theory of mind Flashcards

1
Q

what is theory of mind

A

it is our personal understanding of what other people are thinking and feeling

It is sometimes called “mind reading”

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2
Q

what are the different methods of assessing theory of mind

A
  • intentional reasoning research - which is used to assess the emergence of a simple ToM in toddlers
  • False belief task - which is used to assess a more sophisticated level of ToM
  • Eye Task - which is used to assess advanced ToM in older children and adults; participants judge complex emotions with minimal information about facial expressions
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3
Q

international reasoning in Toddlers

A

Meltzoff (1988) provided convincing evidence to show that toddlers aged about 18 months understand adult intentions when carrying out simple actions

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4
Q

what is the procedure in Meltzoff’s study

A

PROCEDURE: Children of 18 months observed adults place beads in a jar
in the experimental condition, the adults appeared to struggle with this and dropped the beads

In the control condition, the adults placed the beads successfully in the jar

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5
Q

what were the findings from Meltzoff’s study

A

In both conditions, the toddler placed the beads in the jar; they dripped no more beads in the experimental condition

this suggests that they were imitating what the adult INTENDED to do

This kind of research shows that very young children have a simple ToM

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6
Q

False belief tasks

A

these were developed to test whether children understand that people can believe something that is not true

The first was developed by Wimmer and Perner

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7
Q

what was the procedure in Wimmer and Perner’s study

A

Procedure:

They told 3-4-year-olds a story in which Maxi left chocolate in a blue cupboard in the kitchen and then went to the playground.
Later, Maxi’s mother used some tf the chocolate in her cooking and placed the remainder in the green cupboard

Children were asked where Maxi would look for his chocolate when he comes from the playground

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8
Q

what were the findings from Wimmer and Perner’s study

A

Most 3- year olds incorrectly said that he would look in the green cupboard

They know that it is in the green cupboard but do not realise that Maxi dies not know his mother moved it

However, most 4 year olds correctly identified the blue cupboard

This suggests that ToM undergoes a shift and becomes more advanced at around four years

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9
Q

Sally - Anne studies

A

Baron-Cohen et al created a false belief task called the Sally Anne task

Children were told a story involving two dolls Sally and Ann

Sally places a marble in her basket but when Ally is not looking Anne moves the marble to her box

The task is to work out where Sally will look for her marble

Understanding that Sally does not know that Anne has moved the marble requires an understanding of Sally’s false beliefs about where it is

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10
Q

what were the procedure of the Sally Anne study

A

20 high functioning children diagnosed with ASD

and control groups of 14 children with Down’s syndrome

and 27 without a diagnosis were individually administered the Sally Anne study

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11
Q

what were the findings from the Sally Anne task

A

85% of children in the control groups correctly identified where Sally would look for her marble

20% of children in the ASD group correctly answered

This difference demonstrated that ASD involves a ToM deficit
Baron-Cohen and his colleagues suggested that deficits in ToMmight be a complete explanation for ASD

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12
Q

What contradicts Baron-Cohen’s previous statement

A

older children and adults with Asperger syndrome (AS) showed that this group succeeded easily on false belief tasks

This contradicts the idea that ASD can be explained by ToM deficits

However, Baron-Cohen and colleagues developed a more challenging task to asses ToM in adolescents and adults- the eye task

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13
Q

TheEye task

A

The Eye task involves reading complex emotions in pictures of faces just showing a small area around the eyes

Baron-Cohen et al found that adults with AS and those diagnosed with high functioning ASD struggled with the Eyes Task

Adults on the autism spectrum had a man score of 16.3 compared to “typical” participants with a mean score of 20.3 out of a maximum of 25. This supports the idea the ToM deficits might be the cause of ASD

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14
Q

what is the origin of ToM

A

The fact the ToM appears to develop at a particular age and the fact that it is likely to be absent in many people with autism suggests a biological basis

Baron-Cohen has proposed a ToM module, which is a specific mechanism that matures in the brain at around the age of four and explains an individual’s ability to understand the mental starts of other people

With the development of ToM comes the ability to manipulate and deceive others by hiding one’s emotions and intentions

This occurs from three years of age

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