運動図形のアニメーションを用いた心的帰属研究の展望

Abstract

本論文では､幾何図形が動き回るアニメーションの観察者がその図形に対して心的帰属(mental attribution)をするという現象に関連した先行研究を紹介し､この研究に観察者のもつ素朴理論が関連すること､また､心的状態推論が適切にできないといわれる自閉症や神経科学の研究から､帰属過程に関する研究がまだ進行中であることを指摘した｡そして､帰属過程の理解が心的状態推論の障害を理解することにつながると考えられ､今後､心の理論だけでなく､素朴心理学も視野に入れた研究を展開していくことの重要性について述べた｡

In this paper I reviewed previous research on mental attribution using the animation of moving geometric figures. It is a very interesting phenomenon, because it means that we tend to explain movement of non-human objects in terms of mental concepts. This research area began with Heider's social perception study (Heider & Simmel, 1944). Since then, what have been mostly explored are the kinds of motion which influence animacy or intentionality perception, and effects of the dynamic structure of stimuli on that perception has been emphasized. In recent years, these animations were used to study autistic and schizophrenic people. It has been confirmed that their mental attribution is different from that of normal people by their own reports or neuroimaging data. One of the good points of this animation task is that it does not require much verbal skill but require real-time mental attribution. However, the mental attribution process is still unclear, and it might be questionable whether these explanations, as they are, can be extended to mental attributions to people. I proposed to investigate the role of looking at figures as if they are some creatures in the attribution process, and whether there is a common mechanism between underattribution (e.g. autism) and overattribution (e.g. delusion in schizophrenia).