Is an agent theory of mind (ToM) valuable for adaptive, intelligent systems?

This paper serves as a short introduction for the special PerMIS session on Theories of Mind (ToM). The session intends to explore the viability of the ToM concept for R&D and if the ToM hypothesis is mature & relevant to the goal of highly competent systems able to achieve goals in a relatively autonomous way. The question can be considered from philosophical, research and robotic implementations as well as critiques central to the topic. The introduction is organized into 4 parts. Part 1 briefly reviews some of the history of the ToM idea and its recent reformulations. Part 2 discusses the widening use of the concept as an explanatory device within a few areas using developmental studies as a focus. Part 3 introduces the idea that particular types of robotics offer a new kind of tool to investigate cognitive development and the validity of some theories such as a ToM. The paper concludes with an outline of some issues that remain to be explored and advanced to show the value of a ToM theory in general and especially within the domain of intelligent systems.