social cognition: theory of mind (ToM) Flashcards
what did Meltzoff provide evidence for?
toddlers have an understanding of adult intentions when carrying out simple actions
how old were the children in Meltzoff’s [intentional reasoning] study?
about 18 months old
what happened in the experimental condition of Meltzoff’s study?
adults appeared to struggle placing beads in a jar + some fell outside
what happened in the control condition of Meltzoff’s study?
adults placed beads successfully in the jar
what did Meltzoff find + conclude?
~ in both conditions, toddlers placed beads successfully in the jar - they dropped no beads, even in experimental condition
~ this suggests that they were imitating what the adult intended to do, rather tan what the adults actually did
what was the procedure for false belief tasks?
~ children were told a story in which Maxi left his chocolate in a BLUE cupboard in the kitchen then went to the playground
~ later, Maxi’s mum used some of his chocolate for her cooking then placed the remainder in a GREEN cupboard
~ where will Maxi look for his chocolate when he comes back from the playground?
how old were the children in the ‘false belief tasks’ study?
3-4 years old
what were the findings for the ‘false belief tasks’ study?
~ most 3-year-olds incorrectly say that Maxi will look in the GREEN cupboard as they assume that Maxi knows that his mum moved the chocolate
~ most 4-year-olds correctly identified the BLUE cupboard
what was the sample in the Sally-Anne study?
20 autistic children, 27 non-autistic children, and 14 children with Down-syndrome
what was the procedure for the Sally-Anne study?
Sally places a marble in her basket, but when she isn’t looking, Anne moves the marble to her own box - the task is to work out where Sally will look for her marble
what did Baron-Cohen et. al. find + conclude for the Sally-Anne study?
85% of children in control groups correctly identified where Sally would look for her marble, but only 20% of autistic children identified this
~ this shows that autism involves a ToM deficit
what requires an understanding of Sally’s false belief?
understanding that Sally doesn’t know where Anne has moved the marble to
how do we test older children/adults for autism?
Eyes Task
what do you have to do in the Eyes Task?
read complex emotions in pictures that only show a small area around the eyes
what did Baron-Cohen find + conclude from the Eyes Task?
~ many autistic adults without a learning disability struggled with the Eyes Task
~ this supports the idea that ToM deficits may be a cause of autism
why did Baron-Cohen develop the Eyes Task?
autistic adults/older children were able to succeed on false belief tasks, therefore Baron-Cohen developed a study that was better suited to older people
what are 2 limitations of this research?
~ false belief tasks may have serious problems of validity
~ research techniques fail to distinguish ToM from perspective-taking
why may false belief tasks lack validity?
~ false belief tasks require other cognitive abilities such as visual memory
~ failure on a false belief task may therefore be due to a deficit in memory rather than ToM
how may it be difficult to distinguish between ToM + perspective-taking in intentional reasoning tasks?
a child may be visualising the beads task from the adult perspective rather than expressing a conscious understanding of the adult’s intention
how may it be difficult to distinguish between ToM + perspective-taking in the Sally-Anne study?
a child may be switching perspective between Sally + Anne
what is one strength of this research?
it has a real-world application
what is one explanation for why autistic people may find social interaction difficult?
they may not fully understand what others are thinking - this may be why they find ToM tasks challenging
what is one counterpoint to ‘real-world application’?
ToM doesn’t provide a complete explanation for autism
what can’t a lack of ToM explain?
cognitive strengths of autistic people
what is one explanation for ToM that supports Piaget’s view?
ToM is an innate ability which develops alongside other cognitive abilities as a result of maturity
what is one explanation for ToM that supports Vygotsky’s view?
ToM develops as a consequence of interactions with others - it is gradually internalised
