with low ToM abilities. The researchers suggest
that this is because of a heightened ability to align in the same mental
space and to recover rapidly when misalignment occurs.

Similarly, the researchers found that failures in cooperation were more
common among participants with low ToM abilities. They suggest this is
because these participants found it harder to find ways to align their thinking, leading to more frequent mistakes, and poorer recovery from
mistakes.

"We show for the first time that cooperation is not all about you," says Roksana. "Even if you have excellent mindreading abilities yourself,
it will still be advantageous to cooperate with someone with similar
abilities, so choose your cooperation partner wisely!"
* RELATED_TOPICS
o Mind_&_Brain
# Psychology # Social_Psychology # Literacy # Intelligence
o Science_&_Society
# Poverty_and_Learning # Economics
* RELATED_TERMS
o Dyslexia o Hallucination o Philosophy_of_mind o Left-handed
o Neuropsychology o Psychedelic_drug o Cognition o Psychology

==========================================================================

Print

Email

Share ========================================================================== ****** 1 ****** ***** 2 ***** **** 3 ****
*** 4 *** ** 5 ** Breaking this hour ==========================================================================
* Overflowing_Cosmic_'Jug' * Ghost_Stars_in_Our_Galaxy *
Multiple_Ecosystems_in_Hot_Water * How_an_'AI-Tocracy'_Emerges
* Building_a_Better_Tree_With_CRISPR_Gene_Editing *
Unprecedented_Control_Of_Every_Finger_of_...

* Widespread_Death_of_Insects:_Air_Pollution
* Webb_Celebrates_First_Year_of_Science *
New_Parkinson's_Disease_Cell_Therapies *
Circular_DNA_Grabs_DNA_Repair_Mechanism:_...


Trending Topics this week ========================================================================== HEALTH_&_MEDICINE Brain_Tumor Nervous_System Stem_Cells MIND_&_BRAIN Intelligence Behavior Brain_Injury LIVING_&_WELL Behavior Healthy_Aging Child_Development


==========================================================================

Strange & Offbeat ========================================================================== HEALTH_&_MEDICINE Surgical_and_Engineering_Innovations_Enable_Unprecedented_Control_Over_Every Finger_of_a_Bionic_Hand Capturing_the_Immense_Potential_of_Microscopic_DNA_for_Data_Storage Revolutionary_Self-Sensing_Electric_Artificial_Muscles MIND_&_BRAIN The_Sound_of_Silence?_Researchers_Demonstrate_People_Hear_It AI_Tests_Into_Top_1%_for_Original_Creative_Thinking Everyone's_Brain_Has_a_Pain_Fingerprint_--_New_Research_Has_Revealed_for_the First_Time LIVING_&_WELL These_Lollipops_Could_'Sweeten'_Diagnostic_Testing_for_Kids_and_Adults_Alike Grocery_Store_Carts_Set_to_Help_Diagnose_Common_Heart_Rhythm_Disorder_and Prevent_Stroke Illusions_Are_in_the_Eye,_Not_the_Mind Story Source:
Materials provided by University_of_Birmingham. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Roksana Markiewicz, Foyzul Rahman, Ian Apperly, Ali Mazaheri,
Katrien
Segaert. It is not all about you: Communicative cooperation is
determined by your partner's theory of mind abilities as well as
your own.. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory,
and Cognition, 2023; DOI: 10.1037/xlm0001268 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230713141925.htm

--- up 1 year, 19 weeks, 3 days, 10 hours, 50 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111)