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{
    "pk": 50014,
    "title": "GPT-4o Lacks Core Features of Theory of Mind",
    "subtitle": null,
    "abstract": "Do Large Language Models (LLMs) possess a Theory of Mind (ToM)? Research into this question has found that LLMs succeed on a range of benchmark tasks. However, these evaluations do not test for the actual representations posited by ToM: namely, a causal model of mental states and behavior. Here, we use a cognitively-grounded definition of ToM to develop and test a new evaluation framework. Specifically, our approach probes whether LLMs have a coherent, abstract, and consistent model of how mental states cause behavior—regardless of whether that model matches a human-like ToM. We test our evaluation against GPT-4o and find that even though it succeeds in approximating human judgments in a simple ToM paradigm, GPT-4o fails at a logically-equivalent task and exhibits low consistency between its action predictions and corresponding mental state inferences. As such, these findings suggest that GPT-4o's social proficiency is not the result of a ToM.",
    "language": "eng",
    "license": {
        "name": "",
        "short_name": "",
        "text": null,
        "url": ""
    },
    "keywords": [
        {
            "word": "Artificial Intelligence; Computer Science; Philosophy; Psychology; Intelligent agents; Machine learning; Natural Language Processing; Social cognition; Theory of Mind; Bayesian modeling; Computational"
        }
    ],
    "section": "Abstracts with Poster Presentation",
    "is_remote": true,
    "remote_url": "https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9h04686p",
    "frozenauthors": [
        {
            "first_name": "John",
            "middle_name": "",
            "last_name": "Muchovej",
            "name_suffix": "",
            "institution": "Yale University",
            "department": ""
        },
        {
            "first_name": "Amanda",
            "middle_name": "L",
            "last_name": "Royka",
            "name_suffix": "",
            "institution": "Yale University",
            "department": ""
        },
        {
            "first_name": "Shane",
            "middle_name": "",
            "last_name": "Lee",
            "name_suffix": "",
            "institution": "Yale University",
            "department": ""
        },
        {
            "first_name": "Julian",
            "middle_name": "",
            "last_name": "Jara-Ettinger",
            "name_suffix": "",
            "institution": "Yale University",
            "department": ""
        }
    ],
    "date_submitted": null,
    "date_accepted": null,
    "date_published": "2025-01-01T18:00:00Z",
    "render_galley": null,
    "galleys": [
        {
            "label": "PDF",
            "type": "pdf",
            "path": "https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/50014/galley/37976/download/"
        }
    ]
}