Autism: Theory Of Mind

Question 1

AO1 Description

Answer 1

Autism is caused by a cognitive deficit
Impaired theory of mind is a lack of central coherence
TOM is the ability of to see the perspective of others (to decentre)
Normally develops 2-3
Sally-Anne tests this theory

Question 2

AO2

Answer 2

Difficulties with understanding others emotions
Socialisation issues
Delayed speech (less purpose to speak as they think pple know)
Explains onset

Question 3

+ Sally-Anne test

Answer 3

Children with autism were unable to predict where she would look
Demonstrates a difficulty understanding other perspectives

Question 4

+ baron-Cohen eye test

Answer 4

Showed that those with autism were less able to identify the emotions others that others were feeling compared to non-autistic individuals

Question 5

+ osterling & dawson (1994)

Answer 5

Studied babies at first birthday parties
Ones later diagnosed with autism didn’t pay attention to others faces
Autistic children tend to consider mental states of others

Question 6

• schick et Al (2007)

Answer 6

There was a significant delay on TOM tasks in deaf children of hearing parents
Typically demonstrate language delays regardless of speaking English of ALS

Question 7

• sheeran et al (2013)

Answer 7

Using TOM is not sufficient
Carried out a study on high functioning ASD adolescents nd found very little difference in performance on TOM tasks compared to normal children
Mental state reasoning goes against TOM

Question 8

• A03

Answer 8

Biological is more credible
Difficult to test directly
Not empirical
Cause and effect issues
Doesn't explain male to female ratio (EMB does)