Theory of Mind

• What is ToM + What are false beliefs + How do you test if ppl have them

  • ToM is the ability of an individual to attribute a set of mental states to others. Understanding that others have separate minds to us and therefore doesn't see or exp the world as we do
  • False beliefs are the understanding that others can have a view of the world that's inaccurate and different to ours
  • To test if ppl have false beliefs you use a false belief task
• Wimmer and Perner - false belief task

  Kids were asked where Maxi would look for chocolate if he left it in a blue cupboard but his mum moved it to a green cupboard w/o him knowing.
• Wimmer and Perner - findings + conc

  • Most 3yr olds answered that Maxi would look in the green cupboard
  • Most 4 yr olds answered that he'd look in the blue cupboard, showing they have false beliefs.
  • By 6, all children answered that he'd look in the blue cupboard
  • ToM develops around 4
• What is autism

  • Autism is a developmental disorder where the individual has problems with social interactions and communication skills
  • It's characterised by a specific cog impairment
  • Mind-blindness - the inability to read emotional states and perspectives of others
  • Leads to problems with social cognition as a whole
  • Research has shown that ToM is directly responsible for social cognition
• Sally-Anne task 


  • Baron-Cohen used the Sally-Anne task (false belief task) to test the dev of ToM in children diagnosed with ASD
  • 20 high functioning children with ASD compared to 14 children with Down's syndrome
  • Sally left her marble in her basket and went for a walk
  • Anne moves the marble into a box
  • The children were asked where Sally will look for her marble
• Baron-Cohen - Sally-Anne task - Findings + Conc

  • 85% of the Down's group correctly identified where Sally would look
  • 20% of the ASD group answered correctly
  • Shows that kids with ASD have an underdeveloped ToM compared to children with Down's
  • Explains why they have difficulties with social interaction
  • Showing ToM has a crucial role in social cognition
• W - alternative expl for dev of ToM. Whilst Perner et al suggested that ToM may be an innate ability which matures with age + exp - Astington contradicts this, taking a Vygotskian view to the dev of ToM. He says ToM is initially seen in those around us e.g. adults, family and eventually this ToM becomes internalised by the individual, thus facilitating the dev of ToM. W bc suggests ToM isn't acquired innately but rather it comes with frequent social interaction with "experts" in our environment. As this goes against B-C's assertions - research \ V
• W - some false belief tasks (FBT) lack internal V. Bloom + German - FBTs may lack internal V bc success requires other cog abilities aside from ToM e.g. memory. The Maxi storyline is long for a 3yr old to retain fully - maybe 4yr olds are better at retaining the story with better mastery of lang. Some studies give ASD kids visual aids to remember the false belief task and found they often lead to success. W bc - while false belief tasks claim to measure ToM, they may measure entirely diff cog abilities like memory. Shows that false belief tasks don't measure what they intend to measure. \V
• W - Baron-Cohen's research into ToM - contradicting evidence for the idea that ToM is crucial for social cognition. R has shown that not all ppl with ASD have issues with ToM (Baron-Cohen even shows that 20% of kids with ASD were able to complete the ToM task). Tasger-Flusberg - recent research Q assumption that ToM problems are closely related to ASD and all on spectrum have ToM issues. W bc shows ToM may not be as crucial in dev of social cognition as R suggests. Therefore other factors may determine social cognition. As Baron-Cohen doesn't account for this - \V
• W - fails to account for the role of culture in the dev of ToM. Liu et al compared over 300 Chinese and North American kids in ToM. Found similar sequence of dev of ToM in both groups but timing differed by as much as 2yrs. Supports universality of ToM as both cultures achieved it but also raises Q about Baron-Cohen's research on ToM as he underestimates the mediating role of culture in the dev of ToM. Shows our current understanding of ToM from B-C can't explain cultural diffs in ToM dev - thus can be considered inconclusive - incomplete concs from B-C \V