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Meet Sally and her flatmate Andy. Sally has made a birthday cake for Andy, and leaves it in the fridge while she pops out to buy some candles. While she鈥檚 gone, Andy sneaks into the kitchen, takes the cake and hides it on a shelf to consume at leisure. When Sally comes back, where does she think the cake will be?

If you answered 鈥渢he fridge鈥� then congratulations: you understand that, based on what they know, people can have different views from you. You possess a 鈥渢heory of mind鈥� 鈥� something that informs your every waking moment, says , a psychologist at the University of St Andrews, UK. 鈥淲hen we get dressed in the morning, we鈥檙e constantly thinking about what other people think about us.鈥� No other animal can match our ability, making it the essential lubricant for the social interactions that set humans apart.

Take the arts. Artists must be able to imagine what their audiences will think of their characters. Without a theory of mind, there would be no compelling TV soaps, sculptures or books. Some think William Shakespeare must have had a particularly well-developed theory of mind to create such rich, complex characters.

Mind reading is also crucial for societal norms. 鈥淧eople not only respond to what you do, but to what you intend to do,鈥� says Call. If you hit someone with your car, the difference between a verdict of murder or manslaughter depends on your intent.

Yet we can鈥檛 all read minds equally well, says , a psychologist at the University of Cambridge. Most of us come a cropper when attempting nested levels of mind reading. Think of Sally hunting for her cake again, but imagine where she might look if we take into account what she thinks about how Andy鈥檚 mind works. The more recursive steps we add, the more we stumble. 鈥淲hen you go beyond five levels, people get really, really bad,鈥� says Call.

Being a good mind reader pays. Children who are relatively proficient later report being , and their teachers .

We may be able to improve our skills. We know our mind reading apparatus mostly develops before the age of 5, and the principal factor that determines its development is whether our families and friends talk much about the emotions and motivations of others. 鈥淭he ability to read minds is something we might learn gradually from the guidance of others,鈥� says Devine.

This suggests that it could help to just think about what it鈥檚 like to be in other people鈥檚 shoes. Recently, Devine and his colleagues showed that this learning can continue far beyond early childhood. When they asked 9 and 10-year-old children to read and discuss short vignettes about social situations, the team found they skills than children in a control group. Similar improvements have also been seen . You鈥檙e never too old be a better mind reader.

This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淵ou are鈥� a mind reader鈥�