Comer Kidd, David and Emanuele Castano.

"Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of

Mind." ​Science​, vol. 342, no. 6156, 18 Oct. 2013, pp. 377-380. EBSCO​host​,
doi:10.1126/science.1239918. [Login Required]

This article discusses the link between reading fiction and the mental developments
that stem from exercising your brain in this way. In particular, they focus on a
concept called “Theory of Mind”, which has to do with better understanding the
minds of others, and the complexity of human relationships and societies. The
article presents the findings of several experiments where people were given tests
that measured their “Theory of Mind” skills after reading literary fiction (defined as
narratives that delve deeply into characters’ inner thoughts and feelings),
nonfiction, popular fiction, or reading nothing at all. Their findings concluded that
reading literary fiction does indeed enhance a person's skill of better understanding
the intricacies of other people’s minds.

Comer has a Ph.D. from Harvard and currently works with the Humanities and
Liberal Arts Assessment, a project based at Harvard Graduate School of Education's
Project Zero. Castano holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from the Universitè
Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), a certificate in political psychology from Ohio
State University and a BA in psychology from the University of Padova (Italy).

This study is an essential read both because it contains interesting experimental

evidence that shows the direct impact that certain types of reading have upon the
human mind, and also because of the conversation their research started. It is nearly
impossible to research the topic of the effects of reading fiction without sources
mentioning the landmark Kidd and Castano experiments. Because so many other
resources cite this study, it is important to be familiar with the original source.
Djikic, Maja and Keith Oatley. "The Art in Fiction: From Indirect Communication to Changes
of the Self." ​Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts​, vol. 8, no. 4, Nov. 2014,
pp. 498-505. EBSCO​host​, doi:10.1037/a0037999. [Login Required]

This academic journal article is a collaboration between Maja Djikic and Keith
Oatley. An introduction to Oatley can be found in the annotation for “Fiction:
Simulation of Social Worlds.” Djikic is a professor and Director of the
Self-Development Laboratory at Rotman School of Management at the University of
Toronto.

This article is a fascinating look at how reading has the power to actually set into
motion personality changes, including improved empathy and “Theory of Mind”.
Djikic and Oatley review and comment upon several recent studies that support
these findings, and propose three aspects of “artistic fiction” that cultivate these
personality changes: “that literary fiction is simulation of selves with others in the
social world; that taking part in this type of simulation can produce fluctuations that
are precursors to personality changes; and that the changes occur in readers’ own
ways, being based not on persuasion but on indirect communication.”

The idea that fiction and other art forms have the power to change the core of who
we are is a compelling idea, particularly for those in positions where reading or
literature is part of daily life: educators, librarians, lifelong book-lovers.
Oatley, Keith. "Fiction: Simulation of Social Worlds." ​Trends in Cognitive Sciences​, vol. 20, no.
8, Aug. 2016, pp. 618-628. EBSCO​host​, doi:10.1016/j.tics.2016.06.002. [Login
Required]

This journal article was authored by a professor of Applied Psychology and Human
Development at the University of Toronto, who is also an award-winning novelist
(Winner of the Commonwealth prize for his first novel, ​The Case of Emily V)​. He has
written several academic non-fiction books as well, including ​Brain Mechanisms and
Mind​, ​Understanding Emotions​, ​Selves in Relation, ​and​ Our Minds, Our Selves: A Brief
History of Psychology​. This article approaches the topic from the perspective of how
reading affects human interactions, and how reading is an exercise on how to better
understand others.

Literary fiction includes complex characters and experiences that are outside of the
bounds of what is regularly experienced. The mental engagement that comes along
with reading stories intensifies the psychological effect of this, as readers become
emotionally invested and interact with the fictional characters and situations. This
can directly lead to a greater consciousness both of ourselves and the areas where
we would like to change, as well as internalizing developed understandings of the
other humans in the world around us. This resource is key for those interested in
the behavioral and interpersonal outcomes of reading fiction.
Pino, Maria Chiara and Monica Mazza. "The Use of "Literary Fiction" to Promote
Mentalizing Ability." ​Plos One​, vol. 11, no. 8, 04 Aug. 2016, p. e0160254. EBSCO​host​,
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0160254. [Login Required]

This academic journal article revolves around the idea of empathy, and how it can
be affected and developed through two aspects of reading: mentalizing (see
glossary) and the emotional sharing that occurs while reading a novel with
well-developed literary characters. Empathy is crucial for healthy and successful
relationships and social connections, and isolation can be a symptom of having less
developed mentalizing abilities such as empathy. This can be a common issue for
those with disorders such as Autism or Schizophrenia.

The aim of the experiment was to test if reading is a viable therapy for improving
empathy, and therefore social skills, especially for those with special needs. This
aspect of bibliotherapy has not been widely studied, which makes it an important
contribution to the topic.

Pino and Mazza both earned their Ph.D.’s from the University of L'Aquila in Italy,
and have written many academic articles on mental illnesses.

This resource would be useful for those whose interests include the treatment of
mental disorders or for those with special needs, or those looking to develop
innovative low-cost treatment programs for these disorders.
Samur, Dalya, et al. "Does a Single Session of Reading Literary Fiction Prime Enhanced
Mentalising Performance? Four Replication Experiments of Kidd and Castano
(2013)." ​Cognition & Emotion​, vol. 32, no. 1, Feb. 2018, pp. 130-144. EBSCO​host​,
doi:10.1080/02699931.2017.1279591. [Login Required]

This article uses the Kidd and Castano experiments as a springboard to dive deeper
into the topic of the effects of reading literary fiction. The Kidd and Castano
experiments concluded that reading literary fiction improves “mentalising”,
compared to reading popular fiction, non-fiction, or not reading. Mentalizing,
according to a definition from The National Center for Biotechnology Information
(NCBI), is “…the process by which we make sense of each other and ourselves… It is
a profoundly social construct in the sense that we are attentive to the mental states
of those we are with, physically or psychologically.” Samur and her collaborators
wanted to dig deeper into the Kidd and Castano experiments, feeling that the
original study’s sample size was too small.

Samur completed her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology at Koc

University, Istanbul, and her Master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience at Radboud
University Nijmegen. She currently works as a Ph.D. student at the Amsterdam
Emotion Regulation Lab.

The findings of their expanded experiments call into question whether a single
session of reading fiction leads to immediate improvements in mentalising (called
“Theory of Mind” by Kidd and Castano). Their findings instead support the idea that
familiarity with works of literary fiction over time is what causes the mentalizing
improvements. This article is an important conversation with and expansion of the
influential Kidd and Castano experiment.