Theory of Mind

Define Theory of Mind

Our ability to “mind read” or personal understanding of what others are thinking and feeling

What age does Theory of Mind develop?

Around 4 years old

What are the three main ways to measure Theory of Mind?

• Intentional reasoning

• False belief tasks

• The eye task

What are intentional reasoning tasks?

Tasks to test presence of simplistic Theory of Mind in toddlers → Tests is they have an understanding of the intentions of others

Who studied intentional reasoning in toddlers?

Meltzoff (1988)

How did Meltzoff study intentional reasoning tasks?

Argued toddlers (18 months) are able to engage in intentional reasoning tasks

Tested through task where children observed adults putting beads into jar:

• Experimental condition: Adults struggled with task and some beads fell out of jar (intentions do not match with task)

• Control condition: Adults successfully put beads in jar

What were the findings and conclusion of research into intentional reasoning in toddlers?

• Findings: When toddlers replicated task there were no more beads dropped out of jar in experimental condition than control

• Conclusion: Toddlers copied adults intentions rather than true action → evidence of simple Theory of Mind

What are false belief tasks?

Measuring the ability of children to understand that others will believe something that is not true/incorrect when the child themselves knows the correct answer

Define Autism

An umbrella term for a spectrum of disorders for general impairments in empathy, social communication and imagination

ASD

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Outline the Sally-Anne false belief task

1. Sally puts the marble in her basket

2. While Sally is away and moves the marble to her box

3. When Sally returns where will she look for the marble?

How did Baron-Cohen (1985) investigate Theory of Mind in autistic children?

• False belief task

• Procedure: Gave Sally-Anne false belief task to children with matched verbal age of 5.5 years

  • 20 autistic children

  • 27 neurotypical children

  • 14 children with down-syndrome

What were the findings of Baron-Cohen’s research on Theory of Mind using false belief tasks?

Findings

• Only 4 autistic children gave correct answer

• Majority of neurotypical/children with down syndrome gave correct answer

Findings were independent of general intelligence

Show's theory of mind deficit in autistic children, as autistic children do not understand that they know something Sally does not know

What is the inability to develop Theory of Mind also called?

Mind-blindness hypothesis

What does the eyes task measure? Why was it developed?

• Tests for advanced theory of mind in older children and adults through more challenging tasks

• Research shows older children/adults with autism can perform well on false belief tasks (due to learning through repetition)

Outline the procedure of using eye tasks

Individual must read emotion on face from a picture of small section around eyes

Outline findings using the eyes task

Baron-Cohen et al. (1987) found autistic adult without learning disabilities struggled with eye tasks showing theory of mind deficits

Outline Wimmer and Perner’s study

Wimmer and Perner developed false belief tasks through the chocolate scenario

1. Maxi left chocolate in blue cupboard and went out to play

2. Maxi’s mum uses chocolate and puts it back in green cupboard

3. Where will Maxi look for the chocolate when he comes back?

How does Wimmer and Perner’s findings increase the validity of false belief tasks to measure Theory of Mind as an explanation of social cognition or autism?

Findings:

• 3 year old → answered green cupboard as they assume Maxi knows mum moved chocolate, as they themselves know

• 4 year old → answered blue cupboard

Increases validity of false belief tasks to measure theory of mind as an explanation of social cognition or autism

Explain a strength of Theory of Mind as an explanation of social cognition and autism

• Real life application

• The Sally-Anne method is commonly used to diagnose autism in children

• Sally-Anne research increased understanding of differences between people with autism vs. neurotypical children, especially regarding social interaction

• Increases validity of false belief tasks to measure theory of mind as an explanation of social cognition or autism

Explain a limitation of Theory of Mind as an explanation of social cognition and autism

• Incomplete explanation

  • Not every autistic person has Theory of Mind deficits

  • Cannot explain benefits of autism for some (for example superior visual attention) → Must be other factors involved in explaining autism

How to Bloom and German criticise the validity of false belief tasks as a way of assessing Theory of Mind?

• Suggests some children are more successful on false belief tasks because of other cognitive skills

• For example memory → Supported by condition where younger children with ASD performed better on Sally-Anne scenario when given memory cues

• Decreases validity of false belief tasks to measure theory of mind as an explanation of social cognition or autism

How to Bloom and German further criticise the validity of false belief tasks as a way of assessing Theory of Mind?

• Found young children who were able to engage in pretend play (which requires Theory of Mind) still performed poorly and false belief tasks

• Further questions the validity of using false belief tasks to measure Theory of Mind

• Further decreases validity of false belief tasks to measure theory of mind as an explanation of social cognition or autism

What is an alternative explanation of what false belief tasks measure?

Perspective taking abillity