Simon Baron-Cohen & Michael Lombardo 
Understanding Other Minds [PDF ebook] 
Perspectives from developmental social neuroscience

This book comprises 26 exciting chapters by internationally renowned scholars, addressing the central psychological process separating humans from other animals: the ability to imagine the thoughts and feelings of others, and to reflect on the contents of our own mindsa theory of mind (To M). The four sections of the book cover developmental, cultural, and neurobiological approaches to To M across different populations and species. The chapters explore the earliest stages of development of To M in infancy, and how plastic To M learning is; why 3-year-olds typically fail false belief tasks and how To M continues to develop beyond childhood into adulthood; the debate between simulation theory and theory theory; cross-cultural perspectives on To M and how To M develops differently in deaf children; how we use our To M when we make moral judgments, and the link between emotional intelligence and To M; the neural basis of To M measured by evoked response potentials, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and studies of brain damage; emotional vs. cognitive empathy in neuropsychiatric conditions such as autism, schizophrenia, and psychopathy; the concept of self in autism and teaching methods targeting To M deficits; the relationship between empathy, the pain matrix and the mirror neuron system; the role of oxytocin and fetal testosterone in mentalizing and empathy; the heritability of empathy and candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with empathy; and To M in non-human primates. These 26 chapters represent a masterly overview of a field that has deepened since the first edition was published in 1993.