Theory of Mind

Question 1

What is theory of mind?

Answer 1

Our personal understanding of what other people are feeling

Question 2

What are 3 different methods that can be used to study ToM?

Answer 2

Intentional reasoning
False-belief tasks
The Eyes Task

Question 3

What age group is intentional reasoning used?

Answer 3

Toddlers

Question 4

What age group uses false-belief tasks?

Answer 4

3-4 year olds

Question 5

What age group uses the eyes task?

Answer 5

Adults

Question 6

What psychologist provided evidence to show that toddlers have an understanding of adult intentions?

Answer 6

Meltzoff

Question 7

Describe Meltzoff’s findings

Answer 7

When children observed adults placing beads in a jar and the adult dropped the beads, the children placed the beads in the jar.
Imitated the adult’s intention, supporting the idea they have a simple ToM

Question 8

What is an example of a false-belief task?

Answer 8

Sally-Anne studies

Question 9

Which psychologists performed the Sally -Anne test?

Answer 9

Baron-Cohen et al.

Question 10

What were the findings from the Sally-Anne test?

Answer 10

Children with ASD found it difficult, suggesting that ASD involves a ToM deficit

Question 11

What does ASD stand for?

Answer 11

Austistic Spectrum Disorder

Question 12

What were the findings of the Sally-Anne tasks when adults with AS were used?

Answer 12

Found it very easy

Question 13

What did the Eye Task involve?

Answer 13

Reading complex emotions in pictures of faces just showing the eyes

Question 14

What were the findings of the Eye Task?

Answer 14

Found that adults with AS struggled to identify emotions. This again supports the idea that ToM deficits might be the cause of ASD

Question 15

What is a strength of Theory of Mind?

Answer 15

Provides a partial explanation for ASD. Allows us to understand the different experiences of people with ASD.

Question 16

What is a research limitation of Theory of Mind?

Answer 16

False belief tasks have low validity because other factors e.g. memory ability, can affect success.
Some children can still enjoy pretend-play, even if they’re unable to perform the task. Pretend-play requires a ToM

Question 17

What is another limitation of Theory of Mind?

Answer 17

Hard to distinguish between ToM and perspective taking. This research may be measuring perspective taking instead, lowering the validity

Question 18

What is a weakness of the Eyes Test?

Answer 18

Lacks validity
Only looking at a static pair of eyes doesn’t show us the whole picture, however in real life we have access to additional information. Inaccurate measure.