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Updated: May 27, 2026

The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling
Published on: April 6, 2018
Theory of mind through the ages: older and middle-aged adults exhibit more errors than do younger adults on a
Daniel M Bernstein1, Wendy Loken Thornton, Jessica A Sommerville
1Department of Psychology, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Daniel.Bernstein@kwantlen.ca
Abstract:
Theory of mind (ToM), or the ability to understand mental states, is a fundamental aspect of social cognition. Previous research has documented marked advances in ToM in preschoolers, and declines in ToM in older-aged adults. In the present study, younger (n=37), middle-aged (n=20), and older (n=37) adults completed a continuous false belief task measuring ToM. Middle-aged and older adults exhibited more false belief bias than did younger adults, irrespective of language ability, executive function, processing speed, and memory. The authors conclude that ToM declines from younger to older adulthood, independent of age-related changes to domain-general cognitive functioning.
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