Autism- Theory Of Mind Explanation

Question 1

What is it

Answer 1

Simon Baren- Cohen (1995)
Being aware that others are able to represent the world in their own minds and that people have thoughts, emotions and intentions of their own
A dysfunction ToM is a central deficit of ASD which accounts for costal and communication impairments

Question 2

Physical versus mental

Answer 2

Based on Baron-Cohen
Shown by story where one child holds glass of pop other imagines it and the child is asked which child can drink the pop
Neurodivergent 4 year olds find this very difficult

Question 3

Appearance versus reality

Answer 3

Neurodivergent may not understand that e.g a cake that looks like a football is still a cake
Children w ASD May struggle to grasp that the appearance of the object and its real nature isn’t the same thing

Question 4

Testing ToM deficits

Answer 4

Sally Anne story is a way of testing “where will sally look for the marble”
Baron-Cohen used in three groups of children
Found 85% NT 4 yo gave correct ToM answer
86% w Down syndrome (tested to control for low intelligence in case it’s a factor)
But only 20% children w autism were correct
Shows it’s ToM and not dependent on intellectual ability

Question 5

Research support AO3
Strength

Answer 5

Experimental support
Baron-cohen (2001) used revised eyes test to asses ToM further
Pps identified emotions detected in images of eyes by selecting one response from 4 options
Adults w ASD performed worse than control - impaired ability to infer emotional states from facial expressions
Supports validity of ToM deficit as feature of ASD - task didn’t depend on language abilities

Question 6

Incomplete explanation AO3
Weakness

Answer 6

ToM dysfunction can’t explain all symptoms
Doesn’t account for non social features
E.g. repetitive behaviours and interests
Some people w ASD pass Sally Anne and eyes test
ToM lacks validity as it isn’t a comprehensive theory of ASD

Question 7

Lack of explanatory power AO3
Weakness

Answer 7

ToM dysfunction could just be a symptom of ASD as like other symptoms it needs to be explained
Neurobiological impairment could be underlying cause of ToM deficit and ASD
ToM not a complete explanation needs to involve other biological mechanisms

Question 8

Application

Answer 8

ToM offers target for intervention
Kasari (2012) studied children w ASD in a programmed to improve their joint attention skills
Compared with controls, language skills were sig improved & still apparent after 5 years
Treating ASD w a ToM deficit produces beneficial outcomes

Question 9

Competing argument to application

Answer 9

Other studies not as positive
Sue Fletcher Watson (2014) reviewed interventions based on ToM explanation
Found evidence that ToM can be developed in children w ASD
But improvements were short lived and didn’t generalise beyond situations where skills were learnt

Question 10

AO1

Answer 10

AO1
• One cognitive explanation for autism is the theory of mind which states
that a person with autism cannot understand another person’s point of
view.
• The theory of mind says that children with autism do not understand
others facial expression which means they have difficulty
understanding others non-verbal communication.
• According to the theory of mind people with autism are high
systemisers, so they use rules to organise internal and external events.
• Another explanation is genetic which states that there are a variety of
genes that interact and may cause aut