Recent research proposes that theory of mind (ToM), that is the ability to infer other people's mental state, is a multidimensional construct and that a distinction may be made between affective and cognitive ToM. We examined whether these two subcomponents of ToM correspond to different levels in skin conductance responses (SCRs). Seventeen healthy adults listened to ten affective (faux pas) ToM stories, ten cognitive ToM stories and ten non-ToM stories. Results demonstrated significantly elevated SCR for affective ToM as compared with cognitive ToM and control stories, with no differences in SCR levels in the latter two story types. We discuss the possible underlying mechanisms for these differential psychophysiological correlates of affective and cognitive ToM processing, and suggest further investigations especially in clinical populations.

中文翻译：

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心理理论的情感而非认知成分中的情绪反应性升高：一项心理生理学研究。

最近的研究提出，心理理论（ToM）（即推断他人心理状态的能力）是多维构造，可以在情感和认知ToM之间进行区分。我们检查了ToM的这两个子组件是否对应于皮肤电导反应（SCR）中的不同水平。17位健康的成年人听了10个情感（假）ToM故事，10个认知ToM故事和10个非ToM故事。结果表明，与认知故事和对照故事相比，情感ToM的SCR显着提高，后两种故事类型的SCR水平没有差异。我们讨论了情感和认知ToM加工的这些差异心理生理学关联的可能的潜在机制，并建议进一步研究，尤其是在临床人群中。