Theory of mind

• Intentional reasoning study- Andrew Meltzoff

  • 18 month-old children made to observe adults placing beads into a jar
  • Experimental condition- adults appeared to struggle and dropped beads
  • Control- adults placed beads successfully
  • In both conditions, toddlers placed the beads in the jar
  • In the experimental condition they dropped no more beads
  • Suggests they imitated what the adults intended to do, young children therefore have a simple ToM
• False belief study- Wimmer and Perner (Maxi chocolate study)

  • 3-4 year olds
  • Told a story of Maxi leaving chocolate in a blue cupboard in the kitchen, he went to play in the playground
  • Maxi's mother used some in her cooking and placed it in a green cupboard
  • Children were asked where Maxi would look
  • 3 year olds- incorrectly said green, Maxi doesnt know his mother moved it, failure of ToM
  • 4 year olds- correctly identified the blue
  • Suggests ToM undergoes a shift and becomes more advanced around 4
• Sally-Anne study- Baron-Cohen et al (false belief task to study ToM)

  • Studied 20 high-functioning children diagnosed with ASD
  • Control group of 27 without diagnosis
  • 14 down syndrome
  • Story told involving two dolls. Sally places a marble in her basket. When Sally is not looking Anne moves the marble to her box. Sally does not know this and has a false belief of where it is
• Sally-Anne study findings- Baron-Cohen et al

  • 85% of children in control correctly identified where Sally would look
  • 20% ASD (4 children) could answer
  • Demonstrates that ASD involves a ToM deficit
  • ToM may be a complete explanation for ASD
• Eyes task- testing older children/adults Baron-Cohen et al

  • Older children and adults with aspergers succeeded with false belief tasks (may have been too easy) and challenged the idea that ASD can be explained by ToM deficit
  • More challenging task to study ToM
  • Ppts shown a small area surrounding eyes, required to read the emotion
  • Adults with AS and high functioning ASD diagnosed struggled
  • Supports idea ToM deficits may cause ASD
• Bloom and German challenging Sally-Anne Study

  • Low validity due to:
  • Success on a false belief task requires other cognitive abilities, not just ToM, e.g. memory
  • Sally-Anne study is a lot for a 3 year old to remember
  • Some studies gave children with ASD visual aids, to help remember the story, they often succeeded
  • Children can also have a well-developed ToM but still struggle with false belief tasks
  • Children who cannot perform well may still enjoy pretend-play (which requires a ToM and they can successfully understand)
  • Issue for ToM as it has been defined by false belief research
• define theory of mind

  • our personal understanding of what other people are thinking and feeling, aka 'mind reading'
• STRENGTH OF TOM RESEARCH (AO3)


  • Partial explanation for ASD, real life app
  • TOM research has been useful in helping us understand the differing experiences of those with ASD and neurotypical
  • As a result it may allow us to implicate better learning tools for ASD children to learn more effectively to help cater to their lack of TOM and understanding of false belief
  • E.g. visual aids