Reading Minds

The need to understand human social life is basic to our human nature and fuels a life-long quest that we begin in early childhood. Key to this quest is trying to fathom our inner mental states--our hopes, plans, wants, thoughts, and emotions. Scientists deem this developing a theory of mind. In Reading Minds, Henry Wellman tells the story of our journey into that understanding.

Our hard-won, everyday comprehension of people and minds is not spoon-fed or taught. Each of us creates a wide-ranging theory of mind step-by-step and uses it to understand how all people work. Failure to learn these steps cripples a child, and ultimately an adult, in areas as diverse as interacting socially, creating a coherent life story, enjoying drama and movies, and living on one's own. Progressing along these steps--as most of us do--allows us to see the nature of our shared humanity, to understand our children and our childhood selves, to teach and to learn from others, and to better navigate and make sense of our social world. Theory of mind is basic to why some of us become religious believers and others atheists, why some of us become novelists and all of us love stories, why some love scary movies and some hate them. Reading Minds illuminates how we develop this theory of mind as children, how that defines us as individuals, and ultimately how it defines us as human.

The need to understand human social life is basic to our human nature and fuels a life-long quest that we begin in early childhood. Key to this quest is trying to fathom our inner mental states--our hopes, plans, wants, thoughts, and emotions. Scientists deem this developing a "theory of mind." In Reading Minds, Henry Wellman tells the story of our journey into that understanding. Our hard-won, everyday comprehension of people and minds is not spoon-fed or taught. Each of us creates a wide-ranging theory of mind step-by-step and uses it to understand how all people work. Failure to learn these steps cripples a child, and ultimately an adult, in areas as diverse as interacting socially, creating a coherent life story, enjoying drama and movies, and living on one's own. Progressing along these steps--as most of us do--allows us to see the nature of our shared humanity, to understand our children and our childhood selves, to teach and to learn from others, and to better navigate and make sense of our social world. Theory of mind is basic to why some of us become religious believers and others atheists, why some of us become novelists and all of us love stories, why some love scary movies and some hate them. Reading Minds illuminates how we develop this theory of mind as children, how that defines us as individuals, and ultimately how it defines us as human.

The book makes for a fun reference text, in part because the narrative flows so easily. -- Choice

Henry Wellman offers a compelling narrative of how children construct an increasingly elaborate theory of the human mind. Children use that theory to make sense of what people say, do, think and feel. It helps children to communicate, make friends, collaborate, play games, and empathize--and it gives them a way to think about a variety of other minds: the minds of imaginary playmates, fictional characters, animals, robots, and even supernatural agents, such as God. A pioneer in the field, with impeccable research credentials, Wellman has written an accessible account of one of the most fertile and enduring research programs in developmental psychology.
--Paul L. Harris, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Education, Harvard University

Henry Wellman is the world's leading authority on children's 'theory of mind'-the way that we come to understand the minds of others. It is a topic that is increasingly central in developmental and clinical psychology and in neuroscience, and is equally important to parents and teachers. This comprehensive, clear, and very accessible and readable book provides the best possible introduction to the field. But it also includes fascinating and exciting new ideas about the frontiers of the research, from robots to religion.
--Alison Gopnik, Professor of Psychology and Affiliate Professor of Philosophy, Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley

Most people think that psychologists read minds but what Henry Wellman demonstrates is that this is a natural ability we all possess from an early age. Peppered with fascinating examples from the lab and the real world, Reading Minds is a journey of wonder into this field of human development. Who better to guide us than one of leading experts who has mapped so much of the terrain.

-- Bruce Hood, Professor of Psychology, University of Bristol