Theory of mind Flashcards
What is theory of mind?
- Refers to the ability we have to mind read/our understanding of what other people are thinking and feeling
What did Meltzoff find about intentional reasoning in toddlers?
- Toddlers (18 months) have an understanding of adult intention when carrying out simple tasks
- Children observed adults place beads in a jar
- Experimental condition- adults appear to struggle and some beads fell
- Control= placed beads successfully in jar
- In both conditions, toddlers successfully placed beads in jar
- Suggests they imitated what the adult intended to do not what they actually did
- Shows that very young children have simple ToM
What is the false-beliefs task?
- Wimmer and Perner told 3-4 year olds a story in which Maxi left his chocolate in a blue cupboard, then left
- His mum used some, then put the rest in a green cupboard
- Most 3 year olds= incorrectly answered question of where will he look= green cupboard as they assume he will know that his mum moved the chocolate
- Most 4 year olds= correctly said blue cupboard
- Suggests that ToM undergoes a shift and becomes more advanced at 4 years
What does the Sally-Anne study involve?
- Barron-Cohen et al told children a story, in which Sally places a marble in her basket, then leaves
- Anne moves the marble to her box
- Kids asked where Sally will look
- Understanding that she is unaware that Anne moved the marble requires an understanding of Sally’s false belief about where it is
How did Barron-Cohen et al investigate ToM in autistic children?
- Gave the Sally-Anne task to 20 autistic children, 27 non-autistic children, and 14 children with down syndrome
- 85% control groups= correct
- 4/20 autistic kids could answer correctly
- Argue this difference shows that autism involves a ToM deficit and that this may be a complete explanation for autism
How is ToM tested in older children and adults?
- Many autistic people without learning difficulties struggle with empathy, social communication and imagination, but language development may be relatively unaffected
- Baron-Cohen et al developed the eyes task:
- Involves reading complex emotion in pictures of eyes
- Found may autistic adults without learning disabilities struggled- supports the idea that ToM deficits may be a cause of autism
Limitation-
I- Reliance on false belief tasks to test ToM
D- 100s of studies use false belief tasks, but these tasks have serious issued of validity (Bloom and German). A reason for this is that these tasks require other cognitive abilities, e.g. visual memory- failure on false belief task may be due to memory deficits not ToM. Some kids who engage successfully in pretend play (requires some ToM), find false belief tasks difficult
E- Means false belief tasks may not really measure ToM, which lacks key research evidence
Limitation-
I- Fails to distinguish ToM from perspective-taking
D- Perspective-taking and ToM are related but are different cognitive abilities. It may be difficult to be sure we are measuring one and not the other. E.g. in intentional reasoning tasks, a child may visualise the beads task from the adult perspective, rather than expressing a conscious understanding of their intention. In the Sally-Anne task, a child may switch perspectives between Sally and Anne
E- Means that, with the exception of the eyes task, tasks designed to measure ToM may actually measure perspective- taking
Strength-
I- Real world application
D- Tests used to assess ToM are challenging for some autistic people, as they may not fully understand what others are thinking. This offers an explanation for why some autistic people struggle with social interaction- it is hard to interact with someone if you do not get a sense of what they are thinking/ feeling. In contrast, it is often assumed that most neurotypical people can pick up on someone else’s thoughts and feelings with little effort
E- Means that ToM research has real-world relevance
Limitation-
I- Incomplete explanation
D- Not all autistic people experience ToM issues (i.e. not always understanding what others are thinking), nor are ToM problems limited to autistic people= Tager-Flusberg. A lack of ToM cannot explain cognitive strengths of autistic people, e.g. superior visual attention
E- Means there must be other factors involved in autism, and the association between autism and ToM is not as strong as first believed
Evaluation extra-
I- Nature-nurture
D- Perner suggests that ToM is an innate ability, developing alongside other cognitive abilities, as a result of maturity. This is similar to Piaget’s view that abstract thinking develops with age, as the brain matures. Cross-cultural studies (e.g: Liu) found a similar pattern of development in ToM ability across different countries (diff age in diff countries). But, Astington suggests a more Vygotskian explanation- ToM develops as a consequence of our interactions, and gradually the concept is internalised
E- It appears that ToM development is genetic in origin, but the rate of development is modified by social environment
