Theory of mind
Joint attention plays an important role in the development of theory of mind. Theory of mind and joint attention are important precursors to a fully developed grasp of another individual's mental activity. While joint attention is theorized to be an important precursor to theory of mind, some evidence suggests that individuals engage in these tasks separately. One lab tested the co-occurrence of these behavior in social settings and found that there was not significant overlap. This is not to suggest that there is no relationship, but that the two are distinct constructs that must be measured independently.