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Theory theory says children collect evidence -- in
form of gestures and expressions -- and use their everyday understanding of people to develop theories that explain and predict
mental state of people they come in contact with.
Simulation theory states that we place ourselves in another person's "mental shoes", and use our own mind as a model for theirs.
But
two theories are not mutually exclusive. If
mirror neuron system is defective or damaged, and our ability to empathise is lost,
observe-and-guess method of theory theory may be
only option left. Some scientists suspect this is what happens in autistic people, whose mental disorder prevents them from understanding
intentions and motives of others.
The idea is that
mirror neuron systems of autistic individuals are somehow deficient, and that
resulting "mind-blindness" prevents them from simulating
experiences of others. For them, experience is more observed than lived, and
emotional undercurrents that govern so much of our behaviour are inaccessible. They guess
mental states of others through explicit theorising, but
end result is a list of actions, gestures and expressions void of motive, intent, or emotion.
One recent experiment by Hugo Theoret and colleagues at
University of Montreal showed that mirror neurons normally active during
observation of hand movements in non-autistic individuals are silent in those who have autism.

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