Research suggests that a child's theory of mind abilities, as well as other cognitive functioning abilities, can be positively effected by different forms of mass media.

• Theory of mind abilities develop during the prime preschool years, this time is crucial for a child's social and cognitive development. 
• Exposure to certain forms of mass communication, such as storybooks, may cause further development in theory of mind abilities.
• Exposure to movies and television may explain children performing poorly on Theory of Mind assessments, with the exception of exposure followed by discussion with an adult.

Theory of mind is a person's ability to understand that other people have different perceptions of situations than their own, this could include differing beliefs, desires, thoughts, intentions, emotions,etc. Theory of mind is commonly associated with the infamous Sally-and-Anne tests that are used to test a child's theory of mind abilities, as well as to see if a child may be on the autism spectrum.

 In the Sally and Anne tests, of which there are many variations, children observe a situation between Sally and Anne. An object is moved between two boxes and children must distinguish where the character who was not present during the object movement will say that the object is. The younger that a child is, the worse that they will perform on this test and most test assessing their theory of mind abilities. As a child ages, their theory of mind abilities will typically increase as well. As can be seen in the above data graphic, a child who is nearly five years of age will do significantly better on theory of mind related tasks than a child who is not yet three years of age.

Theory of Mind abilities develop during the ages of three to six year's old, and are extremely important to develop for normal social and cognitive functioning. 

As graduate student, Mike Rizzo, currently working in the Social and Moral Development lab under the supervision of Dr. Melanie Killen states, in layman's terms, theory of mind is a child's ability to recognize that other's have different mental states. So, if a child has normal theory of mind abilities they should be able to correctly explain and predict the actions of another person based on said person's mental state. Rizzo also discusses how Autism is one of the biggest hindrances of theory of mind abilities, as children on the spectrum are incapable of seeing a situation from another person's point of view. So, a child with Autism would score poorly on the previously mentioned Sally and Anne tests.  In children with autism, however, the theory of mind abilities that are so crucial in life can not be later developed, as how they can be for children who are gaining the abilities late due to other aspects delaying their development. Other possible factors in the development of theory of mind abilities include, but are not limited to, social interaction, discussion of situations with peers or adults, or mass media.

A recent study suggests that exposing a child to forms of mass media, such as storybooks, may positively predict theory of mind development. 

In a recent study published by the Cognitive Development journal, "Exposure to media and theory-of-mind development in preschoolers", researchers discover that not only do exposure to television, books, and movies influence theory of mind abilities, but their exposure positively predicts theory of mind development.  The study states that about 75 percent of the storybooks that are read to preschoolers contain language that relates to internal states, and a third of the books dealt with false belief, which is a factor in theory of mind. The reason that storybooks can hinder such development in cognitive abilities is due to the content that is typically found within them.



Another aspect of storybooks that the researchers propose may be influential in  developing theory of mind abilities is that they are read to the preschool aged children by either a parent or another adult. This interaction with a parent can create discussion about the topics that are brought to attention in the stories, which will aid children in understanding the perspectives of all the different characters involved. When asked if discussion of situations that occur in media could potentially increase a child's theory of mind abilities, Rizzo also agrees, stating that parents fostering different perspective taking could be very influential a child's developing theory of mind abilities.

Development of Theory of Mind abilities in children can be positively effected by mass media when discussion follows exposure to the media. 

In a study published by the Journal of  Communication, "The relation between television exposure and Theory of Mind among Preschoolers", researchers state that when there is television exposure, or when a child simply has a television in their bedroom, they will perform more poorly on Theory of mind assessments. However, the researchers also say that when a discussion of the media follows the observation of it, then there is a positive correlation to theory of mind abilities. This means that the negative effects of mass media on theory of mind abilities can be counteracted with a simple discussion with a parent or guardian post-viewing.

A typical measure that researchers may use to assess Theory of Mind abilities is known as Wellman and Liu's 7-task assessment of Theory of Mind. The researchers for this study, on television exposure, used this assessment as well; to assess the different types of understanding (diverse desires, diverse beliefs, knowledge and ignorance, and false belief) children were required to complete tasks where they would answer target questions about a protagonist's mental state, in which they would either pass or fail. The use of this assessment reveals that without discussion after watching media, children overall did not do well on most theory of mind measures, with the exception of diverse desires. This study further reinforces the idea that discussion post observing media is necessary so that theory of mind abilities are not negatively effected.

Children, especially children between the ages of three and six years old, are in their prime years for theory of mind development. As Mike Rizzo postulates, the environment is very influential in the social and cognitive development of a child. Mass media, such as television, movies, or storybooks can have both positive and negative effects on a child's development. If a parent or adult does not discuss the media with the child then this will negatively affect the child, whereas if  a discussion is held post viewing then this will positively influence a child's theory of mind abilities and development.

Excessive intellectual property infringement penalties are suggested to have caused an advocate of open access, Aaron Swartz, to take his own life.

Discussion Question Number Two

• Aaron Swartz's suicide was caused primarily by MIT's lack of support
• However, the government's pursuit of a harsh punishment played a part in his suicide
• The punishments for committing intellectual property infringement are too severe
• Property infringement occurs so commonly that the repercussions are excessive

On January 11, 2013, Aaron Swartz was found dead in his New York City apartment, as a result of a suicide that was caused by the possibility of excessive prison time. 

Aaron Swartz, an advocate of open access, believed that information should be accessible to everyone. He held the idea that information was power and that everyone should have the opportunity to obtain that power. In 2010, Swartz allegedly gained access to Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) computer network after sneaking into one of the school's closets and downloaded millions of academic journals from the database JSTOR.

On January, 2011, Swartz was arrested on charges that all involved illegally downloading academic journals from JSTOR. Although his intentions were unclear, Swartz's friends say that he did not commit the crimes for personal gains, but to make the journals publicly available. These intentions, however, led to a possibility of $1 million in fines, as well as up to 35 years in prison, if he had been convicted. Two years later, on January 11, 2013, Swartz hung himself; many believe that  both the government and prosecutor are to blame for his death. 

MIT's lack of support in the the Aaron Swartz case involving property infringement is believed to be the cause of his suicide. 

Swartz had reportedly long suffered from bouts of depression, and according to his girlfriend of the time , Ms. Stinebrickner-Kauffman, he was having a depressive episode the week prior to his death. She also describes how he was not only concerned about financial issues and his friends being subpoenaed to testify against him, but he became extremely upset when he realized MIT was not going to stand up for him in his case. 

Robert Swartz, Aaron's father, expressed that he was deeply disappointed that MIT did not try to stop the prosecution against his son. MIT President Rafael Reif wrote a message expressing his condolences to the Swartz family, as well as discussing how he would look into whether MIT played a role in the tragedy that was Aaron's death.Even after Reif's message, the Swartz family issued a statement specifically blaming MIT officials and Massachusetts U.S. Attorney's office officials  for Aaron's unexpected death. 

According to the Swartz family statement, Aaron's death was "the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach". Many others, including Swartz's friends and those on the online community, also expressed that MIT, along with the prosecution, played a major role in his death. Although there was no suicide note left at the scene of his death, many still believe that Swartz's suicide was driven by the prosecution's bullying tactics and their pursuit of such harsh punishments.

The repercussions for intellectual property infringement are excessive for how commonly the crime is committed, especially among college aged students. 

In an annual report of online trends of copyright violation and piracy statistics done by MIT, it becomes very visible that people, all over the United States and in other countries, commit intellectual property infringement quite often. Most of these violations are due to people trying to share and listen to music for free. According to the report, peer to peer piracy accounts for the majority of traffic across the internet, as well as it accounts for a majority of copyright and piracy issues. Allegedly, like Swartz, people who are breaking these copyright and intellectual property laws do not usually have bad intentions, they are simply trying to distribute goods for everyone, whether it be in the form of educational literature or music. 

As can be seen in the above graph, the report also exemplifies how the Massachusetts Institute of Technology topped all other domestic universities for the overall highest cases of infringements. This report suggests that Aaron was one among many at the university (MIT) who was violating copyright infringement laws. The report also shows that there were about 2,600 cases of digital piracy for MIT in the year 2007, and these are just the cases that were seen by law enforcement, so there are undoubtedly more that law enforcement are unaware of. 

So many people are constantly committing intellectual property infringement, whether it is on purpose or not. As can be seen with peer-to-peer sharing, most infringement cases do not cause much damage, with the exception of financial damage towards the original distributor, who usually already have great financial means. When the majority of people committing these crimes are not even brought to court, and when law enforcement does not care, it is unjust for there to be such harsh repercussions for individuals who are caught for committing these crimes. The consequences for stealing intellectual propety far outweigh the actual damage done. In the case of Aaron Swartz his possible punishment for committing intellectual property infringement was excessive and completely unfair. 

Studies suggests that media such as television and movies may lower a child's theory of mind abilities.

Theory of mind is a person's ability to attribute different mental states to oneself and others, it is also the ability to comprehend that other's have different intentions, beliefs, and desires then oneself. If someone has regular theory of mind abilities they will most likely be able to explain and predict the actions of another person based off of their mental state. 

This first visual element is a graph that describes how children across three different ages scored on a Theory of Mind Test. From the graph one can see the ages that were tested, as well as it shows viewers that there is a positive correlation between age and theory of mind abilities, suggesting that these ages are crucial for theory of mind development. 

This second visual aid is a photograph of the false-belief task where the puppet moves an object between different boxes both when the actor is and is not looking. People with good theory of mind abilities will be able to correctly say where the actor believes the ball will be, however, people with lower theory of mind abilities will usually not be able to predict where the actor will believe the ball to be. 

The third visual is a graphic of the Sally-and-Anne test that many psychologist use to explain theory of mind as well as to test children on their theory of mind abilities. This visual is similar to the above visual in that an object is moved between two boxes and a child must pick where they think the actor, or Sally, will believe the object to be.

All three of these visual elements directly relate to theory of mind in children in someway. The second and third photo, although they describe the theory of mind test, are not explanatory. Someone who does not study psychology would probably never have seen either of these experiments. The first graph is the most explanatory, a viewer can tell what exactly it is about and what the purpose of the graph is. 

About Me

I am currently a psychology major here at the University of Maryland. I am interested in counseling psychology, as well as other areas within the field. I am interested with working with children in the future, to better their lives and others as well. I am hoping to use internships to better see what I am interested even more specifically.