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Cited by 3,379Child and Animal Learning DevelopmentPhilosophy and Theoretical ScienceSocial Representations and Identity

Pretense and representation: The origins of "theory of mind."

Leslie, Alan M.·1987·Psychological Review
DOI 10.1037/0033-295x.94.4.412
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Abstract

One of the major developments of the second year of human life is the emergence of the ability to pretend. A child's knowledge of a real situation is apparently contradicted and distorted by pretense. If, as generally assumed, the child is just beginning to construct a system for internally representing such knowledge, why is this system of representation not undermined by its use in both comprehend ing and producing pretense? In this article I present a theoretical analysis of the representational mechanism underlying this ability. This mechanism extends the power of the infant's existing capac-ity for (primary) representation, creating a capacity for metarepresentation. It is this, developing toward the end of infancy, that underlies the child's new abilities to pretend and to understand pretense in others. There is a striking isomorphism between the three fundamental forms of pretend play and three crucial logical properties of mental stale expressions in language. This isomorphism points to a common underlying form of internal representation that is here called metarepresenta-tion. A performance model, the decoupler, is outlined embodying ideas about how an infant might compute the complex function postulated to underlie pretend play. This model also reveals pretense as an early manifestation of the ability to understand mental states. Aspects of later preschool development, both normal and abnormal, are discussed in the light of the new model. This

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  • More theoretically sophisticated accounts of pretense have tended to interpret pretend play as an epiphenomenon of other abilities, such as metarepresentation or theory of mind, rather than as an activity that could shape learning or development.

    “Moreover, more theoretically sophisticated accounts of pretense have tended to interpret pretend play as an epiphenomenon of other abilities, such as metarepresentation or theory of mind, rather than as an activity that could shape learning or development (Baron-Cohen, 1995;Currie, 1995;Leslie, 1987;Lillard, 2001;Nichols & Stich, 2000).”

    From Pretense and possibility—A theoretical proposal about the effects of pretend play on development: Comment on Lillard et al. (2013). (2013) · cites this paper as Leslie, 1987

  • In PP, a primary real-world representation is raised to a second-order representation or metarepresentation of the pretend world.

    “In PP, this primary representation (real‐world mental model) is raised to a second‐order representation or metarepresentation (mental model of the pretend world).”

    From A plausible role of imagination in pretend play, counterfactual reasoning, and executive functions (2023) · cites this paper as Leslie, 1987

  • Both PP and CFR theorists make clear that alternative representations are imaginary representations derived from real-world premises.

    “Both PP and CFR theorists make clear that alternative representations are imaginary representations derived from real‐world premises.”

    From A plausible role of imagination in pretend play, counterfactual reasoning, and executive functions (2023) · cites this paper as Leslie (1987)

  • Playfulness can build physical, social, and intellectual resources.

    “Being playful, for instance, can build physical resources (Boulton & Smith, 1992), social resources (Aron, Norman, Aron, McKenna, & Heyman, 2000;Lee, 1983), and intellectual resources (Leslie, 1987;Panksepp, 1998).”

    From The Undoing Effect of Positive Emotions (2000) · cites this paper as Leslie, 1987

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Authors
Leslie, A. M.
Affiliations
Medical Research Council (GB)
Corresponding author
Leslie, Alan M.
ORCID
Leslie, Alan M.
Venue
Psychological Review
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
1987-10
Volume
94
Issue
4
Pages
412-426
ISSN
  • 0033-295X (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1471
DOI
10.1037/0033-295x.94.4.412
OpenAlex
W2113669408
Semantic Scholar
1aca0588fb5cf8d512548b4b15d48f1c9de2396d
Cited by
3,379
References
92
Citations by year
2026: 65 · 2025: 92 · 2024: 105 · 2023: 80 · 2022: 110 · 2021: 116 · 2020: 153 · 2019: 110 · 2018: 89 · 2017: 65 · 2016: 86 · 2015: 107 · 2014: 99 · 2013: 142 · 2012: 123
FWCI
36.65
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Psychological Review (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Representations and Identity
Keywords
theory of mind, pretense, pretend play, metarepresentation, internal representations, infant cognitive development, preschool development, abnormal development

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