Usage of the term ‘theory of mind’ (ToM) has explodedudacross fields ranging from developmental psychology toudsocial neuroscience and psychiatry research. However,udits meaning is often vague and inconsistent, its biologicaludbases are a subject of debate, and the methods usedudto study it are highly heterogeneous. Most crucially, itsudoriginal definition does not permit easy downwardudtranslation to more basic processes such as those studiedudby behavioral neuroscience, leaving the interpretationudof neuroimaging results opaque. We argue for audreformulation of ToM through a systematic two-stageudapproach, beginning with a deconstruction of the constructudinto a comprehensive set of basic componentudprocesses, followed by a complementary reconstructionudfrom which a scientifically tractable concept of ToM canudbe recovered.
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