Abstract

CAIXETA, Leonardo  and  NITRINI, Ricardo. Theory of mind: a review with focus on its incorporation into medical psychology. Psicol. Reflex. Crit. [online]. 2002, vol.15, n.1, pp. 105-112. ISSN 0102-7972.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-79722002000100012.

A concept derived from cognitive psychology which refers to the ability to impute mental states to the self and others, termed Theory of Mind, has been disseminated to others fields of knowledge and has been more recently incorporated by medical psychology with the intention of explaining behavior disturbances that constitute the core features of disorders such as Infantile Autism, Schizophrenia and related Psychosis. Such incorporation has given rise to the necessity of designing a methodological approach to measure and define Theory of Mind in neurobiological terms. The aim of this work is related to describe the mechanisms by which Theory of Mind has been contributed to the elucidation of some mental phenomena, as well as enroll the methodological difficulties related to this attitude. Before that, a review of the field of Theory of Mind is done, focusing on the more relevant aspects of this concept. There are a few articles in Brazil about this theme, thats why the present work is justified.

Keywords : Theory of mind; autism; schizophrenia.