Indiv Diff Exp ToM

Question 1

What is theory of mind

Answer 1

Having an understanding that people have thoughts,emotions, desires, beliefs and intentions that may be different from our own.

Question 2

What are the three precursors to theory of mind

Answer 2

The child’s ability to:
Engage in pretend play
Imitate others
Follow a persons gaze

Question 3

Scaife and Bruner

Answer 3

Stated that typically developing children will show these skills by 14 months, this is delayed with children who go on to be diagnosed with ASD

Question 4

What are the two foundations of theory of mind

Answer 4

Ability to distinguish between mental and physical
Ability to distinguish between appearances and reality

Question 5

Give an example of mental vs physical

Answer 5

Two characters one is holding a drink of juice and the other is thinking of holding a drink of juice
A child is asked Q’s like who can drink the juice, a child with ASD would find it difficult to answer whereas a neurotypical child wouldn’t

Question 6

Example of appearances vs reality

Answer 6

Understanding that things aren’t always what they seem.
Eg a toy that looks like an apple
A child with ASD would struggle to know it isn’t a real apple, whereas the neurotypical child should know the difference between

Question 7

What were the 3 different groups in the baron cohen sally anne test

Answer 7

Those with ASD
control group
Control group

Question 8

What were the results for the sally anne test

Answer 8

Neurotypical children- 85%
Children with Down’s syndrome- 86%
Children with ASD- 20%

Question 9

What do the results from baron cohen suggest

Answer 9

That they have trouble processing task that require ToM. Such tasks are relatively straight forward for people with intellectual disabilities. This shows that the difficulties experienced by children with ASD cannot be explained in terms of intellectual problems.

Question 10

Applying explanation to methods of modifying
Theory of mind= relationship development intervention

Answer 10

If research suggest that a lack of theory of mind is a cause of ASD behaviours like problems with social communication and understanding other people’s point of view then trying to improve theory of mind should help to reduce these behaviours.
RDI is a form of CBT and works on the concept of building dynamic intelligence which is the ability to think flexibly and consider events from different points of view. For example one area of RDI is emotional referencing where the child’s verbal/nonverbal communication is worked on to help them understand how others feel and communicate how they feel a key part of theory of mind