theory of mind Flashcards
what is theory of mind
it is our personal understanding of what other people are thinking and feeling
It is sometimes called “mind reading”
what are the different methods of assessing theory of mind
- 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
international reasoning in Toddlers
Meltzoff (1988) provided convincing evidence to show that toddlers aged about 18 months understand adult intentions when carrying out simple actions
what is the procedure in Meltzoff’s study
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
what were the findings from Meltzoff’s study
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
False belief tasks
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
what was the procedure in Wimmer and Perner’s study
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
what were the findings from Wimmer and Perner’s study
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
Sally - Anne studies
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
what were the procedure of the Sally Anne study
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
what were the findings from the Sally Anne task
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
What contradicts Baron-Cohen’s previous statement
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
TheEye task
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
what is the origin of ToM
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
