Interpreting signals in other people's behavior to sense things about them and to infer things about their world

Wu, Wenjie; Sheppard, Elizabeth; Mitchell, Peter

Abstract

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd In this article, we propose a new framework for investigating how accurately and by what process people read others' minds—a process that requires perceivers to make a retrodictive inference. In this context, we discuss the value of a novel methodological approach that complements the conceptual framework. This framework is formulated on the basis of a series of empirical articles emerging over the past few years in which the ideas appear in nascent form. Retrodiction is the process in which, on observing a person's behavior (often but not exclusively a facial expression), people are equipped not only to sense the underlying inner state but also to infer the event that caused that inner state. Indeed, the goal of mindreading need not always be to identify an inner state explicitly but to infer the event that caused the inner state. Doing so is adaptive in that it permits access to a more expansive view of the world through the lens of another mind. This view of mindreading naturally leads to a reconsideration of methods that are fit for purpose and leads to testable hypotheses.

Citation

Wu, W., Sheppard, E., & Mitchell, P. (2019). Interpreting signals in other people's behavior to sense things about them and to infer things about their world. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 13(12), https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12513

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 8, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Dec 12, 2019
• Publication Date: 2019-12
• Deposit Date: Nov 15, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 13, 2020
• Journal: Social and Personality Psychology Compass
• Electronic ISSN: 1751-9004
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 12
• Article Number: e12513
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12513
• Keywords: Social Psychology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3289555
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/spc3.12513
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Wu, W, Sheppard, E, Mitchell, P. Interpreting signals in other people's behavior to sense things about them and to infer things about their world. Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2019;e12513. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12513, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12513. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.