Other Minds: How Humans Bridge the Divide between Self and Others

One of the great challenges of social cognitive science is to understand how we can enter, or "read," the minds of others--that is, infer complex mental states such as beliefs, desires, intentions, and emotions. This book brings together leading scholars from psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy to present cutting-edge theories and empirical findings on this essential topic. Written in an engaging, accessible style, the volume examines the cognitive processes underlying mindreading; how interpersonal understanding and empathy develop across the lifespan; connections to language, communication, and relationships; and what happens when mindreading fails, in both normal and clinical populations.

Bertram F. Malle, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon and the recipient of a Society of Experimental Social Psychology Dissertation Award and a National Science Foundation Career Award. His research examines the cognitive tools that humans bring to social interaction, such as the folk concept of intentionality, inferences of mental states, and explanations of behavior. Dr. Malle is coeditor of two other volumes, Intentions and Intentionality and The Evolution of Language Out of Pre-Language, and the author of How the Mind Explains Behavior.

Sara D. Hodges, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon. Her research, which has been published in scholarly journals and edited volumes, explores the role of the self in people's perceptions of others, with a particular emphasis on empathy, projection, and social comparison. Dr. Hodges also studies how people construct evaluations and preferences in social contexts. Her research has received funding from the National Science Foundation, and she has been the recipient of two Rippey Innovative Teaching Awards at the University of Oregon.