Fictional Worlds, Actual Minds: Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind

23 giugno 2014
23 giugno 2014
Contatti: 

ore 14.00
Sala Convegni - Dipartimento di Psicologia e Scienze Cognitive Corso Bettini, 31 - Rovereto

Relatore:

  • Emanuele Castano - New Shool for Social Research, NY

Abstract: Understanding others’ mental states is a crucial skill that enables the complex social relationships that characterize human societies. Yet little research has investigated what fosters this skill, which is known as Theory of Mind (ToM), in adults. In this talk I will present results from several experiments showing that reading literary fiction leads to better performance on tests of affective ToM and cognitive ToM, compared with reading nonfiction), popular fiction, or nothing at all (experiments 2 and 5). Specifically, these results show that reading literary fiction temporarily enhances ToM. More broadly, they suggest that ToM may be influenced by engagement with works of art.