Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind

DOI Web Site 6 Citations
  • David Comer Kidd
    The New School for Social Research, 80 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011, USA.
  • Emanuele Castano
    The New School for Social Research, 80 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011, USA.

Description

<jats:title>A Good Read</jats:title> <jats:p> Theory of Mind is the human capacity to comprehend that other people hold beliefs and desires and that these may differ from one's own beliefs and desires. The currently predominant view is that literary fiction—often described as narratives that focus on in-depth portrayals of subjects' inner feelings and thoughts—can be linked to theory of mind processes, especially those that are involved in the understanding or simulation of the affective characteristics of the subjects. <jats:bold>Kidd and Castano</jats:bold> (p. <jats:related-article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="doi" issue="6156" page="377" related-article-type="in-this-issue" vol="342" xlink:href="10.1126/science.1239918">377</jats:related-article> , published online 3 October) provide experimental evidence that reading passages of literary fiction, in comparison to nonfiction or popular fiction, does indeed enhance the reader's performance on theory of mind tasks. </jats:p>

Journal

  • Science

    Science 342 (6156), 377-380, 2013-10-18

    American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

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