ABSTRACT
Understanding human activity in psychological terms is such an important aspect of our everyday lives that, ironically, it tends to be overlooked. This is because such an understanding is a taken for granted and essential part of our ability to engage in typical interaction ± it is the medium of our everyday exchanges. This crucial part of our social fabric becomes noticeable, however, when it is missing. There may be serious consequences for individuals who lack the easy understanding of others that is typically assumed. This is a topic that developmentalists have returned to again and again, and various literatures have employed terms such as `person perception', `perspective taking', `role-taking', `metacognition', or, more recently, `theory of mind' (TOM) (Flavell, 1992). Although metacognition can have a broader meaning concerning understanding cognitive processes, what these terms have in common is not only a concern with how children and then adults think about what others may be thinking, but also how they re¯ect on their own thinking about social matters.
