CogToM: A Comprehensive Theory of Mind Benchmark inspired by Human Cognition for Large Language Models

ACL ARR 2026 January Submission7676 Authors

Keywords: Theory of Mind, LLM Benchmark

Abstract: Whether Large Language Models (LLMs) truly possess human-like Theory of Mind (ToM) capabilities has garnered increasing attention. However, existing benchmarks remain largely restricted to narrow paradigms like false belief tasks, failing to capture the full spectrum of human cognitive mechanisms. We introduce **CogToM**, a comprehensive, theoretically grounded benchmark comprising over 8000 bilingual instances across 46 paradigms, validated by 49 human annotator.A systematic evaluation of 22 representative models, including frontier models like GPT-5.1 and Qwen3-Max, reveals significant performance heterogeneities and highlights persistent bottlenecks in specific dimensions. Further analysis based on human cognitive patterns suggests potential divergences between LLM and human cognitive structures. CogToM offers a robust instrument and perspective for investigating the evolving cognitive boundaries of LLMs.

Paper Type: Long

Research Area: Resources and Evaluation

Research Area Keywords: Resources and Evaluation: benchmarking

Contribution Types: Model analysis & interpretability, Data resources, Data analysis

Languages Studied: English, Chinese

Submission Number: 7676