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“Theories of mind” (ToM) is constructed based on interaction with others. ToM considers “Others” as agents with intentions and strategies similar to oneself. Failure to construct robust ToM results in a lack of ToM information to guide appropriate social behavior (as in autism and Asperger syndrome). Applying the Dialogical Self approach, pathological phenomena relating to Psychosis, autism and personality disorders can be considered as consequences of malfunctions of ToM representations for significant Others and the interactions between them.

 

「心智理論」建基於與他者的互動。「心智理論」視他者為有意向和策略，與我們相似的能動者。未能建構關於他者的「心智理論」，會影響我們的社交行為，不知道如何作出合宜的社交反應 (例子：自閉症、亞士保加症候群) 。「對話自我理論」認為，「心智理論」失衡，不能有效對關鍵他者、彼此的互動作出表徵，會形成思覺失調、自閉症或人格失調的徵狀。

The infant initially explores the world through sensory motor engagement. It learns about the world through active exploration in the first person. The infant learns about the mother and relate to her. Then a uniquely human process takes place. The infant learns to refer to (point to) a third object in the environment and engages the mother’s attention towards that object (joint attention). The next development is that the infant learns that he himself is the object of attention. This open the possibility of the infant considering himself from a third person perspective. Eventually the first-person experience and third person views become integrated and an initial but comprehensive self-awareness emerges. The experience of agency (awareness of action initiation by self) is vital to self-representation.

 

嬰兒利用感官運動去探索世界。在最初階段，嬰兒是以第一人身份去探索世界，認識自己的母親，並和她連立關聯。接著一種獨特的人類經歷出現，嬰兒學會指涉(指向)環境中的第三客體，他/她會邀請母親把注意力放在那個客體之上(共同關注)。到了下一發展階段，嬰兒明白他/她自己也是被關注的客體，這給嬰兒開啟了一個新的可能，就是從第三者角度看自己。最終，第一身經歷與第三者角度整合，成為自我意識。擁有能動者的身份，並覺察行動是由自我啟動，這對建立自我表徵十分重要。

Ethnography has elaborated on the concept of “thick description” in which the observer “immerse” himself intensively in an unfamiliar environment in order to access the meaning reference in which linguistic categories and experiences were expressed. Thick description includes not only an account of a behavior itself, but importantly also its context. In a summary account, inevitably some data are filtered out at an early stage, thereby increasing the possibility of undiscovered bias in the selection of data. When raw data are richly represented, the context under which specific information emerged becomes available for subsequent examination. Without detailed information about the context of observation, it becomes more difficult to evaluate, especially when contradictory information arises from different points in the interview process. 

 

人種誌對「厚描述」的觀念作了詳細的探討。在「厚描述」過程中，觀察者沉浸在不熟悉的環境，進入對方的意義系統，並明白當中的語言及經驗。「厚描述」並不局限於行為描述，更重視的是對情景脈絡的了解。當我們整理對病人的了解，無可避免一些資料會在早階段被過濾掉，我們選取資料時有可能存在偏見。運用「厚描述」原則，原初資料會得到全面表徵，讓我們可以對情景脈絡資訊進行接續的檢視。情景脈絡資訊很重要，特別是在面談過程中往往會出現矛盾資訊，缺少了相關的情景脈絡資料，我們很難作出客觀評估和判斷。

The human brain has evolved to give more weight to potential risks and threatens. Ideas that contains elements of threats are difficult to dismiss in the mind. Threatening ideas are particularly powerful when they are not open to being empirically tested.  They are especially difficult to dislodge when they fit closely into the niches provided by narrative plots intrinsic to the mind. These features (threatening theme, not disprovable, contextual narrative coherence) can be powerful determinants of the survival of ideas of threats. Some memes thrive particularly well with the risk-aversion proneness. These may account for contents commonly seen in psychosis (physical threats, threats to reputation) and in obsessions (fear of dirt, fear of forgetting).

 

人類大腦的演化，較注重如何處理可能出現的危機和威脅。這解釋了為何內心中包含威脅元素的意念往往難以清除。特別是當這些意念不能被實徵驗證，更會變得頑強。而當這些意念與內心中的敘事情節特別配合，更難以移除。這些特點  (威脅性主題、不能證否、敘事脈絡一致) 決定了威脅性意念的頑強生存程度。某些文化基因可以留存後世，也可能與人類重視對抗風險和對抗逆境有關。思覺失調患者，會經常會出現身體受到威脅、尊嚴受到威脅的內容，強迫症患者則出現害怕污穢、害怕遺忘等內容，也可能與大腦的進化有關。

Third-person hallucinations occur uniquely in the Others-to-Others space in the COM rather than in the Others-Self space in the social representation of the subject. As “Others-self” dialogues are more commonly experienced, corresponding hallucinations may emerge more easily with less extensive pathological processes. Others-to-Others dialogues are less frequently experienced and required more extensive pathological processes to activate (hence the clinical significance of third-person hallucinations as a first rank symptom of schizophrenia).

 

第三者幻覺有別於第一身幻覺，前者出現在自我與他者之間 ，而第三者幻覺則出現在「心智社區」、他者與他者的空間。我們日常生活中，我們經常與會與他者對話，自我與他者之間的幻覺也較容易出現，並經歷較短的病發過程。而在日常生活中，我們不容易經驗他者與他者的對話，這種幻覺也需要較長的病發過程。第三者幻覺是思覺失調的主要病徵。

Top-down influences involves the higher-level patterns driving activation of expected patterns at a lower level. Top-down “expectations” thus “prime” or “bias” the detection of the expected stimuli from incoming information. Excessive top-down processing can result in errors in detecting signals from the environment. This can occur in the presence of weak bottom-up signals (as in sensory deprivation), or over-active top-down signals (as in intense search, e.g. in grief). Top-down biases disorders involve the tendency of the mind to interpret ambiguous signals in a particular direction (e.g. self-blames or blaming others). The processing of information is biased by priming through partial activation of preferred patterns. Such priming may be influenced by a prevailing mood state or paranoid tendencies. Top-down processing disorders can results in illusions, hallucinations, and delusions.

 

從上而下的處理過程，是指高階模式影響低階模式反應，低階模式跟隨高階的設定作出反應。這個從上而下的資訊系統，透過「期望」和認知「偏見」，指導下層如何接收環境刺激。但過多從上而下的運作模式，會引致大腦錯誤接收環境信號，出現這種情況的因素包括：由下而上發出的信號太過微弱 (例如：觀感貧乏) ，或由上而下的信號太過活躍(例如：竭力尋找，哀傷) 。患上從上而下偏見失調的人，會出現一種傾向，就是把模糊的信號往某個方向去詮釋，慣性啟動大腦某些運作模式 (例如：自我埋怨或埋怨他人)  。這種思想和行為習慣，可能由持續的情緒狀態和偏執傾向引起。從上而下偏見失調也可引致錯覺、幻覺或妄想。