theory of mind

• 🔑 key assumptions

  • social interactions
  • false beliefs
  • developed around age 4 to 5 years
• define theory of mind 🧠

  ability to understand that others have thoughts, feelings, desires and beliefs different from one's own
• 📝 supporting theories

  • piaget - ToM developed as part of concrete operational stage
  • vygotsky - ToM is influenced by social interaction
  • Baron-Cohen - false beliefs is a milestone in social development
• 🪜 stages of theory

  1. infancy
  2. early childhood
  3. key milestone
  4. later childhood
• 1️⃣ infancy

  0 to 2 years

  • ability to recognise emotions and intentions
  • recognise other people's desires
  • egocentrism
• 2️⃣ early childhood

  2 to 4 years

  • understand that others hold different desires and beliefs
  • limited understanding of false beliefs
  • egocentric thinking
• 3️⃣

  4 to 5 years

  • children pass the sally-anne test
  • can have a false belief
• 4️⃣ later childhood

  7 years

  • more nuanced understanding of different mental states
• who completed the sally-anne test?

  baron-cohen et al
• 🪆 sally-anne test

  investigate development of false belief understanding

  • sally places a marble in her basket and leaves the room
  • anne moves the marble to a box
  • child is asked "where will sally look for the marble"

  85% correctly stated to look in the basket

  20% of children with autism were correct
• 🎯 implications on autism

  • struggle with understanding others hold different beliefs
  • difficulties with empathy and communication
• define autism

  characterised by difficulties in social interactions, communication and understanding other people's mental states
• 🎯 theories of autism

  • mindblindness - unable to attribute mental states to others
  • social motivation - capable of understanding but aren't motivated to engage
• 🎯 implications for interventions

  • specific interventions focusing on understanding false beliefs, emotions and social cues
  • social skills training to recognise emotions, understand facial expressions and respond appropriately to social situations
• ✅ strength of theory of mind - autism

  clear explanation for social and communication difficulties

  • baron-cohen et al - 20% of children with autism passed compared to 85% of neurotypical children
  • struggle to understand others have different beliefs and perspectives
  • applicable in real-world contexts
• ❌ limitation of theory of mind - simple

  too simplistic

  • happé - high-functioning individuals with autism passed basic tasks but struggled with advanced tasks
  • autism involves broader range of cognitive and emotional challenges
  • lacks completeness
• ✅ strength of theory of mind - application

  practical application

  • educational and therapeutic programs to help children with autism
  • improve social competence
  • clinically valuable