AILo Talk - Ramira van der Meulen, University of Groningen

Title: It’s all a matter of perspective(-taking): Why Knowing Is Only Half the Battle

Abstract:

Theory of Mind is a skill humans use to predict the behaviour of, negotiate with, and even deceive others. While there is great value in knowing what the other knows, there is just as much value in knowing why they know – and knowing what they will do with that information. In this talk, we will journey through some of the literature on Theory of Mind, Culture and Common Ground from the view of developmental psychology, linguistics and cross-cultural psychology, and shortly evaluate how they fit into the puzzle that is modelling human understanding. We will discuss how upbringing and a shared background factor into human problem-solving, and touch on what we need our sometimes overly prudent systems to know before they start talking.