Theory of Mind and the Detection of Suspicious Behavior

Two studies examined whether deficits in theory of mind the ability to understand and predict the intent, behaviors, and emotions of others are related to slowness in recognizing that there is something suspicious about the way in which an interaction is unfolding. Participants listened to vignettes, some culminating in a crime, and indicated when they detected something suspicious about the situation unfolding in the scenario. Theory of mind was assessed using the Frith-Happe animations task, which requires the identification of mental states and emotions of pairs of interacting animated geometric stimuli (White, Coniston, Rogers, & Frith, 2011). A meta-analysis of the studies found meaningful albeit relatively weak negative relationships between latency to react to cues to suspicious behavior and performance on the theory of mind measure. Ways to refine this novel paradigm that might sharpen the relationship between the key variables are discussed. General Audience Summary The ability to understand and predict the intent, behaviors, and emotions of others is crucial for effective social interaction. Deficits in this area often referred to as deficits in theory of mind may compromise the interactions an individual has with others. Here we examined whether such deficits may undermine an individual's ability to detect that there is something suspicious about the way in which an interaction is unfolding, a problem that might lead to involvement in criminal activity. This study examined the relationship between performance on a theory of mind ability measure and the time it took individuals to discriminate that some interactions were suspicious in nature, producing findings consistent with our hypothesis. These findings draw attention to a possible mechanism via which individuals might become naively enmeshed in criminal activity. Importantly, this mechanism might, under certain conditions, place at risk individuals known to be characterized by more severe theory of mind deficits for example, adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.