Page |95 actually exists, or may not see it at all. therefore share his or her attentional This is true of the relative difficulty that focus, and recognize that other people people have seeing other minds may have preferences that differ from compared to one’s own, in ways that are one’s own. By age two, children’s sometimes very subtle and surprising. social ability to read other minds seems For instance, we tend to evaluate to have already surpassed that of our ourselves by consulting our mindful nearest primate relatives, and over the intentions, but we evaluate others (and next two years they pick up what appear their intentions) by observing their to be uniquely human mind-reading actions. We may consider ourselves to capacities. By age five, children be conscientious if we planned to buy demonstrate the most sophisticated of our spouse a birthday gift, but need to mind-reading abilities—the capacity to see an actual gift to infer that our spouse recognize that others’ beliefs may differ is equally conscientious. > We tend to from one’s own and to use those believe that we are more likely to differing (sometimes mistaken) beliefs to experience complicated mental emotions predict the other agent’s behavior. like shame, guilt, or embarrassment than Variability from age five onward comes are others.*” We tend to believe that our from learning more specific details about own behavior will therefore be guided how other minds actually work, largely by moral sentiments like empathy, guilt, gathered from personal experience, or compassion whereas others’ behavior religious practice, or broader cultural is more likely driven by the relatively norms. mindless motives of self-interest.° Other M . . any psychologists and minds are more opaque than our own, ca al . . . . neuroscientists speculate that learning to and some learning, attending, seeking, d other minds comes from the deevl and projecting is required for our brains meade ; Ply : . social tendency, present at