Do 15-Month-Old Infants Understand False Beliefs? Kristine H. Onishi and Renée Baillargeon investigated whether 15-month-old infants can understand false beliefs. Using a nonverbal task, they found that infants can predict an actor's behavior based on her belief about a toy's location. The study suggests that infants as young as 15 months can understand that others may hold and act on false beliefs, indicating an early form of theory of mind. The researchers used a violation-of-expectation method to examine infants' understanding of false beliefs. In the experiment, infants watched an actor hide a toy and then either hold a true or false belief about its location. The infants were then shown the actor searching for the toy, and their looking times were measured to determine if they expected the actor to search based on her belief. The results showed that infants expected the actor to search where she believed the toy to be, even when that belief was false. This suggests that infants have an implicit understanding of false beliefs. The study challenges the notion that children only develop a theory of mind around 4 years of age. The findings have implications for understanding atypical development, such as autism, and animal cognition. The study highlights that infants can use mental states to predict others' behavior, indicating that they possess a rudimentary theory of mind. The results suggest that the ability to understand false beliefs may be present from a very young age, challenging previous assumptions about the development of theory of mind.Do 15-Month-Old Infants Understand False Beliefs? Kristine H. Onishi and Renée Baillargeon investigated whether 15-month-old infants can understand false beliefs. Using a nonverbal task, they found that infants can predict an actor's behavior based on her belief about a toy's location. The study suggests that infants as young as 15 months can understand that others may hold and act on false beliefs, indicating an early form of theory of mind. The researchers used a violation-of-expectation method to examine infants' understanding of false beliefs. In the experiment, infants watched an actor hide a toy and then either hold a true or false belief about its location. The infants were then shown the actor searching for the toy, and their looking times were measured to determine if they expected the actor to search based on her belief. The results showed that infants expected the actor to search where she believed the toy to be, even when that belief was false. This suggests that infants have an implicit understanding of false beliefs. The study challenges the notion that children only develop a theory of mind around 4 years of age. The findings have implications for understanding atypical development, such as autism, and animal cognition. The study highlights that infants can use mental states to predict others' behavior, indicating that they possess a rudimentary theory of mind. The results suggest that the ability to understand false beliefs may be present from a very young age, challenging previous assumptions about the development of theory of mind.