Baron-cohen et al (1985)

aim

to see whether children with autism have a Theory of Mind

sample

• 20 children with autism - mean age 11

• 14 children with down syndrome - mean age 11

• 27 typically developing children - mean age 4.5

• matched for mental age not chronological age

method

Sally-Anne task - a false belief task involving two dolls

• sally place a marble in her basket and leaves

• while sally is gone, anne takes the marble and puts it in her box

• sally returns

children are then asked: “where will sally look for her marble?“

control questions:

• reality question: “where is the marble really“

• memory question: “where did sally put the marble in the beginning“

results

all children were able to answer the second and third question

% correct on the first/false belief question:

• typically developing: 85% - 23/27

• down syndrome: 86% - 12/14

• autism: 20% 4/20

conclusion

• children with autism showed a specific impairment intheory of mind and were significantly less likely to understna dthat sally would act on false belief

• supported the idea that autism involves a delay or deficit in theory of mind

strengths

• groundbreaking study in developmental and autism research - introduced a clear, testable measure of ToM

• controlled for understanding and memory using control questions

limitations

• only related to the false belief aspect of ToM, not the other parts, nor empathy

• matched for mental age, but autistic children had a higher chronological age, which may affect generalisabiltiy