Teoría de la Mente, ¿un error conceptual en Neuropsicología?

Abstract

Contemporary neuropsychology recognizes the theory of mind as the capacity that children develop, between the ages of 4 and 5, to interpret, predict and explain their own behavior and that of others in terms of their underlying mental states, linking its study to various types of disorders with special emphasis on autism spectrum disorders. The objective of the article focuses on the reflection on what a theory that seeks to investigate the mind should consider, addressing the concepts of inferences and representations, contrasting its content with folk psychology. The relevance of directing the line of study is analyzed considering a conceptual change for a more appropriate one that generates fewer theoretical gaps at the time of establishing its epistemic support, for this purpose, social cognition is presented as a possible candidate to replace the highly controversial theory of the mind. From this point of view, it is important to emphasize the importance of concepts when informing the results of research, since they can stigmatize and / or caricature the groups of people with whom they work, groups that particularly they tend to be differentiated by the social group given the baseline characteristics by which they are chosen to be part of the research.