Read the passage excerpt:
'In developmental psychology, the acquisition of a 'Theory of Mind' (ToM)—the cognitive capacity to attribute mental states, such as beliefs, desires, emotions, and knowledge, to oneself and to others—marks a profound milestone. Crucially, ToM enables the realization that others may hold false beliefs about reality that differ from objective facts, a milestone traditionally assessed using the Sally-Anne false-belief paradigm around age four.'
What critical cognitive milestone is demonstrated by passing the Sally-Anne test?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Understanding that another person can hold a false belief different from reality
- Step 1: The text explains: 'Crucially, ToM enables the realization that others may hold false beliefs about reality that differ from objective facts, a milestone traditionally assessed using the Sally-Anne false-belief paradigm around age four.'
- Step 2: Recognizing another's mistaken mental state is the definitive test.
Answer
Understanding that another person can hold a false belief different from reality.
Why not the others: 'The ability to read complex alphabetic words...' describes early reading literacy; 'The capability to perform arithmetic...' describes numerical operations; 'The development of adult visual depth perception...' is a sensory-motor visual milestone achieved in early infancy.
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