Mapping the Relationship Between Theory of Mind and Executive Functioning in Adulthood

A vital part of successful everyday social interaction is the ability to infer information about others. Much prior research has demonstrated a strong link between Theory of Mind (ToM) and Executive Functioning (EF) abilities, particularly in young children. Less is known about the relationship between ToM and EF in adulthood, or the precise breakdown of which components of EF modulate specific aspects of ToM. The current research employed a battery of tasks that tapped different aspects of ToM (including emotion recognition, intention reasoning, and perspective-taking) and EF skills (inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and planning) to tease apart potentially different relationships between separable EF components in predicting success on different ToM tasks. Results from adult participants (20-50 years old) demonstrated a key role of working memory and inhibition, suggesting the importance of these two abilities in successful engagement in higher-level ToM, even in adulthood.