Theory of mind in naturalistic conversations between autistic and typically developing children and adolescents

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Alkire ◽  
Kathryn A. McNaughton ◽  
Heather Yarger ◽  
Deena Shariq ◽  
Elizabeth Redcay
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
Mental State Language ◽  
Strengths And Difficulties ◽  
And Gender

Successful social interactions are assumed to depend on theory of mind (ToM)—the ability to represent others’ mental states—yet most studies of the relation between ToM and social-interactive success rely on non-interactive tasks that do not adequately capture the spontaneous engagement of ToM, a crucial component of everyday social interactions. We addressed this gap by establishing a novel observational rating scale to measure the spontaneous use of ToM (or lack thereof) within naturalistic conversations (conversational ToM, or cToM). In 50 age- and gender-matched dyads of autistic and typically developing children aged 8–16, we assessed cToM during 5-minute, unstructured conversations. We found that ratings on the cToM Negative scale, reflecting ToM-related violations of conversational norms, were negatively associated with two forms of non-interactive ToM: visual-affective and spontaneous. In contrast, the cToM Positive scale, reflecting explicit mental state language and perspective-taking, was not associated with these non-interactive ToM abilities. Furthermore, autistic participants were rated higher than typically developing participants on cToM Negative, but the two groups were rated similarly on cToM Positive. Together, these findings provide insight into multiple aspects of ToM in conversation and reveal a nuanced picture of the relative strengths and difficulties among autistic individuals.

scholarly journals Importance of language for children’s theory of mind: Comparison of verbal and nonverbal theory of mind tasks

Psihologija ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 23-23
Author(s):  
Sanja Simlesa ◽  
Kaja Hacin ◽  
Maja Cepanec ◽  
Jasmina Ivsac-Pavlisa
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Mental States ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
The Past ◽  
Verbal Tasks

The ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others, known as the theory of mind (ToM), has been widely researched over the past 40 years, along with its relation to language comprehension. However, a majority of the research on the relation between ToM and language used only verbal tasks assessing false belief understanding as a measure of ToM. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the relation between language and ToM, using a larger battery of ToM measures, with different language demands. A total of 203 typically developing children between 46 and 68 months of age, with average nonverbal cognitive skills, were assessed using language comprehension and ToM tasks. The language aspect was assessed using the Reynell Developmental Language Scales (Language Comprehension scale A). To assess ToM, verbal and non-verbal tasks were taken from the ToM subtest of the NEPSY-II. Results indicated a significant correlation between language comprehension and verbal and non-verbal ToM measures. Hierarchical regression showed that language comprehension was a significant predictor for children's performance on both verbal and non-verbal ToM tasks. Specifically, language comprehension affected ToM, regardless of the language demands of the ToM tasks. However, language comprehension was a stronger predictor for verbal than non-verbal ToM tasks. The results of this study contribute to the view that the relation between language and ToM is fundamental and exceeds the features of specific tasks.

scholarly journals Crosslinguistic Developmental Consistency in the Composition of Toddlers’ Internal State Vocabulary: Evidence from Four Languages

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Kristen ◽  
Sabrina Chiarella ◽  
Beate Sodian ◽  
Tiziana Aureli ◽  
Maria Genco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental State ◽  
Internal State ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Questionnaire Data ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Psychological Understanding ◽  
Parental Questionnaire ◽  
Mental State Language ◽  
State Language

Mental state language, emerging in the second and third years of life in typically developing children, is one of the first signs of an explicit psychological understanding. While mental state vocabulary may serve a variety of conversational functions in discourse and thus might not always indicate psychological comprehension, there is evidence for genuine references to mental states (desires, knowledge, beliefs, and emotions) early in development across languages. This present study presents parental questionnaire data on the composition of 297 toddler-aged (30-to 32-month-olds) children’s internal state vocabulary in four languages: Italian, German, English, and French. The results demonstrated that across languages expressions for physiological states (e.g., hungry and tired) were among the most varied, while children’s vocabulary for cognitive entities (e.g., know and think) proved to be least varied. Further, consistent with studies on children’s comprehension of these concepts, across languages children’s mastery of volition terms (e.g., like to do and want) preceded their mastery of cognition terms. These findings confirm the cross-linguistic consistency of children’s emerging expression of abstract psychological concepts.

scholarly journals Cognitive Flexibility, Theory of Mind, and Hyperactivity/Inattention

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad M. Farrant ◽  
Janet Fletcher ◽  
Murray T. Maybery
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility Theory ◽  
Card Sort ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Dimension Change ◽  
Strengths And Difficulties

The present study analyzed the concurrent and longitudinal relations among cognitive flexibility, theory of mind, and hyperactivity/inattention in a sample of 70 typically developing children (M age = 61.4 months, SD = 8.3 months). Mothers and teachers reported on children’s hyperactivity/inattention using the strengths and difficulties questionnaire (Goodman, 1997), cognitive flexibility was measured using the dimension change card sort task (Zelazo, 2006), and theory of mind was assessed using a battery of tasks. Cognitive flexibility and theory of mind scores were found to be significantly negatively correlated with the level of hyperactivity/inattention at both time points. Furthermore, year 1 cognitive flexibility score was found to be a significant predictor of year 2 hyperactivity/inattention score after controlling for child age, gender, and year 1 hyperactivity/inattention score. Directions for future research include training studies which would further our understanding of these relationships and allow more effective interventions.

scholarly journals Attention, Impulsiveness, and Gender in Academic Achievement Among Typically Developing Children

2018 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-24
Author(s):  
Masoumeh Alavi ◽  
Jyi H. Seng ◽  
Mohamed S. Mustaffa ◽  
Mohd T. Ninggal ◽  
Mansour Amini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Impulse Control ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Primary School Students ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
School Students ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Academic Scores ◽  
Significant Moderator

Although several studies have examined the relationships among attention, impulse control, gender, and academic achievement, most have focused on clinical samples and have considered only one or two academic subjects. This study investigated these relationships among typically developing children using general achievement measures (academic scores and grades). Our participants were 270 typically developing primary school students (142 boys and 128 girls) of different nationalities living in Malaysia, recruited with purposive sampling with a mean age of 9.75 years. We found that both attention and impulse control significantly predicted academic achievement. Girls had a higher level of attention and impulse control than boys, but gender was not a significant moderator between either attention or impulse control and academic achievement. We discuss the implications of these findings and the need for further research.

scholarly journals Typically Developing Preschoolers’ Behavior Toward Peers With Disabilities in Inclusive Classroom Contexts

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-68
Author(s):  
Soo-Young Hong ◽  
Jungwon Eum ◽  
Yanjie Long ◽  
Chaorong Wu ◽  
Greg Welch
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Inclusive Classroom ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Outdoor Classroom ◽  
Group Activities ◽  
And Training ◽  
Indoor And Outdoor ◽  
Small Group Activities

This study aimed to investigate typically developing preschoolers’ behavior toward peers with disabilities in inclusive classrooms, focusing on the co-occurrence of the interactions between children with and without disabilities with various classroom contexts. Behaviors of 22 typically developing preschoolers were observed and coded on two different days in both indoor and outdoor classrooms during free play, small group activities, transitions, and meals/snack. Typically developing children interacted with peers with disabilities for a small amount of time; the interactions were significantly more likely in the outdoor classroom, in either child- or teacher-directed activities, and in play activities. There was a lack of adults’ intentional scaffolding for social interactions between children with and without disabilities even when they were near the children. Activity contexts contribute to children’s social behavior, and teachers need more support and training with inclusive and collaborative practices.

scholarly journals Cognitive and affective Theory of Mind in adolescence: developmental aspects and associated neuropsychological variables

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edith Theresa Gabriel ◽  
Raphaela Oberger ◽  
Michaela Schmoeger ◽  
Matthias Deckert ◽  
Stefanie Vockh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Late Adolescents ◽  
Affective Processes ◽  
Neuropsychological Tasks ◽  
Neuropsychological Variables

Abstract Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to represent and attribute mental states to oneself and others. So far, research regarding ToM processing across adolescence is scarce. Existing studies either yield inconsistent results or did not or not thoroughly investigate aspects like higher order ToM and associated neuropsychological variables which the current study tried to address. 643 typically developing early, middle, and late adolescents (age groups 13–14; 15–16; 17–18) performed cognitive and affective ToM tasks as well as neuropsychological tasks tapping the cognitive or affective domain. Regarding both ToM types, 15- to 16-year-olds and 17- to 18-year-olds outperformed 13- to 14-year-olds, whereas females were superior regarding cognitive ToM. Across adolescence, cognitive and affective ToM correlated with attention and affective intelligence, whereas working memory, language comprehension, and figural intelligence additionally correlated with cognitive ToM. In early adolescence, attention correlated with both ToM types, whereas cognitive ToM further correlated with language comprehension and affective ToM with verbal intelligence, verbal fluency, and verbal flexibility. In middle and late adolescence, affective intelligence correlated with both ToM types, whereas cognitive ToM additionally correlated with working memory, language comprehension, and figural intelligence. The current study shows a developmental step regarding cognitive and affective ToM in middle adolescence as well as gender differences in cognitive ToM processing. Associations between neuropsychological variables and ToM processing were shown across adolescence and within age groups. Results give new insights into social cognition in adolescence and are well supported by neuroscientific and neurobiological studies regarding ToM and the integration of cognitive and affective processes. Graphic abstract

scholarly journals Theory of Mind Abilities and Social Competence in Preschool Children

2019 ◽  
Vol 09 (01) ◽  
pp. 09-11
Author(s):  
Shrunga Manchanapura Shivalingaiah ◽  
Fathimath Ramseena ◽  
Nafeesath Shareen
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Life ◽  
True Belief ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Clinical Population ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Objective Theory ◽  
Mixed Responses

Abstract Background and Objective Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability that can be attributed to mental status beliefs, intents, emotions, proficiency, etc., to oneself and to others, and the understanding that others also have intentions, conceptions, desires, and perspectives that are different from one’s own. Daily social life depends on the ability to evaluate the behavior of other people on the basis of their mental state such as their beliefs, intentions, compassions, and goals. This study was conducted to explore the ToM abilities in preschoolers. Methods A total of 36 preschoolers participated in the study. Two stories were narrated to the children, the classic Sally-Anne Task and the Smarty’s Task. In both the tasks, the responses of the children were scored as either true belief or false belief. Results The results of the present study revealed mixed responses among the preschoolers. It was found that 3- to 4-year-old children had more false beliefs for both the tasks when compared with 4- to 5-year-old. Conclusion This study highlights the importance of ToM abilities in typically growing children and other clinical population. It can be concluded that the ToM abilities were improved in typically developing children. Future studies are required to explore the higher levels of embedding of ToM, and also to incorporate it in the clinical population.

scholarly journals Thinking about thinking through inverse reasoning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene Berke ◽  
Julian Jara-Ettinger
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Mental Effort ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Generative Model ◽  
Other Minds ◽  
Computational Framework ◽  
Human Ability ◽  
Computational Processes

Human Theory of Mind enables us to attribute mental states like beliefs and desires based on how other people act. However, in many social interactions (particularly ones that lack observable action), people also directly think about other people's thinking. Here we present a computational framework, Bayesian inverse reasoning, for thinking about other people's thoughts. Our framework formalizes inferences about thinking by inferring a generative model of reasoning decisions and computational processes, structured around a principle of rational mental effort --- the idea that people expect other agents to allocate thinking rationally. We show that this model quantitatively predicts human judgements in a task where participants must infer the mental causes behind an agent's pauses as they navigate and solve a maze. Our results contribute to our understanding of the richness of the human ability to think about other minds, and to even think about thinking itself.

scholarly journals Developmental evidence for enhanced theory of mind for competitive versus cooperative contexts

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lily Tsoi ◽  
Kiley Hamlin ◽  
Adam Waytz ◽  
Andrew Scott Baron ◽  
Liane Young
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Mental States ◽  
The Other ◽  
First Person ◽  
False Beliefs ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

There is a debate regarding the function of theory of mind (ToM), the capacity to infer, attribute, and reason about mental states. On the one hand are evolutionary and psychological work suggesting that ToM is greater for competition than cooperation. On the other hand are findings and theories promoting greater ToM for cooperation than competition. We investigate the question of whether ToM is greater for competition than cooperation or vice versa by examining the period of development during which explicit ToM comes online. In two studies, we examined preschool children’s abilities to explicitly express an understanding of false beliefs—a key marker of ToM—and ability to apply that understanding in first-person social interactions in competitive and cooperative contexts. Our findings reveal that preschool children are better at understanding false beliefs and applying that understanding in competitive contexts than in cooperative contexts.

scholarly journals Self-Rated Depressive Symptoms in Children and Youth with and without Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Daiki Asano ◽  
Masaki Takeda ◽  
Satoshi Nobusako ◽  
Shu Morioka
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Palsy ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Children And Youth ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Hierarchical Multiple Regression ◽  
Peer Problems ◽  
Strengths And Difficulties

Children with cerebral palsy (CP) often exhibit mental health problems, such as depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study was to describe the self-rated depressive symptoms in children with and without CP and to investigate the associated predictors. Participants included 24 children with CP and 33 typically developing (TD) children. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Birleson Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children. Parents of the participants completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Severity of self-rated depressive symptoms was higher in children with CP than that in TD children. Particularly, decline in activities and enjoyment was identified as a contributor to the increased severity of depressive symptoms. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that the greater severity of depressive symptoms in children with CP was mediated by hyperactivity/inattention and peer problems. Our study suggests that it is imperative to provide opportunities to participate in social activities from an early age.

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