The attribution of function also has teleological connotations.
Attribution of tissue specific roles of genes expressed in prechordal plate in notochord development, however, has been limited by the lack of a prechordal plate-specific Cre line that is not active in other axial mesendodermal regions.
There is also now a large literature investigating the neural substrate of belief attribution, the role of mental state language and complement syntax, the influence of executive function ability on mental state attribution, the connection of belief attribution and theory of mind to autism and other developmental disorders, etc. Doherty (2009) is a recent study of the research in this area.
Predicted action effects also play an important role in attribution of the action to an agent after it has been performed.
On pure versions of such accounts, imagination plays no special role in the attribution of mental states to others.
The intent, in addition to transparency and rigor, was to underscore that even in the context of rigorous evidence judgment plays a role in final attribution of scientific value and of importance.
In recent years, proponents of both sides have increasingly converged on common ground, allowing that both theory and simulation play some role in the attribution of mental states to others (Cf. Carruthers 2003; Goldman 2006; Nichols and Stich 2003; cf. also empirical work adverted to in section 6 below).
Secondly – and in contrast with a traditional healer – the traditional birth attendant plays no role in the attribution of causality.
Nevertheless, the finding that arboreal escape responses were elicited in only 25%% of trials suggests that, at least for adult males, contextual cues such as conspecifics' behaviour at the time of the experiment or the subject's prior experience may also play a role in the attribution of meaning to perceived barks.
Finally, it would be interesting to explore in greater detail how non-verbal expressivity is related to self-reflection, because self-reflexive awareness has been shown to play a role in both attribution of mental states to others and social functioning in SSD and other severe mental disorders [ 40].
