What is Theory of Mind? A Psychometric Study of Theory of Mind and Intelligence

Theory of mind (ToM) is an essential ability for social competence and communication, and it is necessary for understanding behaviors that differ from our own (Premack and Woodruff, 1978). Recent research suggests that tasks designed to measure the ToM construct might not adequately capture ToM ability (Warnell & Redcay, 2019; Quesque & Rosetti, 2020). This hinders the interpretation of experimental findings and puts into question the validity of the ToM construct. This study examines the structure of ToM, crystallized intelligence (Gc), and fluid intelligence (Gf) to (a) understand whether ToM should be considered a monolithic ability and (b) to explore whether tasks of ToM present adequate construct validity. For this, confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and exploratory network analysis (NMA) were conducted. The results of the models largely point to the same conclusion: ToM tasks are not purely assessing a single construct. Importantly, these findings align with recent theoretical accounts proposing that ToM should not be considered a monolithic construct (Quesque & Rosetti. 2020; Schaafsma et al., 2015, Devaine et al., 2014), and should instead be explored and measured as multiple sub-components.