Executive and attentional contributions to Theory of Mind deficit in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

PubMed

Mary, Alison; Slama, Hichem; Mousty, Philippe; Massat, Isabelle; Capiau, Tatiana; Drabs, Virginie; Peigneux, Philippe

2016-01-01

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children has been associated with attentional and executive problems, but also with socioemotional difficulties possibly associated with deficits in Theory of Mind (ToM). Socioemotional problems in ADHD are associated with more negative prognoses, notably interpersonal, educational problems, and an increased risk of developing other psychiatric disorders that emphasize the need to clarify the nature of their ToM deficits. In this study, we hypothesized that ToM dysfunction in children with ADHD is largely attributable to their attentional and/or executive deficits. Thirty-one children with ADHD (8-12 years, IQ > 85) and 31 typically developing (TD) children were assessed using executive functions (inhibition, planning, and flexibility) and attentional tasks, as well as two advanced ToM tasks (Reading the Mind in the Eyes and Faux Pas) involving different levels of executive control. Children with ADHD performed more poorly than TD children in attentional, executive function, and ToM tasks. Linear regression analyses conducted in the ADHD group indicated that inhibition scores predicted performance on the "Faux Pas" task the best, while attention scores were the best for predicting performance on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task. When controlled for inhibition and attentional variables, ToM performance in children with ADHD was actually similar to TD children. Contrarily, controlling for ToM scores did not normalize performance for inhibition and attentional tasks in children with ADHD. This unidirectional relationship suggests that deficits in the EF and attentional domains are responsible for ToM deficits in ADHD, which therefore may contribute to their socioemotional difficulties.

Reading wild minds: A computational assay of Theory of Mind sophistication across seven primate species

PubMed Central

Devaine, Marie; San-Galli, Aurore; Trapanese, Cinzia; Bardino, Giulia; Hano, Christelle; Saint Jalme, Michel; Bouret, Sebastien

2017-01-01

Theory of Mind (ToM), i.e. the ability to understand others' mental states, endows humans with highly adaptive social skills such as teaching or deceiving. Candidate evolutionary explanations have been proposed for the unique sophistication of human ToM among primates. For example, the Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis states that the increasing complexity of social networks may have induced a demand for sophisticated ToM. This type of scenario ignores neurocognitive constraints that may eventually be crucial limiting factors for ToM evolution. In contradistinction, the cognitive scaffolding hypothesis asserts that a species' opportunity to develop sophisticated ToM is mostly determined by its general cognitive capacity (on which ToM is scaffolded). However, the actual relationships between ToM sophistication and either brain volume (a proxy for general cognitive capacity) or social group size (a proxy for social network complexity) are unclear. Here, we let 39 individuals sampled from seven non-human primate species (lemurs, macaques, mangabeys, orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees) engage in simple dyadic games against artificial ToM players (via a familiar human caregiver). Using computational analyses of primates' choice sequences, we found that the probability of exhibiting a ToM-compatible learning style is mainly driven by species' brain volume (rather than by social group size). Moreover, primates' social cognitive sophistication culminates in a precursor form of ToM, which still falls short of human fully-developed ToM abilities. PMID:29112973

Reading wild minds: A computational assay of Theory of Mind sophistication across seven primate species.

PubMed

Devaine, Marie; San-Galli, Aurore; Trapanese, Cinzia; Bardino, Giulia; Hano, Christelle; Saint Jalme, Michel; Bouret, Sebastien; Masi, Shelly; Daunizeau, Jean

2017-11-01

Theory of Mind (ToM), i.e. the ability to understand others' mental states, endows humans with highly adaptive social skills such as teaching or deceiving. Candidate evolutionary explanations have been proposed for the unique sophistication of human ToM among primates. For example, the Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis states that the increasing complexity of social networks may have induced a demand for sophisticated ToM. This type of scenario ignores neurocognitive constraints that may eventually be crucial limiting factors for ToM evolution. In contradistinction, the cognitive scaffolding hypothesis asserts that a species' opportunity to develop sophisticated ToM is mostly determined by its general cognitive capacity (on which ToM is scaffolded). However, the actual relationships between ToM sophistication and either brain volume (a proxy for general cognitive capacity) or social group size (a proxy for social network complexity) are unclear. Here, we let 39 individuals sampled from seven non-human primate species (lemurs, macaques, mangabeys, orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees) engage in simple dyadic games against artificial ToM players (via a familiar human caregiver). Using computational analyses of primates' choice sequences, we found that the probability of exhibiting a ToM-compatible learning style is mainly driven by species' brain volume (rather than by social group size). Moreover, primates' social cognitive sophistication culminates in a precursor form of ToM, which still falls short of human fully-developed ToM abilities.

Tricks, Lies and Mistakes: Identifying Theory of Mind Concepts within Storybooks Shared with Deaf Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chilton, Helen

2017-01-01

Recent years have seen a significant interest in Theory of Mind (ToM), the specific groups in which it may be restricted and the opportunities which might enhance or suppress development. Previous studies have identified gaps in the literature concerning ideas for intervention and strategies which may augment the development of ToM skills.…

Theory-of-Mind Development in Oral Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants or Conventional Hearing Aids

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Candida C.

2004-01-01

Background: In the context of the established finding that theory-of-mind (ToM) growth is seriously delayed in late-signing deaf children, and some evidence of equivalent delays in those learning speech with conventional hearing aids, this study's novel contribution was to explore ToM development in deaf children with cochlear implants. Implants…

Adding sound to theory of mind: Comparing children's development of mental-state understanding in the auditory and visual realms.

PubMed

Hasni, Anita A; Adamson, Lauren B; Williamson, Rebecca A; Robins, Diana L

2017-12-01

Theory of mind (ToM) gradually develops during the preschool years. Measures of ToM usually target visual experience, but auditory experiences also provide valuable social information. Given differences between the visual and auditory modalities (e.g., sights persist, sounds fade) and the important role environmental input plays in social-cognitive development, we asked whether modality might influence the progression of ToM development. The current study expands Wellman and Liu's ToM scale (2004) by testing 66 preschoolers using five standard visual ToM tasks and five newly crafted auditory ToM tasks. Age and gender effects were found, with 4- and 5-year-olds demonstrating greater ToM abilities than 3-year-olds and girls passing more tasks than boys; there was no significant effect of modality. Both visual and auditory tasks formed a scalable set. These results indicate that there is considerable consistency in when children are able to use visual and auditory inputs to reason about various aspects of others' mental states. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Talking about others facilitates theory of mind in Chinese preschoolers.

PubMed

Lu, Huijing; Su, Yanjie; Wang, Qi

2008-11-01

A longitudinal study and a training study were conducted to show that simply referring to others facilitated theory of mind (ToM) development in Chinese children. In Study 1, 3- to 4-year-old Chinese children (N = 52) were tested on ToM and autobiographical memory (AM). One year later, in the group of children who initially failed the false belief tasks, only those who increased their references to others in AM recall passed the tasks. In Study 2, Chinese preschoolers who were trained to talk about others through storytelling showed improvement in their ToM performance. These findings suggest alternative pathways for ToM development in non-Euro-American context.

The relationship between theory of mind and the executive functions: Evidence from patients with frontal lobe damage.

PubMed

Yeh, Zai-Ting; Tsai, Ming-Cheng; Tsai, Ming-Dar; Lo, Chiao-Yu; Wang, Kaw-Chen

2017-01-01

"Theory of mind" (ToM) refers to the ability to predict others' thoughts, intentions, beliefs, and feelings. Evidence from neuropsychology and functional imaging indicates that ToM is a domain-specific or modular architecture; however, research in development psychology has suggested that ToM is the full development of the executive functions in individuals. Therefore, the relationship between ToM and the executive functions needs to be clarified. Since the frontal lobe plays a critical role in the abilities of ToM and the executive functions, patients with frontal lobe damage were recruited for the present study. Assessments of ToM and the executive functions were performed on 23 patients with frontal lobe damage and 20 healthy controls. When controlling for the executive functions, significant differences between the patient and normal groups were found in the affective component of ToM, but not in the cognitive component. The present study suggests that in various social situations, executing ToM abilities requires logical reasoning processes provided by the executive functions. However, the reasoning processes of affective ToM are independent of executive functions.

Theory of Mind and Executive Function in Chinese Preschool Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duh, Shinchieh; Paik, Jae H.; Miller, Patricia H.; Gluck, Stephanie C.; Li, Hui; Himelfarb, Igor

2016-01-01

Cross-cultural research on children's theory of mind (ToM) understanding has raised questions about its developmental sequence and relationship with executive function (EF). The current study examined how ToM develops (using the tasks from Wellman & Liu, 2004) in relation to 2 EF skills (conflict inhibition, working memory) in 997 Chinese…

Language Facility and Theory of Mind Development in Deaf Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, A. Lyn

2001-01-01

Deaf children with signing parents, nonnative signing deaf children, children from a hearing impaired unit, oral deaf children, and hearing controls were tested on theory of Mind (ToM) tasks and a British sign language receptive language test. Language ability correlated positively and significantly with ToM ability. Age underpinned the…

Development of Constructivist Theory of Mind from Middle Childhood to Early Adulthood and Its Relation to Social Cognition and Behavior

PubMed Central

Weimer, Amy A.; Parault Dowds, Susan J.; Fabricius, William V.; Schwanenflugel, Paula J.; Suh, Go Woon

2016-01-01

Two studies examined the development of constructivist theory of mind (ToM) during late childhood and early adolescence. In Study 1 a new measure was developed to assess participants’ understanding of the interpretive and constructive processes embedded in memory, comprehension, attention, comparison, planning, and inference. Using this measure, Study 2 tested a mediational model in which prosocial reasoning about conflict mediated the relation between constructivist ToM and behavior problems in high school. Results showed that the onset of constructivist ToM occurs between late childhood and early adolescence, and that adolescents who have more advanced constructivist ToM have more prosocial reasoning about conflict, which in turn mediated the relation with fewer serious behavior problems in high school, after controlling for academic performance and sex. In both studies, females showed more advanced constructivist ToM than males in high school. PMID:27821294

Ongoing neural development of affective theory of mind in adolescence.

PubMed

Vetter, Nora C; Weigelt, Sarah; Döhnel, Katrin; Smolka, Michael N; Kliegel, Matthias

2014-07-01

Affective Theory of Mind (ToM), an important aspect of ToM, involves the understanding of affective mental states. This ability is critical in the developmental phase of adolescence, which is often related with socio-emotional problems. Using a developmentally sensitive behavioral task in combination with functional magnetic resonance imaging, the present study investigated the neural development of affective ToM throughout adolescence. Eighteen adolescent (ages 12-14 years) and 18 young adult women (aged 19-25 years) were scanned while evaluating complex affective mental states depicted by actors in video clips. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) showed significantly stronger activation in adolescents in comparison to adults in the affective ToM condition. Current results indicate that the vmPFC might be involved in the development of affective ToM processing in adolescence. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Theory of mind and executive function in Chinese preschool children.

PubMed

Duh, Shinchieh; Paik, Jae H; Miller, Patricia H; Gluck, Stephanie C; Li, Hui; Himelfarb, Igor

2016-04-01

Cross-cultural research on children's theory of mind (ToM) understanding has raised questions about its developmental sequence and relationship with executive function (EF). The current study examined how ToM develops (using the tasks from Wellman & Liu, 2004) in relation to 2 EF skills (conflict inhibition, working memory) in 997 Chinese preschoolers (ages 3, 4, 5) in Chengdu, China. Compared with prior research with other Chinese and non-Chinese children, some general patterns in development were replicated in this sample. However, the children showed culture-specific reversals in the developmental sequence of ToM. For example, Chengdu children performed differently on the 2 false-belief tasks that were thought to be equivalent. Furthermore, conflict inhibition as well as working memory uniquely predicted ToM performance. We discuss the issues of ToM development as they relate to test items and cross-cultural--and subcultural--differences. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Theory-of-Mind Development and Early Sibling Relationships after the Birth of a Sibling: Parental Discipline Matters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Song, Ju-Hyun; Volling, Brenda L.

2018-01-01

This study investigated relations among children's Theory-of-Mind (ToM) development, early sibling interactions, and parental discipline strategies during the transition to siblinghood. Using a sample of firstborn children and their parents (N = 208), we assessed children's ToM before the birth of a sibling and 12 months after the birth, and…

Understanding minds: early cochlear implantation and the development of theory of mind in children with profound hearing impairment.

PubMed

Sundqvist, Annette; Lyxell, Björn; Jönsson, Radoslava; Heimann, Mikael

2014-03-01

The present study investigates how auditory stimulation from cochlear implants (CI) is associated with the development of Theory of Mind (ToM) in severely and profoundly hearing impaired children with hearing parents. Previous research has shown that deaf children of hearing parents have a delayed ToM development. This is, however, not always the case with deaf children of deaf parents, who presumably are immersed in a more vivid signing environment. Sixteen children with CI (4.25 to 9.5 years of age) were tested on measures of cognitive and emotional ToM, language and cognition. Eight of the children received their first implant relatively early (before 27 months) and half of them late (after 27 months). The two groups did not differ in age, gender, language or cognition at entry of the study. ToM tests included the unexpected location task and a newly developed Swedish social-emotional ToM test. The tests aimed to test both cognitive and emotional ToM. A comparison group of typically developing hearing age matched children was also added (n=18). Compared to the comparison group, the early CI-group did not differ in emotional ToM. The late CI-group differed significantly from the comparison group on both the cognitive and emotional ToM tests. The results revealed that children with early cochlear implants solved ToM problems to a significantly higher degree than children with late implants, although the groups did not differ on language or cognitive measures at baseline. The outcome suggests that early cochlear implantation for deaf children in hearing families, in conjunction with early social and communicative stimulation in a language that is native to the parents, can provide a foundation for a more normalized ToM development. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social neuroscience and theory of mind.

PubMed

Westby, Carol E

2014-01-01

The role of theory of mind (ToM) in autism spectrum disorders and other communication impairments has been an active area of research in the last 30 years. Advances in neuroimaging in the last 10 years have led to the rise of the field of social neuroscience, which has markedly increased the understanding of the neurophysiological/neuroanatomical and neurochemical nature of ToM functioning and deficits in typically developing individuals and in children and adults with a variety of social and communication impairments. The goal of this paper is to (a) describe the current concepts of ToM based on neuroscience research, and (b) present a framework for the dimensions of ToM that have been identified, which can be used to guide assessment and intervention for persons with deficits in ToM that affect social interactions. This article presents neuroscience research that has documented the neurophysiological/neuroanatomical bases for cognitive and affective ToM and interpersonal and intrapersonal ToM as well as neurochemical and epigenetic influences on ToM. This information provides an important framework for assessing ToM deficits in persons with social and communication impairments and developing interventions that target the specific dimensions of ToM deficits. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Comprehension of figurative language in Taiwanese children with autism: The role of theory of mind and receptive vocabulary.

PubMed

Huang, Su-Fen; Oi, Manabu; Taguchi, Aiko

2015-01-01

First-order theory of mind (ToM) is necessary for comprehension of metaphors, and second-order ToM is necessary for comprehension of irony. This study investigated the role of ToM and language ability in comprehending figurative language in 50 Taiwanese children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs) compared with 50 typically developing children. Results showed that the No-ToM HFASDs group performed worse than the first-order ToM HFASDs group and the second-order ToM HFASDs group in comprehension of metaphors, irony, sarcasm and indirect reproach, but not for indirect request. Receptive vocabulary correlated only with metaphor comprehension. The volatility of results seen among studies in terms of the relationship between ToM and figurative language comprehension is discussed.

Theory of mind and specific language impairment in school-age children.

PubMed

Spanoudis, George

2016-01-01

Research on the relationship between aspects of language development and Theory of Mind (ToM) in children with language impairments suggests that children with language impairment show a delay in ToM development. This study aimed to examine the relationships of the syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic skills with ToM in school-age children. Twenty children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) aged 9-12 years and two control groups, one matched for chronological age (CA) and one for language ability (LA) (aged 8-10 years) were compared on a set of language tasks tapping syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic skills and on an advanced test of ToM. Results showed that children with SLI performed poorly on the ToM task compared to the CA matches. Also, analysis showed that language skills and ToM are related and that syntactic and pragmatic abilities contributed significantly to the prediction of ToM performance in the SLI group. It is concluded that the syntax/pragmatic aspects of the language impact on ToM understanding in children with SLI. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Relations among Theory of Mind, Behavioral Inhibition, and Peer Interactions in Early Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suway, Jenna G.; Degnan, Kathryn A.; Sussman, Amy L.; Fox, Nathan A.

2012-01-01

The current study examined relations among child temperament, peer interaction, and theory of mind (ToM) development. We hypothesized that: (1) children classified as behaviorally inhibited at 24 months would show less ToM understanding at 36 months in comparison to nonbehaviorally inhibited children; (2) children who displayed negative peer…

Play and Theory of Mind in Early Childhood: A Hong Kong Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Zhenlin; Wong, Richard Kwok Shing; Wong, Paul Yau Ho; Ho, Fuk Chuen; Cheng, Doris Pui Wah

2017-01-01

The study seeks to understand the relation between preschool children's mode of participation and negotiation strategies during play and their theory of mind (ToM) development in the Hong Kong context. Forty-two 5-year-old children were recruited. Their emotional and cognitive ToMs were assessed along with expressive language ability. Children's…

The Effects of Theory of Mind Training on the False Belief Understanding of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students in Prekindergarten and Kindergarten

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tucci, Stacey L.; Easterbrooks, Susan R.; Lederberg, Amy R.

2016-01-01

Data from a growing number of research studies indicate that children with hearing loss are delayed in Theory of Mind (ToM) development when compared to their typically developing, hearing peers. While other researchers have studied the developmental trajectories of ToM in school-age students who are deaf, a limited number have addressed the need…

From the External to the Internal: Behavior Clarifications Facilitate Theory of Mind (ToM) Development in Chinese Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Yanchun; Wang, Yijie; Luo, Rufan; Su, Yanjie

2016-01-01

The present study investigated how Chinese children develop theory of mind (ToM) in a language environment with limited mental state talk that is rich in behavior discourse. In Study 1, 60 mothers shared a wordless storybook with their 3-4-year-olds. The children completed two false-belief tasks and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised at…

Theory of Mind Predicts Emotion Knowledge Development in Head Start Children

PubMed Central

Seidenfeld, Adina M.; Johnson, Stacy R.; Cavadel, Elizabeth Woodburn; Izard, Carroll E.

2014-01-01

Research Findings Emotion knowledge (EK) enables children to identify emotions in themselves and others and its development facilitates emotion recognition in complex social situations. Social-cognitive processes, such as theory of mind (ToM), may contribute to developing EK by helping children realize the inherent variability associated with emotion expression across individuals and situations. The present study explored how ToM, particularly false belief understanding, in preschool predicts children’s developing EK in kindergarten. Participants were 60 3- to 5-year-old Head Start children. ToM and EK measures were obtained from standardized child tasks. ToM scores were positively related to performance on an EK task in kindergarten after controlling for preschool levels of EK and verbal ability. Exploratory analyses provided preliminary evidence that ToM serves as an indirect effect between verbal ability and EK. Practice or Policy Early intervention programs may benefit from including lessons on ToM to help promote socio-emotional learning, specifically EK. This consideration may be the most fruitful when the targeted population is at-risk. PMID:25364212

Culture and the sequence of steps in theory of mind development.

PubMed

Shahaeian, Ameneh; Peterson, Candida C; Slaughter, Virginia; Wellman, Henry M

2011-09-01

To examine cultural contrasts in the ordered sequence of conceptual developments leading to theory of mind (ToM), we compared 135 3- to 6-year-olds (77 Australians; 58 Iranians) on an established 5-step ToM scale (Wellman & Liu, 2004). There was a cross-cultural difference in the sequencing of ToM steps but not in overall rates of ToM mastery. In line with our predictions, the children from Iran conformed to a distinctive sequence previously observed only in children in China. In contrast to the case with children from Australia (and the United States), knowledge access was understood earlier than opinion diversity in children from Iran, consistent with this collectivist culture's emphasis on filial respect, dispute avoidance, and acquiring knowledge. Having a sibling was linked with faster overall ToM progress in Australia only and was not related to scale sequences in either culture.

The Effects of Theory of Mind Training on the False Belief Understanding of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students in Prekindergarten and Kindergarten.

PubMed

Tucci, Stacey L; Easterbrooks, Susan R; Lederberg, Amy R

2016-07-01

Data from a growing number of research studies indicate that children with hearing loss are delayed in Theory of Mind (ToM) development when compared to their typically developing, hearing peers. While other researchers have studied the developmental trajectories of ToM in school-age students who are deaf, a limited number have addressed the need for interventions for this population. The present study extends the current research on ToM interventions to the Prekindergarten and Kindergarten levels. This study used a single-case multiple baseline design to examine the effects of a ToM intervention on participants' false belief understanding as well as outcomes on a near generalization measure and a far generalization measure. A ToM thought bubble intervention (i.e., a visual representation of what people are thinking) developed by Wellman and Peterson (2013 Deafness, thought bubbles, and theory-of-mind development. Developmental Psychology, 49, 2357-2367) was modified in key areas. Results from the Single-Case Design portion of the study indicate a functional, or causal, relation between the ToM intervention and the participants' acquisition of the targeted skills in each stage although progress was not uniform. Results from the pre-post assessments indicate that the children did make progress up the scale. These results inform the field in regard to the efficacy and feasibility of a ToM intervention for young deaf children. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Social cognition: empirical contribution. The developmental building blocks of psychopathic traits: revisiting the role of theory of mind.

PubMed

Sharp, Carla; Vanwoerden, Salome

2014-02-01

In the context of personality disorder development, theories of typical and atypical development both emphasize social cognition as an important building block for personality development. Prior claims of intact theory of mind (ToM) abilities in psychopathic individuals have relied upon a narrow conception of ToM as equivalent to "cognitive empathy." In this article, the authors make use of a broader conception of ToM comprising top-down and bottom-up processing, as well as the fractionation of ToM in terms of reduced or excessive ToM function, to examine relationships between ToM and psychopathic traits. A total of 342 adolescents (ages 12-17; Mage 15.39; SD = 1.45; 61.5% females) completed the Movie Assessment for Social Cognition (Dziobek, Fleck, Kalbe, et al., 2006) and the Child Eyes Test (Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Hill, Raste, & Plumb, 2001) in addition to three measures of psychopathic traits. Results demonstrated unique relations between the affective components of psychopathy (callous-unemotional traits [CU traits]) and impairment in both top-down and bottom-up ToM. In addition, excessive ToM related to affective components of psychopathy, while reduced or no ToM related to behavioral components of psychopathy. In mediational analyses, bottom-up ToM was shown to be necessary for top-town ToM in its relation with CU traits. Taken together, these results from the study lend support to revisiting the link between ToM and psychopathy.

Training children's theory-of-mind: A meta-analysis of controlled studies.

PubMed

Hofmann, Stefan G; Doan, Stacey N; Sprung, Manuel; Wilson, Anne; Ebesutani, Chad; Andrews, Leigh A; Curtiss, Joshua; Harris, Paul L

2016-05-01

Theory-of-mind (ToM) refers to knowledge and awareness of mental states in oneself and others. Various training programs have been developed to improve ToM in children. In the present study, we conducted a quantitative review of ToM training programs that have been tested in controlled studies. A literature search was conducted using PubMed, PsycInfo, the Cochrane Library, and manual searches. We identified 32 papers with 45 studies or experiments that included 1529 children with an average age of 63 months (SD=28.7). ToM training procedures were more effective than control procedures and their aggregate effect size was moderately strong (Hedges' g=0.75, CI=0.60-0.89, p<.001). Moderator analyses revealed that although ToM training programs were generally effective, ToM skill-related outcomes increased with length of training sessions and were significantly higher in active control studies. ToM training procedures can effectively enhance ToM in children. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Training children's theory-of-mind: A meta-analysis of controlled studies

PubMed Central

Hofmann, Stefan; Doan, Stacey N.; Sprung, Manuel; Wilson, Anne; Ebesutani, Chad; Andrews, Leigh; Curtiss, Joshua; Harris, Paul L.

2016-01-01

Background Theory-of-mind (ToM) refers to knowledge and awareness of mental states in oneself and others. Various training programs have been developed to improve ToM in children. Objectives In the present study, we conducted a quantitative review of ToM training programs that have been tested in controlled studies. DATA SOURCES: A literature search was conducted using PubMed, PsycInfo, the Cochrane Library, and manual searches. Review Methods We identified 32 papers with 45 studies or experiments that included1529 children with an average age of 63 months (SD= 28.7). Results ToM training procedures were more effective than control procedures and their aggregate effect size was moderately strong (Hedges'g = 0.75, CI = 0.60 - 0.894, p<.001). Moderator analyses revealed that although ToM training programs were generally effective, ToM skill-related outcomes increased with length of training sessions and were significantly higher in active control studies. Conclusion ToM training procedures can effectively enhance ToM in children. PMID:26901235

Environmental Language Factors in Theory of Mind Development: Evidence from Children Who Are Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing or Who Have Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stanzione, Christopher; Schick, Brenda

2014-01-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) is a foundational skill related to understanding the thoughts, beliefs, and desires of oneself and others. There are child factors that play an important role in the development of ToM (e.g., language and vocabulary) as well as environmental factors (e.g., conversations among family members and socioeconomic status). In this…

Theory of Mind and Emotion Understanding Predict Moral Development in Early Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Jonathan D.; Wellman, Henry M.; Olson, Sheryl L.; LaBounty, Jennifer; Kerr, David C. R.

2010-01-01

The current study utilized longitudinal data to investigate how theory of mind (ToM) and emotion understanding (EU) concurrently and prospectively predicted young children's moral reasoning and decision making. One hundred twenty-eight children were assessed on measures of ToM and EU at 3.5 and 5.5 years of age. At 5.5 years, children were also…

Complement Syntax, Mental Verbs, and Theory of Mind in Children Who Are Deaf

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keddington, Holly B.

2013-01-01

The present study was conducted in three parts. Each part analyzed theory of mind (ToM) development in children who are deaf in relation to mental verb and complement syntax understanding. In the first part, participants were given a series of tests for the purpose of correlational analysis of ToM, mental verb understanding, and memory for…

Empathy and Theory of Mind in Deaf and Hearing Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Candida C.

2016-01-01

Empathy (or sharing another's emotion) and theory of mind (ToM: the understanding that behavior is guided by true and false beliefs) are cornerstones of human social life and relationships. In contrast to ToM, there has been little study of empathy's development, especially in deaf children. Two studies of a total of 117 children (52 hearing; 65…

The Role of Theory of Mind on Social Information Processing in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Mediation Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mazza, Monica; Mariano, Melania; Peretti, Sara; Masedu, Francesco; Pino, Maria Chiara; Valenti, Marco

2017-01-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) show significant impairments in social skills and theory of mind (ToM). The aim of this study was to evaluate ToM and social information processing abilities in 52 children with ASD compared to 55 typically developing (TD) children. A mediation analysis evaluated whether social information…

The More the Merrier? Sibling Composition and Early Manifestations of Theory of Mind in Toddlers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leblanc, Élizabel; Bernier, Annie; Howe, Nina

2017-01-01

Sibling relationships are argued to offer a rich social context for the development of young children's theory of mind (ToM). There is evidence that the presence of siblings, particularly older siblings, may promote preschoolers' ToM, but it has not been investigated among toddlers. This study evaluated differences in early manifestations of ToM…

Development of constructivist theory of mind from middle childhood to early adulthood and its relation to social cognition and behavior.

PubMed

Weimer, Amy A; Parault Dowds, Susan J; Fabricius, William V; Schwanenflugel, Paula J; Suh, Go Woon

2017-02-01

Two studies examined the development of constructivist theory of mind (ToM) during late childhood and early adolescence. In Study 1, a new measure was developed to assess participants' understanding of the interpretive and constructive processes embedded in memory, comprehension, attention, comparison, planning, and inference. Using this measure, Study 2 tested a mediational model in which prosocial reasoning about conflict mediated the relation between constructivist ToM and behavior problems in high school. Results showed that the onset of constructivist ToM occurs between late childhood and early adolescence and that adolescents who have more advanced constructivist ToM have more prosocial reasoning about conflict, which in turn mediated the relation with fewer serious behavior problems in high school, after controlling for academic performance and sex. In both studies, girls showed more advanced constructivist ToM than boys in high school. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Does theory of mind performance differ in children with early-onset and regressive autism?

PubMed

Matthews, Nicole L; Goldberg, Wendy A; Lukowski, Angela F; Osann, Kathryn; Abdullah, Maryam M; Ly, Agnes R; Thorsen, Kara; Spence, M Anne

2012-01-01

A deficit in theory of mind (ToM), or the ability to infer the mental states of others, has been implicated as one of the major characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); however, little attention has been devoted to possible differences in ToM ability within ASD. The current study examined ToM performance in children with early-onset autism and regressive autism in comparison to typically developing children. Results indicated that children in the regressive autism group performed significantly better than the early-onset autism group on the non-verbal appearance-reality task. Additionally, Fisher's exact tests indicated a pattern of lowest scores in the early-onset group and highest scores in the typically developing group, whereas the regressive autism group tended to score in between the early-onset and typically developing groups. The apparent heterogeneity in ToM performance within ASD could account for the lack of universality in ToM ability found in previous studies. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

A Developmental Perspective for Promoting Theory of Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Westby, Carol; Robinson, Lee

2014-01-01

Social neuroscience research has resulted in changing views of the theory of mind (ToM) construct. Theory of mind is no longer viewed as a unitary construct, but rather as a multidimensional construct comprising cognitive and affective ToM and interpersonal and intrapersonal ToM, each of which has differing neurophysiological/neuroanatomical…

Simple Mindreading Abilities Predict Complex Theory of Mind: Developmental Delay in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

PubMed

Pino, Maria Chiara; Mazza, Monica; Mariano, Melania; Peretti, Sara; Dimitriou, Dagmara; Masedu, Francesco; Valenti, Marco; Franco, Fabia

2017-09-01

Theory of mind (ToM) is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The aims of this study were to: (i) examine the developmental trajectories of ToM abilities in two different mentalizing tasks in children with ASD compared to TD children; and (ii) to assess if a ToM simple test known as eyes-test could predict performance on the more advanced ToM task, i.e. comic strip test. Based on a sample of 37 children with ASD and 55 TD children, our results revealed slower development at varying rates in all ToM measures in children with ASD, with delayed onset compared to TD children. These results could stimulate new treatments for social abilities, which would lessen the social deficit in ASD.

Non-linearities in Theory-of-Mind Development.

PubMed

Blijd-Hoogewys, Els M A; van Geert, Paul L C

2016-01-01

Research on Theory-of-Mind (ToM) has mainly focused on ages of core ToM development. This article follows a quantitative approach focusing on the level of ToM understanding on a measurement scale, the ToM Storybooks, in 324 typically developing children between 3 and 11 years of age. It deals with the eventual occurrence of developmental non-linearities in ToM functioning, using smoothing techniques, dynamic growth model building and additional indicators, namely moving skewness, moving growth rate changes and moving variability. The ToM sum-scores showed an overall developmental trend that leveled off toward the age of 10 years. Within this overall trend two non-linearities in the group-based change pattern were found: a plateau at the age of around 56 months and a dip at the age of 72-78 months. These temporary regressions in ToM sum-score were accompanied by a decrease in growth rate and variability, and a change in skewness of the ToM data, all suggesting a developmental shift in ToM understanding. The temporary decreases also occurred in the different ToM sub-scores and most clearly so in the core ToM component of beliefs. It was also found that girls had an earlier growth spurt than boys and that the underlying developmental path was more salient in girls than in boys. The consequences of these findings are discussed from various theoretical points of view, with an emphasis on a dynamic systems interpretation of the underlying developmental paths.

Non-linearities in Theory-of-Mind Development

PubMed Central

Blijd-Hoogewys, Els M. A.; van Geert, Paul L. C.

2017-01-01

Research on Theory-of-Mind (ToM) has mainly focused on ages of core ToM development. This article follows a quantitative approach focusing on the level of ToM understanding on a measurement scale, the ToM Storybooks, in 324 typically developing children between 3 and 11 years of age. It deals with the eventual occurrence of developmental non-linearities in ToM functioning, using smoothing techniques, dynamic growth model building and additional indicators, namely moving skewness, moving growth rate changes and moving variability. The ToM sum-scores showed an overall developmental trend that leveled off toward the age of 10 years. Within this overall trend two non-linearities in the group-based change pattern were found: a plateau at the age of around 56 months and a dip at the age of 72–78 months. These temporary regressions in ToM sum-score were accompanied by a decrease in growth rate and variability, and a change in skewness of the ToM data, all suggesting a developmental shift in ToM understanding. The temporary decreases also occurred in the different ToM sub-scores and most clearly so in the core ToM component of beliefs. It was also found that girls had an earlier growth spurt than boys and that the underlying developmental path was more salient in girls than in boys. The consequences of these findings are discussed from various theoretical points of view, with an emphasis on a dynamic systems interpretation of the underlying developmental paths. PMID:28101065

Development of the social brain from age three to twelve years.

PubMed

Richardson, Hilary; Lisandrelli, Grace; Riobueno-Naylor, Alexa; Saxe, Rebecca

2018-03-12

Human adults recruit distinct networks of brain regions to think about the bodies and minds of others. This study characterizes the development of these networks, and tests for relationships between neural development and behavioral changes in reasoning about others' minds ('theory of mind', ToM). A large sample of children (n = 122, 3-12 years), and adults (n = 33), watched a short movie while undergoing fMRI. The movie highlights the characters' bodily sensations (often pain) and mental states (beliefs, desires, emotions), and is a feasible experiment for young children. Here we report three main findings: (1) ToM and pain networks are functionally distinct by age 3 years, (2) functional specialization increases throughout childhood, and (3) functional maturity of each network is related to increasingly anti-correlated responses between the networks. Furthermore, the most studied milestone in ToM development, passing explicit false-belief tasks, does not correspond to discontinuities in the development of the social brain.

From Fancy to Reason: Scaling Deaf and Hearing Children's Understanding of Theory of Mind and Pretence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Candida C.; Wellman, Henry M.

2009-01-01

We examined deaf and hearing children's progression of steps in theory of mind (ToM) development including their understanding of social pretending. Ninety-three children (33 deaf; 60 hearing) aged 3-13 years were tested on a set of six closely matched ToM tasks. Results showed that deaf children were delayed substantially behind hearing children…

The Impact of Early and Late Damage to the Human Amygdala on "Theory of Mind" Reasoning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaw, P.; Lawrence, E. J.; Radbourne, C.; Bramham, J.; Polkey, C. E.; David, A. S.

2004-01-01

There is a burgeoning interest in the neural basis of the ability to attribute mental states to others; a capacity referred to as "theory of mind" (ToM). We examined the effects of lesions of the amygdala which arise at different stages of development on this key aspect of social cognition. Tests of ToM, executive and general neuropsychological…

Relations between the Development of Teaching and Theory of Mind in Early Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ziv, Margalit; Solomon, Ayelet; Strauss, Sidney; Frye, Douglas

2016-01-01

The relations among children's theory of mind (ToM), their understanding of the intentionality of teaching, and their own peer teaching strategies were tested. Seventy-five 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds completed 11 ToM and understanding-of-teaching tasks. Subsequently, 30 of the children were randomly chosen to teach a peer how to play a board game,…

Mental Playmates: Siblings, Executive Functioning and Theory of Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAlister, Anna; Peterson, Candida C.

2006-01-01

This study assessed the theory of mind (ToM) and executive functioning (EF) abilities of 124 typically developing preschool children aged 3 to 5 years in relation to whether or not they had a child-aged sibling (i.e. a child aged 1 to 12 years) at home with whom to play and converse. On a ToM battery that included tests of false belief,…

Which Are the Best Predictors of Theory of Mind Delay in Children with Specific Language Impairment?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrés-Roqueta, Clara; Adrian, Juan E.; Clemente, Rosa A.; Katsos, Napoleon

2013-01-01

Background: The relationship between language and theory of mind (ToM) development in participants with specific language impairment (SLI) it is far from clear due to there were differences in study design and methodologies of previous studies. Aims: This research consisted of an in-depth investigation of ToM delay in children with SLI during the…

Assessing Deictic Relational Responding in Social Anhedonia: A Functional Approach to the Development of Theory of Mind Impairments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Villatte, Matthieu; Monestes, Jean-Louis; McHugh, Louise; Freixa i Baque, Esteve; Loas, Gwenole; Loas, Amiens

2008-01-01

The current study aimed to compare deictic relational responding and Theory of Mind (ToM) performances in 60 non-clinical young adults with a profile of high versus low social anhedonia in order to investigate a possible link between social anhedonia and ToM functioning. The results indicated that social anhedonic participants were less accurate…

A teacher-centered exploration of the relevance of social factors to theory of mind development.

PubMed

Wright, Barlow C; Mahfoud, Janina

2014-02-01

Many accounts of children's Theory of Mind (ToM) development favor a cognitive explanation, for example, in terms of mental representational improvements at or before 4 years. Here, we investigated whether social factors as rated by a child's teacher, are related to ToM development. We tested 82 children of 3-6 years on each of four ToM tasks, and their class teacher completed a social questionnaire about each child's playing behavior, sharing, talkativeness, confidence, aggressiveness and outgoingness. A measure of task memory and the child's gender were also recorded. Here, children generally passed ToM tasks after 5 years-old, but no one gender performed reliably better than the other. Teacher-rated confidence and playing behavior were correlated to ToM. But in a regression analysis, these were replaced by teacher-rated talkativeness; with age and memory given primacy in both sets of analyses. It is concluded that maturation and cognitive factors may well have primacy but social factors, facilitated during early primary education, must also be given a role in ToM development. © 2013 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Siblings, theory of mind, and executive functioning in children aged 3-6 years: new longitudinal evidence.

PubMed

McAlister, Anna R; Peterson, Candida C

2013-01-01

Longitudinal data were obtained from 157 children aged 3 years 3 months to 5 years 6 months at Time 1. At Time 2 these children had aged an average of 12 months. Theory of mind (ToM) and executive functioning (EF) were measured at both time points. Results suggest that Time 1 ToM scores predict Time 2 EF scores. Detailed examination of sibling influences suggests that benefits-in terms of advanced ToM development-accrue to children with siblings versus without, and to those with a larger number of child-aged siblings. Any advance in either area (ToM or EF) is likely to benefit the other, and early sibling interaction appears to act as a catalyst. © 2012 The Authors. Child Development © 2012 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Executive Function Mechanisms of Theory of Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmed, Fayeza S.; Miller, L. Stephen

2011-01-01

This study examined the relationship between Executive Function (EF) and Theory of Mind (ToM) using the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) and three tests of ToM (Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET), Strange Stories test, and Faux Pas test). Separate regression analyses were conducted, and EF predictors varied by ToM test. No EF…

Using the Theory of Mind Inventory to Detect a Broad Range of Theory of Mind Challenges in Children with Hearing Loss: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hutchins, Tiffany L.; Allen, Lyndsey; Schefer, Maggie

2017-01-01

Traditional child-performance measures of theory of mind (ToM) are associated with several limitations. The Theory of Mind Inventory-2 (ToMI-2) is a new broadband caregiver-informant measure designed to tap children's ToM competence. The purposes of this pilot study were to (1) gather preliminary data to explore the scope of the ToM challenges…

Transcultural differences in brain activation patterns during theory of mind (ToM) task performance in Japanese and Caucasian participants.

PubMed

Koelkebeck, Katja; Hirao, Kazuyuki; Kawada, Ryousaku; Miyata, Jun; Saze, Teruyasu; Ubukata, Shiho; Itakura, Shoji; Kanakogi, Yasuhiro; Ohrmann, Patricia; Bauer, Jochen; Pedersen, Anya; Sawamoto, Nobukatsu; Fukuyama, Hidenao; Takahashi, Hidehiko; Murai, Toshiya

2011-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) functioning develops during certain phases of childhood. Factors such as language development and educational style seem to influence its development. Some studies that have focused on transcultural aspects of ToM development have found differences between Asian and Western cultures. To date, however, little is known about transcultural differences in neural activation patterns as they relate to ToM functioning. The aim of our study was to observe ToM functioning and differences in brain activation patterns, as assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This study included a sample of 18 healthy Japanese and 15 healthy Caucasian subjects living in Japan. We presented a ToM task depicting geometrical shapes moving in social patterns. We also administered questionnaires to examine empathy abilities and cultural background factors. Behavioral data showed no significant group differences in the subjects' post-scan descriptions of the movies. The imaging results displayed stronger activation in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) in the Caucasian sample during the presentation of ToM videos. Furthermore, the task-associated activation of the MPFC was positively correlated with autistic and alexithymic features in the Japanese sample. In summary, our results showed evidence of culturally dependent sociobehavioral trait patterns, which suggests that they have an impact on brain activation patterns during information processing involving ToM.

Sibling influences on theory of mind development for children with ASD.

PubMed

O'Brien, Karen; Slaughter, Virginia; Peterson, Candida C

2011-06-01

Research indicates that having child siblings is positively associated with theory of mind (ToM) in typically developing children. As ToM is important to everyday social behaviours it is important to extend this research to examine whether there are similar sibling effects for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Theory of mind and executive functioning abilities of 60 children clinically diagnosed with ASD were assessed with batteries of standard tasks. Verbal mental age (VMA) and severity of autism symptoms were also measured together with number of child-aged siblings (1 to 12 years) and position in the sibling constellation. Having older siblings was a significant negative predictor of ToM performance for children with ASD, even after controlling for age, VMA, executive function and autism symptom severity. A weaker ToM benefit of younger siblings was not statistically significant independently of control variables. In sharp contrast to findings for typically developing preschoolers, having an older sibling was a disadvantage for ToM development in children with ASD. Conceivably, older siblings may over-compensate for their younger ASD siblings in social interactions, thereby limiting opportunities for social-cognitive growth. Parental attitudes, family resources, cultural norms and access to educational interventions may also conceivably be relevant and clearly warrant further research. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2011 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Theory of mind abilities in young siblings of children with autism.

PubMed

Shaked, Michal; Gamliel, Ifat; Yirmiya, Nurit

2006-03-01

Deficits in theory of mind (ToM), evident in most individuals with autism, have been suggested as a core deficit of autism. ToM difficulties in young siblings of children with autism (SIBS-A) compared to siblings of typically developing children (SIBS-TD) would place the former within the broad phenotype. We examined ToM's possible associations with measures of language, cognition, and daily living skills. Participants comprised 24 SIBS-A and 24 matched SIBSTD aged 4.6 years. They completed the false belief and the strange stories tasks. We also collected measures of verbal and cognitive ability and daily living skills. Non-significant differences emerged between the groups on both ToM tasks. Differences did emerge in within-group associations between ToM ability and receptive language. The conclusion is that SIBS-A show resilience in ToM abilities. Possibly, these deficits are not genetically transferred to siblings, at least as measured in laboratory-based ToM tasks.

Gene-environment interaction between the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene and parenting behaviour on children's theory of mind.

PubMed

Wade, Mark; Hoffmann, Thomas J; Jenkins, Jennifer M

2015-12-01

Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to interpret and understand human behaviour by representing the mental states of others. Like many human capacities, ToM is thought to develop through both complex biological and socialization mechanisms. However, no study has examined the joint effect of genetic and environmental influences on ToM. This study examined how variability in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) and parenting behavior--two widely studied factors in ToM development-interacted to predict ToM in pre-school-aged children. Participants were 301 children who were part of an ongoing longitudinal birth cohort study. ToM was assessed at age 4.5 using a previously validated scale. Parenting was assessed through observations of mothers' cognitively sensitive behaviours. Using a family-based association design, it was suggestive that a particular variant (rs11131149) interacted with maternal cognitive sensitivity on children's ToM (P = 0.019). More copies of the major allele were associated with higher ToM as a function of increasing cognitive sensitivity. A sizeable 26% of the variability in ToM was accounted for by this interaction. This study provides the first empirical evidence of gene-environment interactions on ToM, supporting the notion that genetic factors may be modulated by potent environmental influences early in development. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Everyday social and conversation applications of theory-of-mind understanding by children with autism-spectrum disorders or typical development.

PubMed

Peterson, Candida C; Garnett, Michelle; Kelly, Adrian; Attwood, Tony

2009-02-01

Children with autism-spectrum disorders (ASD) often fail laboratory false-belief tests of theory of mind (ToM). Yet how this impacts on their everyday social behavior is less clear, partly owing to uncertainty over which specific everyday conversational and social skills require ToM understanding. A new caregiver-report scale of these everyday applications of ToM was developed and validated in two studies. Study 1 obtained parent ratings of 339 children (85 with autism; 230 with Asperger's; 24 typically-developing) on the new scale and results revealed (a) that the scale had good psychometric properties and (b) that children with ASD had significantly more everyday mindreading difficulties than typical developers. In Study 2, we directly tested links between laboratory ToM and everyday mindreading using teacher ratings on the new scale. The sample of 25 children included 15 with autism and 10 typical developers aged 5-12 years. Children in both groups who passed laboratory ToM tests had fewer everyday mindreading difficulties than those of the same diagnosis who failed. Yet, intriguingly, autistic ToM-passers still had more problems with everyday mindreading than younger typically-developing ToM-failers. The possible roles of family conversation and peer interaction, along with ToM, in everyday social functioning were considered.

Theory of mind training causes honest young children to lie

PubMed Central

Ding, Xiao Pan; Wellman, Henry; Wang, Yu; Fu, Genyue; Lee, Kang

2015-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) has long been recognized to play a major role in children’s social functioning. However, no direct evidence confirms the causal linkage between the two. Here we addressed this significant gap by examining whether ToM causes the emergence of lying, an important social skill. We showed that after participating in ToM training to learn about mental state concepts, 3-year-olds who originally had been unable to lie began to deceive consistently. This training effect lasted for more than a month. In contrast, 3-year-olds who participated in control training to learn about physical concepts were significantly less inclined to lie than the ToM trained children. These findings provide the first experimental evidence supporting the causal role of ToM in the development of social competence in early childhood. PMID:26431737

The Children's Social Understanding Scale: construction and validation of a parent-report measure for assessing individual differences in children's theories of mind.

PubMed

Tahiroglu, Deniz; Moses, Louis J; Carlson, Stephanie M; Mahy, Caitlin E V; Olofson, Eric L; Sabbagh, Mark A

2014-11-01

Children's theory of mind (ToM) is typically measured with laboratory assessments of performance. Although these measures have generated a wealth of informative data concerning developmental progressions in ToM, they may be less useful as the sole source of information about individual differences in ToM and their relation to other facets of development. In the current research, we aimed to expand the repertoire of methods available for measuring ToM by developing and validating a parent-report ToM measure: the Children's Social Understanding Scale (CSUS). We present 3 studies assessing the psychometric properties of the CSUS. Study 1 describes item analysis, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and relation of the scale to children's performance on laboratory ToM tasks. Study 2 presents cross-validation data for the scale in a different sample of preschool children with a different set of ToM tasks. Study 3 presents further validation data for the scale with a slightly older age group and a more advanced ToM task, while controlling for several other relevant cognitive abilities. The findings indicate that the CSUS is a reliable and valid measure of individual differences in children's ToM that may be of great value as a complement to standard ToM tasks in many different research contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Gene–environment interaction between the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene and parenting behaviour on children’s theory of mind

PubMed Central

Wade, Mark; Hoffmann, Thomas J.; Jenkins, Jennifer M.

2015-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to interpret and understand human behaviour by representing the mental states of others. Like many human capacities, ToM is thought to develop through both complex biological and socialization mechanisms. However, no study has examined the joint effect of genetic and environmental influences on ToM. This study examined how variability in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) and parenting behaviour—two widely studied factors in ToM development—interacted to predict ToM in pre-school-aged children. Participants were 301 children who were part of an ongoing longitudinal birth cohort study. ToM was assessed at age 4.5 using a previously validated scale. Parenting was assessed through observations of mothers’ cognitively sensitive behaviours. Using a family-based association design, it was suggestive that a particular variant (rs11131149) interacted with maternal cognitive sensitivity on children’s ToM (P = 0.019). More copies of the major allele were associated with higher ToM as a function of increasing cognitive sensitivity. A sizeable 26% of the variability in ToM was accounted for by this interaction. This study provides the first empirical evidence of gene–environment interactions on ToM, supporting the notion that genetic factors may be modulated by potent environmental influences early in development. PMID:25977357

Are Infants' Theory-of-Mind Abilities Well Integrated? Implicit Understanding of Intentions, Desires, and Beliefs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yott, Jessica; Poulin-Dubois, Diane

2016-01-01

The development of theory of mind (ToM) in infancy has been mainly documented through studies conducted on a single age group with a single task. Very few studies have examined ToM abilities other than false belief, and very few studies have used a within-subjects design. During 2 testing sessions, infants aged 14 and 18 months old were…

A Longitudinal Study of Child Siblings and Theory of Mind Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAlister, Anna; Peterson, Candida

2007-01-01

This study tested a sample of 63 children twice in a longitudinal design over 14 months to examine their theory-of-mind (ToM) understanding in relation to their number of child-aged siblings (1-12 years). Age-appropriate batteries of ToM tests emphasising false belief were given at the start of the study, when children had a mean age of 4-2…

Assessing Advanced Theory of Mind in Children and Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism: The Spanish Version of the "Stories of Everyday Life"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lera-Miguel, Sara; Rosa, Mireia; Puig, Olga; Kaland, Nils; Lázaro, Luisa; Castro-Formieles, Josefina; Calvo, Rosa

2016-01-01

Most individuals with autism spectrum disorders often fail in tasks of theory of mind (ToM). However, those with normal intellectual functioning known as high functioning ASD (HF-ASD) sometimes succeed in mentalizing inferences. Some tools have been developed to more accurately test their ToM abilities. The aims of this study were to examine the…

Reliability and validity of advanced theory-of-mind measures in middle childhood and adolescence.

PubMed

Hayward, Elizabeth O; Homer, Bruce D

2017-09-01

Although theory-of-mind (ToM) development is well documented for early childhood, there is increasing research investigating changes in ToM reasoning in middle childhood and adolescence. However, the psychometric properties of most advanced ToM measures for use with older children and adolescents have not been firmly established. We report on the reliability and validity of widely used, conventional measures of advanced ToM with this age group. Notable issues with both reliability and validity of several of the measures were evident in the findings. With regard to construct validity, results do not reveal a clear empirical commonality between tasks, and, after accounting for comprehension, developmental trends were evident in only one of the tasks investigated. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Second-order false belief tasks have acceptable internal consistency. The Eyes Test has poor internal consistency. Validity of advanced theory-of-mind tasks is often based on the ability to distinguish clinical from typical groups. What does this study add? This study examines internal consistency across six widely used advanced theory-of-mind tasks. It investigates validity of tasks based on comprehension of items by typically developing individuals. It further assesses construct validity, or commonality between tasks. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Theory of Mind and Reading Comprehension in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Signing Children

PubMed Central

Holmer, Emil; Heimann, Mikael; Rudner, Mary

2016-01-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) is related to reading comprehension in hearing children. In the present study, we investigated progression in ToM in Swedish deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) signing children who were learning to read, as well as the association of ToM with reading comprehension. Thirteen children at Swedish state primary schools for DHH children performed a Swedish Sign Language (SSL) version of the Wellman and Liu (2004) ToM scale, along with tests of reading comprehension, SSL comprehension, and working memory. Results indicated that ToM progression did not differ from that reported in previous studies, although ToM development was delayed despite age-appropriate sign language skills. Correlation analysis revealed that ToM was associated with reading comprehension and working memory, but not sign language comprehension. We propose that some factor not investigated in the present study, possibly represented by inference making constrained by working memory capacity, supports both ToM and reading comprehension and may thus explain the results observed in the present study. PMID:27375532

Theory of Mind and Reading Comprehension in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Signing Children.

PubMed

Holmer, Emil; Heimann, Mikael; Rudner, Mary

2016-01-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) is related to reading comprehension in hearing children. In the present study, we investigated progression in ToM in Swedish deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) signing children who were learning to read, as well as the association of ToM with reading comprehension. Thirteen children at Swedish state primary schools for DHH children performed a Swedish Sign Language (SSL) version of the Wellman and Liu (2004) ToM scale, along with tests of reading comprehension, SSL comprehension, and working memory. Results indicated that ToM progression did not differ from that reported in previous studies, although ToM development was delayed despite age-appropriate sign language skills. Correlation analysis revealed that ToM was associated with reading comprehension and working memory, but not sign language comprehension. We propose that some factor not investigated in the present study, possibly represented by inference making constrained by working memory capacity, supports both ToM and reading comprehension and may thus explain the results observed in the present study.

Developmental trends of hot and cool executive function in school-aged children with and without autism spectrum disorder: Links with theory of mind.

PubMed

Kouklari, Evangelia-Chrysanthi; Tsermentseli, Stella; Monks, Claire P

2018-03-26

The development of executive function (EF) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been investigated using only "cool"-cognitive EF tasks while there is limited knowledge regarding the development of "hot"-affective EF. Although cool EF development and its links to theory of mind (ToM) have been widely examined, understanding of the influence of hot EF to ToM mechanisms is minimal. The present study introduced a longitudinal design to examine the developmental changes in cool and hot EF of children with ASD (n = 45) and matched (to age and IQ) controls (n = 37) as well as the impact of EF on ToM development over a school year. For children with ASD, although selective cool (working memory and inhibition) and hot (affective decision making) EF domains presented age-related improvements, they never reached the performance level of the control group. Early cool working memory predicted later ToM in both groups but early hot delay discounting predicted later ToM only in the ASD group. No evidence was found for the reverse pattern (early ToM predicting later EF). These findings suggest that improvements in some EF aspects are evident in school age in ASD and highlight the crucial role that both cool and hot EF play in ToM development.

Deaf and hearing children's development of theory of mind, peer popularity, and leadership during middle childhood.

PubMed

Peterson, Candida C; O'Reilly, Karin; Wellman, Henry M

2016-09-01

This study had two primary aims. First, we compared deaf and hearing children during middle and late childhood on (a) cognitive understanding of basic and advanced theory of mind (ToM) and (b) social dimensions of peer group relations, including popularity, isolation, leadership, and the disposition to interact positively with peers. Second, using correlational analyses, we examined ToM's connections with these social variables to see whether and how ToM impacts children's social lives. A total of 57 children (36 deaf children of hearing parents and 21 hearing children) 6 to 14years of age completed a 6-step developmental ToM Scale, and their teachers reported on the social variables. Hearing children outperformed deaf children on ToM and all teacher-rated variables. For deaf children, popularity correlated positively, and social isolation correlated negatively, with ToM even after controlling for age, gender, and language ability. For hearing children, the only ToM link was a weak correlation with leadership. Possible reasons for the differences between deaf and hearing groups are discussed, together with the likelihood of bidirectional causal links and implications for deaf children's social development in school. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mind what mother says: narrative input and theory of mind in typical children and those on the autism spectrum.

PubMed

Slaughter, Virginia; Peterson, Candida C; Mackintosh, Emily

2007-01-01

In 2 studies mothers read wordless storybooks to their preschool-aged children; narratives were analyzed for mental state language. Children's theory-of-mind understanding (ToM) was concurrently assessed. In Study 1, children's (N=30; M age 3 years 9 months) ToM task performance was significantly correlated with mothers' explanatory, causal, and contrastive talk about cognition, but not with mothers' simple mentions of cognition. In Study 2, the same pattern was found in an older sample of typically developing children (N=24; M age 4 years 7 months), whereas for children on the autism spectrum (N=24; M age 6 years 7.5 months), ToM task performance was uniquely correlated with mothers' explanatory, causal, and contrastive talk about emotions.

Investigating the genetic basis of theory of mind (ToM): the role of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene polymorphisms.

PubMed

Xia, Haiwei; Wu, Nan; Su, Yanjie

2012-01-01

The ability to deduce other persons' mental states and emotions which has been termed 'theory of mind (ToM)' is highly heritable. First molecular genetic studies focused on some dopamine-related genes, while the genetic basis underlying different components of ToM (affective ToM and cognitive ToM) remain unknown. The current study tested 7 candidate polymorphisms (rs4680, rs4633, rs2020917, rs2239393, rs737865, rs174699 and rs59938883) on the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene. We investigated how these polymorphisms relate to different components of ToM. 101 adults participated in our study; all were genetically unrelated, non-clinical and healthy Chinese subjects. Different ToM tasks were applied to detect their theory of mind ability. The results showed that the COMT gene rs2020917 and rs737865 SNPs were associated with cognitive ToM performance, while the COMT gene rs5993883 SNP was related to affective ToM, in which a significant gender-genotype interaction was found (p = 0.039). Our results highlighted the contribution of DA-related COMT gene on ToM performance. Moreover, we found out that the different SNP at the same gene relates to the discriminative aspect of ToM. Our research provides some preliminary evidence to the genetic basis of theory of mind which still awaits further studies.

Theory of Mind in Middle Childhood: Longitudinal Associations with Executive Function and Social Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Devine, Rory T.; White, Naomi; Ensor, Rosie; Hughes, Claire

2016-01-01

The vast majority of studies on theory of mind (ToM) have focused on the preschool years. Extending the developmental scope of ToM research presents opportunities to both reassess theoretical accounts of ToM and test its predictive utility. The twin aims of this longitudinal study were to examine developmental relations between ToM, executive…

The relationship between joint attention and theory of mind in neurotypical adults.

PubMed

Shaw, Jordan A; Bryant, Lauren K; Malle, Bertram F; Povinelli, Daniel J; Pruett, John R

2017-05-01

Joint attention (JA) is hypothesized to have a close relationship with developing theory of mind (ToM) capabilities. We tested the co-occurrence of ToM and JA in social interactions between adults with no reported history of psychiatric illness or neurodevelopmental disorders. Participants engaged in an experimental task that encouraged nonverbal communication, including JA, and also ToM activity. We adapted an in-lab variant of experience sampling methods (Bryant et al., 2013) to measure ToM during JA based on participants' subjective reports of their thoughts while performing the task. This experiment successfully elicited instances of JA in 17/20 dyads. We compared participants' thought contents during episodes of JA and non-JA. Our results suggest that, in adults, JA and ToM may occur independently. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Age and gender dependent development of Theory of Mind in 6- to 8-years old children

PubMed Central

Calero, Cecilia I.; Salles, Alejo; Semelman, Mariano; Sigman, Mariano

2013-01-01

The ability to attribute different mental states to distinct individuals, or Theory of Mind (ToM), is widely believed to be developed mostly during preschool years. How different factors such as gender, number of siblings, or coarse personality traits affect this development is not entirely agreed upon. Here, we introduce a computerized version of the scaled ToM suite of tasks introduced by Wellman and Liu (2004), which allows us to meaningfully test ToM development on children 6 to 8-years old. We find that kids this age are still not entirely proficient in all ToM tasks, and continue to show a progression of performance with age. By testing this new age range, too, we are able to observe a significant advantage of girls over boys in ToM performance. Other factors such as number of siblings, birth order, and coarse personality traits show no significant relation with the ToM task results. Finally, we introduce a novel way to quantify the scaling property of the suite involving a sequence of set inclusions on one hand and a comparison between specially tailored sets of logistic models on the other. These measures confirm the validity of the scale in the 6- to 8-years old range. PMID:23785326

Age and gender dependent development of Theory of Mind in 6- to 8-years old children.

PubMed

Calero, Cecilia I; Salles, Alejo; Semelman, Mariano; Sigman, Mariano

2013-01-01

The ability to attribute different mental states to distinct individuals, or Theory of Mind (ToM), is widely believed to be developed mostly during preschool years. How different factors such as gender, number of siblings, or coarse personality traits affect this development is not entirely agreed upon. Here, we introduce a computerized version of the scaled ToM suite of tasks introduced by Wellman and Liu (2004), which allows us to meaningfully test ToM development on children 6 to 8-years old. We find that kids this age are still not entirely proficient in all ToM tasks, and continue to show a progression of performance with age. By testing this new age range, too, we are able to observe a significant advantage of girls over boys in ToM performance. Other factors such as number of siblings, birth order, and coarse personality traits show no significant relation with the ToM task results. Finally, we introduce a novel way to quantify the scaling property of the suite involving a sequence of set inclusions on one hand and a comparison between specially tailored sets of logistic models on the other. These measures confirm the validity of the scale in the 6- to 8-years old range.

Peer social skills and theory of mind in children with autism, deafness, or typical development.

PubMed

Peterson, Candida; Slaughter, Virginia; Moore, Chris; Wellman, Henry M

2016-01-01

Consequences of theory of mind (ToM) development for daily social lives of children are uncertain. Five to 13-year-olds (N = 195) with typical development, autism, or deafness (both native and late signers) took ToM tests and their teachers reported on their social skills for peer interaction (e.g., leadership, group entry). Groups differed in both ToM understanding (with late-signing deaf children especially delayed even relative to autistic children) and peer social skills (with autistic children especially delayed even relative to deaf late signers). Crucially, for the typically developing hearing children and deaf children alike, ToM understanding independently predicted peer social skills over and above age, gender, language ability, and, for deaf children, status as native- or late-signer. These novel findings offer some of the best evidence to date of the relevance of ToM cognitions to real-world social behavior for both these groups. However, for those with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) the pattern was different. The apparent link of ToM to peer competence was not a direct one but instead was significantly mediated by language ability. Several possible explanations for this intriguing autism-specific result were also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

The Accidental Transgressor: Morally Relevant Theory of Mind

PubMed Central

Killen, Melanie; Mulvey, Kelly Lynn; Richardson, Cameron; Jampol, Noah

2014-01-01

To test young children’s false belief theory of mind in a morally relevant context, two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, children (N = 162) at 3.5, 5.5, and 7.5 years of age were administered 3 tasks: prototypic moral transgression task, false belief theory of mind task (ToM), and an “accidental transgressor” task, which measured a morally relevant false belief theory of mind (MoToM). Children who did not pass false belief ToM were more likely to attribute negative intentions to an accidental transgressor than children who passed false belief ToM, and to use moral reasons when blaming the accidental transgressor. In Experiment 2, children (N = 46) who did not pass false belief ToM viewed it as more acceptable to punish the accidental transgressor than did participants who passed false belief ToM. Findings are discussed in light of research on the emergence of moral judgment and theory of mind. PMID:21377148

Hindsight Bias and Developing Theories of Mind

PubMed Central

Bernstein, Daniel M.; Atance, Cristina; Meltzoff, Andrew N.; Loftus, Geoffrey R.

2013-01-01

Although hindsight bias (the “I knew it all along” phenomenon) has been documented in adults, its development has not been investigated. This is despite the fact that hindsight bias errors closely resemble the errors children make on theory of mind (ToM) tasks. Two main goals of the present work were to (a) create a battery of hindsight tasks for preschoolers, and (b) assess the relation between children’s performance on these and ToM tasks. In two experiments involving 144 preschoolers, 3-, 4-, and 5-year olds exhibited strong hindsight bias. Performance on hindsight and ToM tasks was significantly correlated independent of age, language ability, and inhibitory control. These findings contribute to a more comprehensive account of perspective taking across the lifespan. PMID:17650144

Links between theory of mind and executive function in young children with autism: clues to developmental primacy.

PubMed

Pellicano, Elizabeth

2007-07-01

There has been much theoretical discussion of a functional link between theory of mind (ToM) and executive function (EF) in autism. This study sought to establish the relationship between ToM and EF in young children with autism (M = 5 years, 6 months) and to examine issues of developmental primacy. Thirty children with autism and 40 typically developing children, matched on age and ability, were assessed on a battery of tasks measuring ToM (1st- and 2nd-order false belief) and components of EF (planning, set shifting, inhibition). A significant correlation emerged between ToM and EF variables in the autism group, independent of age and ability, while ToM and higher order planning ability remained significantly related in the comparison group. Examination of the pattern of ToM-EF impairments in the autism group revealed dissociations in 1 direction only: impaired ToM with intact EF. These findings support the view that EF may be 1 important factor in the advancement of ToM understanding in autism. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright 2007 APA.

Performance on verbal and low-verbal false belief tasks: evidence from children with Williams syndrome.

PubMed

Van Herwegen, Jo; Dimitriou, Dagmara; Rundblad, Gabriella

2013-01-01

Previous studies that have investigated the relationship between performance on theory of mind (ToM) tasks and verbal abilities in individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) have reported contradictory findings with some showing that language abilities aid performance on ToM tasks while others have found that participants with WS fail these tasks because of their verbal demands. The current study investigated this relationship again comparing performance on a classical change-location task to two newly developed low-verbal tasks, one change-location task and one unexpected content task. Thirty children with WS (aged 5-17;01 years) and 30 typically developing (TD) children (aged between 2;10 years and 9;09 years), who were matched for vocabulary comprehension scores were included in the study. Although performance in the WS group was significantly poorer compared to the TD group on all three tasks, performance was not predicted by their receptive vocabulary or grammatical ability scores. In addition, ToM abilities in both groups depended on the cognitive demands of the task at hand. This finding shows that performance on ToM tasks in WS is not necessarily hindered by their delayed language abilities but rather by the task administered. This could potentially affect the diagnosis of developmental disorders, such as Autism Spectrum Disorders, and comparison of ToM abilities across developmental disorders. Readers of this article should be able to (1) describe the current state of theory of mind research in Williams syndrome, (2) identify which cognitive abilities might explain performance on theory of mind tasks in both typically developing children and in children with Williams syndrome, and (3) interpret the importance of task demands when assessing children's theory of mind abilities. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Theory of Mind intervention for outpatients with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Bechi, Margherita; Spangaro, Marco; Bosia, Marta; Zanoletti, Andrea; Fresi, Francesco; Buonocore, Mariachiara; Cocchi, Federica; Guglielmino, Carmelo; Smeraldi, Enrico; Cavallaro, Roberto

2013-01-01

Social disability is one of the critical areas known to be a predictor of daily functioning in schizophrenia. Recent studies showed that impairments in Theory of Mind (ToM) contribute to real-world social functioning and are more strongly associated with community outcomes than other neuropsychological domains of cognition. Several experiments revealed an improving potential of social cognition targeted training, particularly through introduction of verbalisation and explicit manipulation of information about others' mental states. Based on these data, we evaluated longitudinally, with a controlled trial, the feasibility and efficacy of ToM training and the possible influences of daily functioning and IQ on the enhancement of ToM abilities. Thirty outpatients with schizophrenia were recruited and randomly allocated to two groups: ToM Intervention (ToMI), based on verbalisation of selected comic strips representing ToM scenarios, or active control group (ACG). Results showed a significant improvement of ToM abilities among subjects allocated to ToMI compared to ACG, confirming the hypothesis of the enhancing potential of training methods targeting ToM functions. Moreover, we observed no influences of neuropsychological and functional variables on ToM improvement. Development of future studies should take into account possible effects of ToM training on functional outcome, according to the strong associations between ToM abilities and real-world social functioning.

Action mechanisms for social cognition: behavioral and neural correlates of developing Theory of Mind

PubMed Central

Bowman, Lindsay C.; Thorpe, Samuel G.; Cannon, Erin N.; Fox, Nathan A.

2016-01-01

Many psychological theories posit foundational links between two fundamental constructs: (1) our ability to produce, perceive, and represent action; and (2) our ability to understand the meaning and motivation behind the action (i.e. Theory of Mind; ToM). This position is contentious, however, and long-standing competing theories of social-cognitive development debate roles for basic action-processing in ToM. Developmental research is key to investigating these hypotheses, but whether individual differences in neural and behavioral measures of motor action relate to social-cognitive development is unknown. We examined 3- to 5-year-old children’s (N = 26) EEG mu-desynchronization during production of object-directed action, and explored associations between mu-desynchronization and children’s behavioral motor skills, behavioral action-representation abilities, and behavioral ToM. For children with high (but not low) mu-desynchronization, motor skill related to action-representation abilities, and action-representation mediated relations between motor skill and ToM. Results demonstrate novel foundational links between action-processing and ToM, suggesting that basic motor action may be a key mechanism for social-cognitive development, thus shedding light on the origins and emergence of higher social cognition. PMID:27573916

Nimble negotiators: How theory of mind (ToM) interconnects with persuasion skills in children with and without ToM delay.

PubMed

Peterson, Candida C; Slaughter, Virginia; Wellman, Henry M

2018-03-01

Persuasion is an essential social skill. Yet its development and underpinnings are poorly understood. In 2 studies, a total of 167 children aged 3 to 12 years took theory of mind (ToM) tests and participated in unscripted, seminaturalistic persuasive conversations. Children were typically developing (TD) or had deafness or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). High-level, informationally rich persuasive arguments increased with age in all groups in both studies, as did ToM. In both studies, ToM scores predicted persuasion skill over and above age, language ability, and deafness/ASD status. In Study 1, TD 8-year-olds outperformed age-matched deaf and autistic children in ToM but only equaled them in persuasive skill. Study 2 employed more challenging persuasion tasks and revealed superior persuasion performance by school-aged TD children compared with same-aged children with deafness or ASD. Deaf and ASD groups did better on Study 1's straightforward persuasion tasks than on Study 2's more challenging ones, whereas TD children rose to the added challenge without their persuasion performance suffering. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

From Fancy to Reason: Scaling Deaf and Hearing Children’s Understanding of Theory of Mind and Pretence

PubMed Central

Peterson, Candida C.; Wellman, Henry M.

2011-01-01

We examined deaf and hearing children’s progression of steps in theory-of-mind (ToM) development including their understanding of social pretending. Ninety-three children (33 deaf; 60 hearing) aged 3 to 13 years were tested on a set of six closely-matched ToM tasks. Results showed that deaf children were delayed substantially behind hearing children in understanding pretending, false belief and other ToM concepts, in line with their delayed uptake of social pretend play. By using a scaling methodology, we confirmed previous evidence of a consistent five-step developmental progression for both groups. Moreover, by including social pretence understanding, both deaf and hearing children’s ToM sequences were shown to extend reliably to six sequential developmental steps. Finally and focally, even though both groups’ sequences were six steps long, the placement of pretence relative to other ToM milestones varied with hearing status. Deaf children understood social pretending at an earlier step in the ToM sequence than hearing children, albeit at a later chronological age. Theoretically, the findings are relevant to questions about how universal developmental progressions come together along with culturally-distinctive inputs and biological factors (such as hearing loss) to set the pace for ToM development. PMID:19998533

From fancy to reason: scaling deaf and hearing children's understanding of theory of mind and pretence.

PubMed

Peterson, Candida C; Wellman, Henry M

2009-06-01

We examined deaf and hearing children's progression of steps in theory of mind (ToM) development including their understanding of social pretending. Ninety-three children (33 deaf; 60 hearing) aged 3-13 years were tested on a set of six closely matched ToM tasks. Results showed that deaf children were delayed substantially behind hearing children in understanding pretending, false belief (FB) and other ToM concepts, in line with their delayed uptake of social pretend (SP) play. By using a scaling methodology, we confirmed previous evidence of a consistent five-step developmental progression for both groups. Moreover, by including social pretence understanding, both deaf and hearing children's ToM sequences were shown to extend reliably to six sequential developmental steps. Finally and focally, even though both groups' sequences were six steps long, the placement of pretence relative to other ToM milestones varied with hearing status. Deaf children understood social pretending at an earlier step in the ToM sequence than hearing children, albeit at a later chronological age. Theoretically, the findings are relevant to questions about how universal developmental progressions come together along with culturally distinctive inputs and biological factors (such as hearing loss) to set the pace for ToM development.

Beyond False Belief: Theory of Mind in Young, Young-Old, and Old-Old Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cavallini, Elena; Lecce, Serena; Bottiroli, Sara; Palladino, Paola; Pagnin, Adriano

2013-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to humans' ability to recognize the existence of mental states, such as beliefs, emotions, and desires. The literature on ToM in aging and on the relationship between ToM and other cognitive functions, like executive functions, is not homogenous. The aim of the present study was to explore the course of ToM and to…

Theory of mind performance in schizophrenia: diagnostic, symptom, and neuropsychological correlates.

PubMed

Greig, Tamasine C; Bryson, Gary J; Bell, Morris D

2004-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between Theory of Mind (ToM) performance and schizophrenia subtype, symptom, and neuropsychological variables. One hundred twenty-eight stable outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were assessed during the intake phase of a vocational and cognitive rehabilitation study. Results indicate that ToM performance differed significantly by schizophrenia diagnosis, with people diagnosed with disorganized schizophrenia performing the most poorly. Theory of Mind performance was also significantly correlated with measures of thought disorder and verbal memory. Regression analysis revealed that thought disorder and verbal memory measures explained 30% of the variance in ToM scores. Findings suggest that there is theory of mind variance in the schizophrenia population and theory of mind is strongly related to thought disorder, verbal memory, and cognitive disorganization. Contrary to previous reports, ToM was not related to measures of paranoia.

Neural bases of Theory of Mind in children with autism spectrum disorders and children with conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

O'Nions, Elizabeth; Sebastian, Catherine L; McCrory, Eamon; Chantiluke, Kaylita; Happé, Francesca; Viding, Essi

2014-09-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulty understanding other minds (Theory of Mind; ToM), with atypical processing evident at both behavioural and neural levels. Individuals with conduct problems and high levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (CP/HCU) exhibit reduced responsiveness to others' emotions and difficulties interacting with others, but nonetheless perform normally in experimental tests of ToM. The present study aimed to examine the neural underpinnings of ToM in children (aged 10-16) with ASD (N = 16), CP/HCU (N = 16) and typically developing (TD) controls (N = 16) using a non-verbal cartoon vignette task. Whilst individuals with ASD were predicted to show reduced fMRI responses across regions involved in ToM processing, CP/HCU individuals were predicted to show no differences compared with TD controls. The analyses indicated that neural responses did not differ between TD and CP/HCU groups during ToM. TD and CP/HCU children exhibited significantly greater medial prefrontal cortex responses during ToM than did the ASD group. Within the ASD group, responses in medial prefrontal cortex and right temporoparietal junction (TPJ) correlated with symptom severity as measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). Findings suggest that although both ASD and CP/HCU are characterized by social difficulties, only children with ASD display atypical neural processing associated with ToM. © 2014 The Authors. Developmental Science Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Rethinking Theory of Mind in High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scheeren, Anke M.; de Rosnay, Marc; Koot, Hans M.; Begeer, Sander

2013-01-01

Background: The sociocommunicative problems in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are traditionally linked to impairments in Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to ascribe mental states to others. Although ToM impairments are consistently reported in young children with ASD, findings on more advanced ToM understanding in older individuals with…

Exploring different explanations for performance on a theory of mind task in Williams syndrome and autism using eye movements.

PubMed

Van Herwegen, Jo; Smith, Tim J; Dimitriou, Dagmara

2015-01-01

The current study explored the looking behaviours of young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Williams syndrome (WS), and typically developing (TD) children while they were administered a low-verbal Theory of Mind (ToM) task. Although ToM performance in both clinical groups was impaired, only participants with WS showed small differences in looking behaviour at the start of the video. Furthermore, while TD children who passed the ToM task looked longer at the original hiding place there was no such contrast in the clinical groups. This shows that looking behaviour in ASD and WS is not necessarily atypical when saliency aspects such as language, background, and colour are removed and that differences in looking behaviour cannot explain ToM performance. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory of Mind "Beliefs", Developmental Characteristics and Social Understanding in Children and Adolescents with Intellectual Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thirion-Marissiaux, Anne-Francoise; Nader-Grosbois, Nathalie

2008-01-01

Patterns of development of ToM belief abilities in intellectually disabled (ID) children and typically developing (TD) children matched on their developmental age were investigated. The links between cognition, language, social understanding and ToM belief abilities were examined. EDEI-R [Perron-Borelli M. (1996). "Echelles Differentielles…

Social maturity and theory of mind in typically developing children and those on the autism spectrum.

PubMed

Peterson, Candida C; Slaughter, Virginia P; Paynter, Jessica

2007-12-01

Results of several studies using the Vineland scale to explore links between social behavior and theory of mind (ToM) have produced mixed results, especially for children on the autism spectrum. The present pair of studies developed a psychometrically sound, age-referenced measure of social maturity to explore these issues further. In Study 1, 37 typically developing preschoolers took a battery of standard false belief tests of ToM and were rated by their teachers on a newly developed age-referenced social maturity scale with 7 items. In Study 2, a further group of 43 children aged 4 to 12 years (13 with autism, 14 with Asperger's disorder and 16 with typical development) took part in the same procedure. In Study 1, ToM was found to predict typical preschoolers' social maturity independently of age and verbal maturity. In Study 2, children with autism scored below age-matched and younger typical developers in both ToM and social maturity. Those with Asperger's disorder did well on ToM but poorly on social maturity. Study 2 replicated Study 1's finding (for typical children and for the full sample) that ToM was linked with social maturity independently of age and verbal ability, although the link was not independent of autism diagnosis. Teachers are capable of rating children's social behavior with peers as advanced, on-time or delayed for their age. Suggestive links between these ratings and ToM require further investigation, especially among children on the autism spectrum.

Social Competence in Children with Borderline Intellectual Functioning: Delayed Development of Theory of Mind Across All Complexity Levels.

PubMed

Baglio, Gisella; Blasi, Valeria; Sangiuliano Intra, Francesca; Castelli, Ilaria; Massaro, Davide; Baglio, Francesca; Valle, Annalisa; Zanette, Michela; Marchetti, Antonella

2016-01-01

Borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) is characterized by heterogeneous cognitive difficulties, with an intelligence quotient (IQ) between 70 and 85 points, and a failure to meet the developmental and sociocultural standards for personal independence and social responsibility required in daily life. The fact that this population still remain a marginal clinical category, with no ad hoc diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, has stimulated the present research. Our goal was to study children with BIF investigating the development of Theory of Mind (ToM) as a pillar of social competence. Children with BIF ( N = 28, 16 male/12 female, and mean age 9.46 ± 1.26 years) and children with typical development (TD; N = 31, 17 male/14 female; mean age 8.94 years ± 0.99) underwent a neurocognitive assessment and a ToM assessment. Children with BIF showed a significant lower performance across all the levels of ToM development investigated compared to the control group, and a correlation between executive functions and the advanced levels of ToM reasoning. These results constitute a first step in the direction of defining the clinical profile of children with BIF concerning ToM development, opening the way to future interventions in order to support the developmental evolution of this population in an adaptive direction.

Digging deeper into the link between socio-cognitive ability and social relationships.

PubMed

Mizokawa, Ai; Koyasu, Masuo

2015-03-01

In this commentary on 'Friendlessness and theory of mind: A prospective longitudinal study' by Fink, Begeer, Peterson, Slaughter, and de Rosnay (Brit. J. Dev. Psychol, 2015; 33, 1-17) we reconsider the link between early mastery of theory of mind (ToM) and social relationships by focusing on connections with other related areas of socio-cognitive ability such as emotional competence, ToM development across age, and the effect of interventions. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Putting Theory of Mind in Its Place: Psychological Explanations of the Socio-Emotional-Communicative Impairments in Autistic Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boucher, Jill

2012-01-01

In this review, the history of the theory of mind (ToM) theory of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is outlined (in which ToM is indexed by success on false belief tasks), and the explanatory power and psychological causes of impaired ToM in ASD are critically discussed. It is concluded that impaired ToM by itself has only limited explanatory…

Using memories to understand others: the role of episodic memory in theory of mind impairment in Alzheimer disease.

PubMed

Moreau, Noémie; Viallet, François; Champagne-Lavau, Maud

2013-09-01

Theory of mind (TOM) refers to the ability to infer one's own and other's mental states. Growing evidence highlighted the presence of impairment on the most complex TOM tasks in Alzheimer disease (AD). However, how TOM deficit is related to other cognitive dysfunctions and more specifically to episodic memory impairment - the prominent feature of this disease - is still under debate. Recent neuroanatomical findings have shown that remembering past events and inferring others' states of mind share the same cerebral network suggesting the two abilities share a common process .This paper proposes to review emergent evidence of TOM impairment in AD patients and to discuss the evidence of a relationship between TOM and episodic memory. We will discuss about AD patients' deficit in TOM being possibly related to their difficulties in recollecting memories of past social interactions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mindful Storytellers: Emerging Pragmatics and Theory of Mind Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernández, Camila

2013-01-01

Emerging pragmatic language skills involve social, cognitive and linguistic abilities, including children's awareness of the conversational partner's mental states. The present study investigated the relation between children's theory of mind (ToM) and features of pragmatic language skills assessed through narrative discourse. One hundred and…

Social motivation and implicit theory of mind in children with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Burnside, Kimberly; Wright, Kristyn; Poulin-Dubois, Diane

2017-11-01

According to the social motivation theory of autism, children who develop Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have early deficits in social motivation, which is expressed by decreased attention to social information. These deficits are said to lead to impaired socio-cognitive development, such as theory of mind (ToM). There is little research focused on the relation between social motivation and ToM in this population. The goal of the present study was to investigate the link between one aspect of social motivation, social orienting, and ToM in preschoolers with ASD. It was expected that, in contrast to typically developing (TD) children, children with ASD would show impaired performance on tasks measuring social orienting and ToM. It was also expected that children's performance on the social orienting tasks would be correlated with their performance on the ToM task. A total of 17 children with ASD and 16 TD children participated in this study. Participants completed two social orienting tasks, a face preference task and a biological motion preference task, as well an implicit false belief task. Results reveal that TD children, but not children with ASD, exhibited social preference as measured by a preference for faces and biological motion. Furthermore, children with ASD tended to perform worse on the ToM task compared to their TD counterparts. Performance on the social motivation tasks and the ToM task tended to be related but only for the TD children. These findings suggest that ToM is multifaceted and that motivational deficits might have downstream effects even on implicit ToM. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1834-1844. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The goal of the present study was to examine the link between poor attention to social information and mindreading abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Results demonstrated that children with ASD tended to perform worse than neurotypical children on both social orienting and theory of mind tasks. Preference for human faces and motion tended to be related but only for the neurotypical children. These findings provide partial support for the social motivation theory. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Young Children's Understanding of Teaching and Learning and Their Theory of Mind Development: A Causal Analysis from a Cross-Cultural Perspective

PubMed Central

Wang, Zhenlin; Wang, X. Christine; Chui, Wai Yip

2017-01-01

Children's understanding of the concepts of teaching and learning is closely associated with their theory of mind (ToM) ability and vital for school readiness. This study aimed to develop and validate a Preschool Teaching and Learning Comprehension Index (PTLCI) across cultures and examine the causal relationship between children's comprehension of teaching and learning and their mental state understanding. Two hundred and twelve children from 3 to 6 years of age from Hong Kong and the United States participated in study. The results suggested strong construct validity of the PTLCI, and its measurement and structural equivalence within and across cultures. ToM and PTLCI were significantly correlated with a medium effect size, even after controlling for age, and language ability. Hong Kong children outperformed their American counterparts in both ToM and PTLCI. Competing structural equation models suggested that children's performance on the PTLCI causally predicted their ToM across countries. PMID:28559863

A Longitudinal Assessment of the Relation between Executive Function and Theory of Mind at 3, 4, and 5 Years

PubMed Central

Marcovitch, Stuart; O’Brien, Marion; Calkins, Susan D.; Leerkes, Esther M.; Weaver, Jennifer M.; Levine, Douglas W.

2014-01-01

This longitudinal study contributes to the growing literature on the predictive nature of the relation between executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM). A latent variable model was fit to the data acquired from 226 socioeconomically and racially diverse children (52% female) at 3, 4, and 5 years of age on a number of age-appropriate tasks designed to assess EF and ToM. After controlling for sex, income-to-needs, and receptive language ability, there was substantial stability within each construct as children aged. In addition, EF at 3 years predicted ToM at 4 years but ToM did not predict EF, replicating earlier results. This pattern also appeared from 4 to 5 years of age, suggesting that the developmental precedence of EF persists later in development. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of contemporary cognitive development theories, as well as the relation between EF and social reasoning in general. PMID:25642021

Interventions for the treatment of theory of mind deficits in schizophrenia: Systematic literature review.

PubMed

Vass, Edit; Fekete, Zita; Simon, Viktória; Simon, Lajos

2018-05-22

Theory of Mind (ToM) plays a central role in regulating social interactions and its impairment is consistently reported in schizophrenia. Regarding schizophrenia, ToM is usually discussed as a sub-domain of social cognition. Since social cognitive deficits have drawn the attention of researchers, a variety of novel treatment techniques and approaches targeting social cognitive deficits have been developed. Encouraging results have repeatedly been reported on the modifiability of social cognitive impairment through these techniques. However, emotional perception seems to be over-represented in these approaches at the expense of other areas, such as ToM. This article presents a systematic review on the social cognitive interventions of the last 10 years, which focused on the remediation of ToM or used techniques primarily focusing on one or more social cognitive domains other than ToM, but with hypothetical effects on it. The aim of our systematic review was to compare these intervention techniques in order to see how effective they are in the remediation of ToM, and to find the best techniques to ameliorate ToM deficits in schizophrenia. According to our findings targeted ToM intervention produced more improvement in ToM tasks, while data regarding non-ToM interventions showed contradictory results with limited effects on ToM. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Neural responses to affective and cognitive theory of mind in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Kim, Eunjoo; Kyeong, Sunghyon; Cheon, Keun-Ah; Park, Bumhee; Oh, Maeng-Keun; Chun, Ji Won; Park, Hae-Jeong; Kim, Jae-Jin; Song, Dong-Ho

2016-05-16

Children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are characterized by an impaired Theory of Mind (ToM). Recent evidence suggested that two aspects of ToM (cognitive ToM versus affective ToM) are differentially impaired in individuals with ASD. In this study, we examined the neural correlates of cognitive and affective ToM in children and adolescents with ASD compared to typically developing children (TDCs). Twelve children and adolescents with ASD and 12 age, IQ matched TDCs participated in this functional MRI study. The ToM task involved the attribution of cognitive and affective mental states to a cartoon character based on verbal and eye-gaze cues. In cognitive ToM tasks, ASD participants recruited the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and superior temporal gyrus (STG) to a greater extent than did TDCs. In affective ToM tasks, both ASD and TDC participants showed more activation in the insula and other subcortical regions than in cognitive ToM tasks. Correlational analysis revealed that greater activation of the mPFC/ACC regions was associated with less symptom severity in ASD patients. In sum, our study suggests that the recruitment of additional prefrontal resources can compensate for the successful behavioral performance in the ToM task in ASD participants. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emotion understanding, theory of mind, and prosocial orientation: Relations over time in early childhood

PubMed Central

Eggum, Natalie D.; Eisenberg, Nancy; Kao, Karen; Spinrad, Tracy L.; Bolnick, Rebecca; Hofer, Claire; Kupfer, Anne S.; Fabricius, William V.

2012-01-01

Data were collected when children were 42, 54, and 72 months of age (Ns=210, 191, and 172 for T1, T2, and T3, respectively). Children's emotion understanding (EU) and theory of mind (ToM) were examined as predictors of children's prosocial orientation within and across time. EU positively related to children's sympathy across 2.5 years, and T1 EU positively related to parent-reported prosocial orientation concurrently and across 1 year (T2). T2 ToM positively related to parents' reports of sympathy and prosocial orientation concurrently and 18 months later (T3); in contrast, T3 ToM did not relate to sympathy or prosocial orientation. T2 ToM accounted for marginally significant variance (p<0.058) in T3 mother-reported prosocial orientation over and above that accounted for by T2 prosocial orientation. Fostering the development of EU and ToM may contribute to children's prosocial orientation. PMID:22518196

Relations between episodic memory, suggestibility, theory of mind, and cognitive inhibition in the preschool child.

PubMed

Melinder, Annika; Endestad, Tor; Magnussen, Svein

2006-12-01

The development of episodic memory, its relation to theory of mind (ToM), executive functions (e.g., cognitive inhibition), and to suggestibility was studied. Children (n= 115) between 3 and 6 years of age saw two versions of a video film and were tested for their memory of critical elements of the videos. Results indicated similar developmental trends for all memory measures, ToM, and inhibition, but ToM and inhibition were not associated with any memory measures. Correlations involving source memory was found in relation to specific questions, whereas inhibition and ToM were significantly correlated to resistance to suggestions. A regression analysis showed that age was the main contributor to resistance to suggestions, to correct source monitoring, and to correct responses to specific questions. Inhibition was also a significant main predictor of resistance to suggestive questions, whereas the relative contribution of ToM was wiped out when an extended model was tested.

Aberrant functioning of the theory-of-mind network in children and adolescents with autism.

PubMed

Kana, Rajesh K; Maximo, Jose O; Williams, Diane L; Keller, Timothy A; Schipul, Sarah E; Cherkassky, Vladimir L; Minshew, Nancy J; Just, Marcel Adam

2015-01-01

Theory-of-mind (ToM), the ability to infer people's thoughts and feelings, is a pivotal skill in effective social interactions. Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been found to have altered ToM skills, which significantly impacts the quality of their social interactions. Neuroimaging studies have reported altered activation of the ToM cortical network, especially in adults with autism, yet little is known about the brain responses underlying ToM in younger individuals with ASD. This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated the neural mechanisms underlying ToM in high-functioning children and adolescents with ASD and matched typically developing (TD) peers. fMRI data were acquired from 13 participants with ASD and 13 TD control participants while they watched animations involving two "interacting" geometrical shapes. Participants with ASD showed significantly reduced activation, relative to TD controls, in regions considered part of the ToM network, the mirror network, and the cerebellum. Functional connectivity analyses revealed underconnectivity between frontal and posterior regions during task performance in the ASD participants. Overall, the findings of this study reveal disruptions in the brain circuitry underlying ToM in ASD at multiple levels, including decreased activation and decreased functional connectivity.

Sociocultural Input Facilitates Children's Developing Understanding of Extraordinary Minds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Jonathan D.; Wellman, Henry M.; Evans, E. Margaret

2012-01-01

Three- to 5-year-old (N = 61) religiously schooled preschoolers received theory-of-mind (ToM) tasks about the mental states of ordinary humans and agents with exceptional perceptual or mental capacities. Consistent with an anthropomorphism hypothesis, children beginning to appreciate limitations of human minds (e.g., ignorance) attributed those…

Theory of Mind and social reserve: Alternative hypothesis of progressive Theory of Mind decay during different stages of Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Fliss, Rafika; Le Gall, Didier; Etcharry-Bouyx, Frédérique; Chauviré, Valérie; Desgranges, Béatrice; Allain, Philippe

2016-01-01

Although Theory of Mind (ToM) is thought to be impaired in Alzheimer's disease (AD), it remains unclear whether this impairment is linked to the level of task complexity, the heterogeneity of the studied patients, or the implication of executive dysfunctions. To elucidate this point, 42 AD patients, divided into two subgroups [moderate AD (mAD) patients (n = 19) and early AD (eAD) patients (n = 23)], and 23 matched healthy older subjects (HO) were enrolled. All participants were given (1) a false-belief task (cognitive ToM), (2) a revised version of the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" test (affective ToM), and (3) a composite task designed to assess ToM abilities with minimal cognitive demands. Participants were also given executive tasks assessing inhibition, shifting, and updating processes. We observed a significant impairment of cognitive and composite ToM abilities in eAD patients compared with mAD patients. There was no impairment of affective ToM. Stepwise regression revealed that measures of global efficiency and executive functions (EFs) were the best predictors of progressive decay of ToM scores. These results indicate that cognitive aspects of ToM are more sensitive to AD progression than affective tasks. They also show that ToM abilities are more affected by dementia severity than by task complexity. One explanation of our results is the presence of compensatory mechanisms (social reserve) in AD.

Theory of Mind Predicts Emotion Knowledge Development in Head Start Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seidenfeld, Adina M.; Johnson, Stacy R.; Cavadel, Elizabeth Woodburn; Izard, Carroll E.

2014-01-01

Research Findings: Emotion knowledge (EK) enables children to identify emotions in themselves and others, and its development facilitates emotion recognition in complex social situations. Sociocognitive processes, such as theory of mind (ToM), may contribute to developing EK by helping children realize the inherent variability associated with…

Person perception precedes theory of mind: an event related potential analysis.

PubMed

Wang, Y W; Lin, C D; Yuan, B; Huang, L; Zhang, W X; Shen, D L

2010-09-29

Prior to developing an understanding of another person's mental state, an ability termed "theory of mind" (ToM), a perception of that person's appearance and actions is required. However the relationship between this "person perception" and ToM is unclear. To investigate the time course of ToM and person perception, event-related potentials (ERP) were recorded while 17 normal adults received three kinds of visual stimuli: cartoons involving people (person perception cartoons), cartoons involving people and also requiring ToM for comprehension (ToM cartoons), and scene cartoons. We hypothesized that the respective patterns of brain activation would be different under these three stimuli, at different stages in time. Our findings supported this proposal: the peak amplitudes of P200 for scene cartoons were significantly lower than for person perception or ToM cartoons, while there were no significant differences between the latter two for P200. During the 1000-1300 ms epoch, the mean amplitudes of the late positive components (LPC) for person perception were more positive than for scene representation, while the mean amplitudes of the LPC for ToM were more positive than for person perception. The present study provides preliminary evidence of the neural dynamic that underlies the dissociation between person perception and ToM. Copyright 2010 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing Advanced Theory of Mind in Children and Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism: The Spanish Version of the Stories of Everyday Life.

PubMed

Lera-Miguel, Sara; Rosa, Mireia; Puig, Olga; Kaland, Nils; Lázaro, Luisa; Castro-Formieles, Josefina; Calvo, Rosa

2016-01-01

Most individuals with autism spectrum disorders often fail in tasks of theory of mind (ToM). However, those with normal intellectual functioning known as high functioning ASD (HF-ASD) sometimes succeed in mentalizing inferences. Some tools have been developed to more accurately test their ToM abilities. The aims of this study were to examine the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of Stories of Everyday Life Test (SEL) in a sample of 29 children and adolescents with HF-ASD and 25 typically developing controls and to compare their performance. The Spanish-SEL demonstrated good internal consistency, strong convergence with clinical severity and another ToM test, and adequate discriminant validity from intellectual capability and age, identifying the condition of 70 % of participants.

Training preschoolers on first-order false belief understanding: transfer on advanced ToM skills and metamemory.

PubMed

Lecce, Serena; Bianco, Federica; Demicheli, Patrizia; Cavallini, Elena

2014-01-01

This study investigated the relation between theory of mind (ToM) and metamemory knowledge using a training methodology. Sixty-two 4- to 5-year-old children were recruited and randomly assigned to one of two training conditions: A first-order false belief (ToM) and a control condition. Intervention and control groups were equivalent at pretest for age, parents' education, verbal ability, inhibition, and ToM. Results showed that after the intervention children in the ToM group improved in their first-order false belief understanding significantly more than children in the control condition. Crucially, the positive effect of the ToM intervention was stable over 2 months and generalized to more complex ToM tasks and metamemory. © 2014 The Authors. Child Development © 2014 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Empathy and Theory of Mind in Deaf and Hearing Children

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Empathy (or sharing another’s emotion) and theory of mind (ToM: the understanding that behavior is guided by true and false beliefs) are cornerstones of human social life and relationships. In contrast to ToM, there has been little study of empathy’s development, especially in deaf children. Two studies of a total of 117 children (52 hearing; 65 deaf children of hearing parents) aged 4–13 years were therefore designed to (a) compare levels of empathy in deaf and hearing children, and (b) explore correlations of ToM with empathy in deaf and hearing groups. Results showed that (a) deaf children scored lower in empathy than their hearing peers and (b) empathy and ToM were significantly correlated for deaf children but not for the hearing. Possible reasons for these divergent developmental patterns were considered, along with implications for future research. PMID:26668205

Theory-of-Mind Training Causes Honest Young Children to Lie.

PubMed

Ding, Xiao Pan; Wellman, Henry M; Wang, Yu; Fu, Genyue; Lee, Kang

2015-11-01

Theory of mind (ToM) has long been recognized to play a major role in children's social functioning. However, no direct evidence confirms the causal linkage between the two. In the current study, we addressed this significant gap by examining whether ToM causes the emergence of lying, an important social skill. We showed that after participating in ToM training to learn about mental-state concepts, 3-year-olds who originally had been unable to lie began to deceive consistently. This training effect lasted for more than a month. In contrast, 3-year-olds who participated in control training to learn about physical concepts were significantly less inclined to lie than the ToM-trained children. These findings provide the first experimental evidence supporting the causal role of ToM in the development of social competence in early childhood. © The Author(s) 2015.

Theory of mind.

PubMed

Carlson, Stephanie M; Koenig, Melissa A; Harms, Madeline B

2013-07-01

Theory of mind and its development has been a significantly important-and challenging-topic of research in cognitive science for three decades. This review summarizes our knowledge of when and how children come to understand their own and others' minds, including the developmental timetable, old and new measures, and foundational skills in infancy. We review recent research on theory-of-mind (ToM) and learning, that is, ways in which children's understanding of other minds informs how they learn about the world, as well as evidence for an important role of domain-general cognitive skills (executive function) in the development of ToM, and the neural networks that are most strongly implicated. Finally, we propose future directions for research in this vast and growing field. WIREs Cogn Sci 2013, 4:391-402. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1232 The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Advanced Theory of Mind in patients at early stage of Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Yu, Rwei-Ling; Wu, Ruey-Meei; Chiu, Ming-Jang; Tai, Chun-Hwei; Lin, Chin-Hsien; Hua, Mau-Sun

2012-01-01

Advanced Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the sophisticated ability to infer other people's thoughts, intentions, or emotions in social situations. With appropriate advanced ToM, one can behave well in social interactions and can understand the intention of others' behavior. Prefrontal cortex plays a vital role in this ability, as shown in functional brain imaging and lesion studies. Considering the primary neuropathology of Parkinson's disease (PD) involving the frontal lobe system, patients with PD are expected to exhibit deficits in advanced ToM. However, few studies on this issue have been explored, and whether advanced ToM is independent of executive functions remains uncertain. Thirty-nine early non-demented PD patients and 40 normal control subjects were included. Both groups were matched in age, level of education, and verbal intelligence quotient. Each participant received advanced ToM, executive functions, and verbal intelligence quotient tests. We discovered that the performance of the PD patients on the Cartoon ToM task was significantly poorer than that of their normal counterparts. Correlation analysis revealed that performance scores of advanced ToM in PD patients were significantly associated with their executive functions scores; however, this is not the case for normal controls. We conclude that dysfunction of advanced ToM develops in early PD patients, who require more cognitive abilities than their normal counterparts to generate advanced ToM. Our findings might be helpful in developing educational and medical care programs for PD patients in the future. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Origins of Individual Differences in Theory of Mind: From Nature to Nurture?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Claire; Jaffee, Sara R.; Happ, Francesca; Taylor, Alan; Caspi, Avshalom; Moffitt, Terrie E.

2005-01-01

In this study of the origins of individual differences in theory of mind (ToM), the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study sample of 1,116 sixty-month-old twin pairs completed a comprehensive battery of ToM tasks. Individual differences in ToM were striking and strongly associated with verbal ability. Behavioral genetic models of the…

Social Competence in Children with Borderline Intellectual Functioning: Delayed Development of Theory of Mind Across All Complexity Levels

PubMed Central

Baglio, Gisella; Blasi, Valeria; Sangiuliano Intra, Francesca; Castelli, Ilaria; Massaro, Davide; Baglio, Francesca; Valle, Annalisa; Zanette, Michela; Marchetti, Antonella

2016-01-01

Borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) is characterized by heterogeneous cognitive difficulties, with an intelligence quotient (IQ) between 70 and 85 points, and a failure to meet the developmental and sociocultural standards for personal independence and social responsibility required in daily life. The fact that this population still remain a marginal clinical category, with no ad hoc diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, has stimulated the present research. Our goal was to study children with BIF investigating the development of Theory of Mind (ToM) as a pillar of social competence. Children with BIF (N = 28, 16 male/12 female, and mean age 9.46 ± 1.26 years) and children with typical development (TD; N = 31, 17 male/14 female; mean age 8.94 years ± 0.99) underwent a neurocognitive assessment and a ToM assessment. Children with BIF showed a significant lower performance across all the levels of ToM development investigated compared to the control group, and a correlation between executive functions and the advanced levels of ToM reasoning. These results constitute a first step in the direction of defining the clinical profile of children with BIF concerning ToM development, opening the way to future interventions in order to support the developmental evolution of this population in an adaptive direction. PMID:27818637

Language and ToM Development in Autism versus Asperger Syndrome: Contrasting Influences of Syntactic versus Lexical/Semantic Maturity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paynter, Jessica; Peterson, Candida

2010-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) development by a sample of 63 children aged 5-12 years (24 with Asperger syndrome, 19 with high-functioning autism, and 20 age-matched typical developers) was assessed with a five-task false-belief battery in relation to both lexical (vocabulary) and syntactic (grammar) language skills. Contrary to some previous research, no…

Phonological Awareness, Executive Functioning, and Theory of Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrar, M. Jeffrey; Ashwell, Sylvia

2012-01-01

Language plays a critical role in theory of mind (ToM) development, particularly the understanding of false beliefs (FB). Further, there is some evidence that the development of FB is important for metalinguistic development, such as the understanding of homonyms and synonyms. However, there is debate regarding the nature of this relationship.…

Evidence from paranoid schizophrenia for more than one component of theory of mind

PubMed Central

Scherzer, Peter; Achim, André; Léveillé, Edith; Boisseau, Emilie; Stip, Emmanuel

2015-01-01

We previously reported finding that performance was impaired on four out of five theory of mind (ToM) tests in a group of 21 individuals diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia (pScz), relative to a non-clinical group of 29 individuals (Scherzer et al., 2012). Only the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test did not distinguish between groups. A principal components analysis revealed that the results on the ToM battery could be explained by one general ToM factor with the possibility of a latent second factor. As well, the tests were not equally sensitive to the pathology. There was also overmentalization in some ToM tests and under-mentalisation in others. These results led us to postulate that there is more than one component to ToM. We hypothesized that correlations between the different EF measures and ToM tests would differ sufficiently within and between groups to support this hypothesis. We considered the relationship between the performance on eight EF tests and five ToM tests in the same diagnosed and non-clinical individuals as in the first study. The ToM tests shared few EF correlates and each had its own best EF predictor. These findings support the hypothesis of multiple ToM components. PMID:26579026

Cumulative Risk Disparities in Children's Neurocognitive Functioning: A Developmental Cascade Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wade, Mark; Browne, Dillon T.; Plamondon, Andre; Daniel, Ella; Jenkins, Jennifer M.

2016-01-01

The current longitudinal study examined the role of cumulative social risk on children's theory of mind (ToM) and executive functioning (EF) across early development. Further, we also tested a cascade model of development in which children's social cognition at 18 months was hypothesized to predict ToM and EF at age 4.5 through intermediary…

Simple Mindreading Abilities Predict Complex Theory of Mind: Developmental Delay in Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pino, Maria Chiara; Mazza, Monica; Mariano, Melania; Peretti, Sara; Dimitriou, Dagmara; Masedu, Francesco; Valenti, Marco; Franco, Fabia

2017-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The aims of this study were to: (i) examine the developmental trajectories of ToM abilities in two different mentalizing tasks in children with ASD compared to TD children; and (ii) to assess if a ToM simple test known as eyes-test could predict performance on…

Social Competence, Theory of Mind, and Executive Function in Institution-Reared Turkish Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Etel, Evren; Yagmurlu, Bilge

2015-01-01

This study had two aims. The first aim was to measure mental state understanding in institution-reared children by using a theory of mind (ToM) scale, and to examine the role of cultural context in sequencing of ToM acquisition. The other aim was to investigate ToM in relation to social competence and executive function (EF). Due to its pronounced…

Does Theory of Mind Performance Differ in Children with Early-Onset and Regressive Autism?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matthews, Nicole L.; Goldberg, Wendy A.; Lukowski, Angela F.; Osann, Kathryn; Abdullah, Maryam M.; Ly, Agnes R.; Thorsen, Kara; Spence, M. Anne

2012-01-01

A deficit in theory of mind (ToM), or the ability to infer the mental states of others, has been implicated as one of the major characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); however, little attention has been devoted to possible differences in ToM ability within ASD. The current study examined ToM performance in children with early-onset…

Collaborative Mother-Toddler Communication and Theory of Mind Development at Age 4

PubMed Central

Sung, Jihyun; Hsu, Hui-Chin

2014-01-01

Focusing on social pragmatics, this longitudinal study investigated the contribution of mother-toddler collaborative communication to theory of mind (ToM) development at age 4. At age 2½, 78 toddlers’ (42 boys) and their mothers were observed during pretend play. At age 4, children were tested using 4 false belief understanding tasks. Both mothers and toddlers engaged in more collaborative (inform, guide/request, and support/confirm) than non-collaborative communication acts. Other-focused collaborative acts of support/confirm by mothers and toddlers predicted children’s false belief understanding, even after controlling for 5 covariates. In addition, as active agents in their own ToM development, the contribution of toddlers’ collaborative acts to false belief understanding was independent of their mothers. Finally, the way toddlers and their mothers co-constructing their communication mattered. Only when toddlers engaged in high levels of collaborative acts, the mothers’ high levels of collaborative acts demonstrated a positive effect on children’s ToM development. The applied implications of these findings were discussed. PMID:25132699

The economic approach to 'theory of mind'.

PubMed

Robalino, Nikolaus; Robson, Arthur

2012-08-05

Theory of mind (ToM) is a great evolutionary achievement. It is a special intelligence that can assess not only one's own desires and beliefs, but also those of others. Whether it is uniquely human or not is controversial, but it is clear that humans are, at least, significantly better at ToM than any other animal. Economists and game theorists have developed sophisticated and powerful models of ToM and we provide a detailed summary of this here. This economic ToM entails a hierarchy of beliefs. I know my preferences, and I have beliefs (a probabilistic distribution) about your preferences, beliefs about your beliefs about my preferences, and so on. We then contrast this economic ToM with the theoretical approaches of neuroscience and with empirical data in general. Although this economic view provides a benchmark and makes useful suggestions about empirical tendencies, it does not always generate a close fit with the data. This provides an opportunity for a synergistic interdisciplinary production of a falsifiable theory of bounded rationality. In particular, a ToM that is founded on evolutionary biology might well be sufficiently structured to have predictive power, while remaining quite general. We sketch two papers that represent preliminary steps in this direction.

Theory of mind: mechanisms, methods, and new directions

PubMed Central

Byom, Lindsey J.; Mutlu, Bilge

2013-01-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) has received significant research attention. Traditional ToM research has provided important understanding of how humans reason about mental states by utilizing shared world knowledge, social cues, and the interpretation of actions; however, many current behavioral paradigms are limited to static, “third-person” protocols. Emerging experimental approaches such as cognitive simulation and simulated social interaction offer opportunities to investigate ToM in interactive, “first-person” and “second-person” scenarios while affording greater experimental control. The advantages and limitations of traditional and emerging ToM methodologies are discussed with the intent of advancing the understanding of ToM in socially mediated situations. PMID:23964218

Theory of mind impairments in first-episode psychosis, individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis and in first-degree relatives of schizophrenia: systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Bora, Emre; Pantelis, Christos

2013-03-01

Theory of mind (ToM) deficit is a well-established feature of schizophrenia and has been suggested as a vulnerability marker of this disorder. However, as most of this evidence is based on studies in chronic patients, it is less clear whether ToM is impaired prior to or following the onset of a first-episode and whether it is evident in unaffected relatives of patients. In this meta-analysis, ToM performance of 3005 individuals with first-episode psychosis (FEP), individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR) and unaffected relatives were compared with 1351 healthy controls. ToM was substantially impaired in first-episode psychosis (Cohen d=1.0) and this deficit was comparable to findings in chronic patients. ToM was also impaired in unaffected relatives (d=0.37) and UHR subjects (d=0.45) and performances of these groups were intermediate between FES and healthy controls. Severity of ToM deficits in unaffected relatives and UHR subjects was similar to other cognitive deficits observed in these groups. Longitudinal studies of clinical and genetic high-risk subjects are necessary to investigate the trajectory of development of ToM deficits in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Theory of mind in emerging reading comprehension: A longitudinal study of early indirect and direct effects.

PubMed

Atkinson, Lynette; Slade, Lance; Powell, Daisy; Levy, Joseph P

2017-12-01

The relation between children's theory of mind (ToM) and emerging reading comprehension was investigated in a longitudinal study over 2.5years. A total of 80 children were tested for ToM, decoding, language skills, and executive function (EF) at Time 1 (mean age=3;10 [years;months]). At Time 2 (mean age=6;03), children's word reading efficiency, language skills, and reading comprehension were measured. Mediation analysis showed that ToM at Time 1, when children were around 4years old, indirectly predicted Time 2 reading comprehension, when children were 6years old, via language ability after controlling for age, nonverbal ability, decoding, EF, and earlier language ability. Importantly, ToM at 4years also directly predicted reading comprehension 2.5years later at 6years. This is the first longitudinal study to show a direct contribution of ToM to reading comprehension in typical development. Findings are discussed in terms of the simple view of reading (SVR); ToM not only supports reading comprehension indirectly by facilitating language but also contributes to it directly over and above the SVR. The potential role of metacognition is considered when accounting for the direct contribution of early ToM to later reading comprehension. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Theory of mind understanding and empathic behavior in children with autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Peterson, Candida

2014-12-01

This paper begins with a review of past research on theory of mind and empathy in children with ASD. Using varied operational definitions of empathy ranging from physiological heart rate through story vignettes to reports by privileged observers (e.g., teachers) of children's empathic behavior, results of previous studies are limited and contradictory. Thus new evidence is needed to answer two key questions: Are children with ASD less empathic than typically developing children? Do individual differences in theory of mind (ToM) understanding among children with ASD predict differences in their behavioral empathy? An original empirical study of 76 children aged 3-12 years (37 with ASD; 39 with typical development) addressed these. Results showed that children with ASD were significantly less empathic, according to their teachers, than typically developing children. However, this was not because of their slower ToM development. Findings showed equally clearly that ToM understanding was unrelated to empathy in children with ASD. The same was true for typically developing children once age and verbal maturity were controlled. Indeed, even the subgroup of older children with ASD in the sample who passed false belief tests were significantly less empathic than younger preschoolers who failed them. Copyright © 2014 ISDN. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory of mind skills are related to gray matter volume in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Hooker, Christine I.; Bruce, Lori; Lincoln, Sarah Hope; Fisher, Melissa; Vinogradov, Sophia

2011-01-01

Background Among individuals with schizophrenia, deficits in theory of mind (ToM) skills predict poor social functioning. Therefore, identifying the neural basis of ToM may assist the development of treatments that improve social outcomes. Despite growing evidence that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) facilitates ToM skills among healthy individuals, methodological challenges, such as the influence of general cognitive deficits, have made it difficult to identify the relationship between ToM processing and VMPFC function in schizophrenia. Methods We used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and a multi-method behavioral assessment of ToM processing, including performance-based (Recognition of Faux Pas Test), self-report (Interpersonal Reactivity Index, Perspective-Taking), and interview-rated (Quality of Life Scale–Empathy score) ToM assessments, to investigate whether ToM skills were related to VMPFC gray matter volume (GMV). Standardized neuropsychological measures were used to assess global cognition. 21 schizophrenia and 17 healthy control subjects participated. Results Between-group behavioral analyses showed that, as compared to healthy participants, schizophrenia participants had worse ToM performance and lower self-reported ToM processing in daily life. The between-group analysis of GMV showed that schizophrenia participants had less VMPFC GMV than healthy participants. Moreover, among schizophrenia participants, all three measures of ToM processing were associated with VMPFC GMV, such that worse ToM skills were related to less VMPFC GMV. This association remained strong for self-reported and interview-rated ToM skills even when controlling for the influence of global cognition. Conclusions The findings suggest that among individuals with schizophrenia, reduced VMPFC GMV is specifically associated with deficits using ToM skills to enhance social relationships. PMID:21917239

Theory of mind skills are related to gray matter volume in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Hooker, Christine I; Bruce, Lori; Lincoln, Sarah Hope; Fisher, Melissa; Vinogradov, Sophia

2011-12-15

Among individuals with schizophrenia, deficits in theory of mind (ToM) skills predict poor social functioning. Therefore, identifying the neural basis of ToM may assist the development of treatments that improve social outcomes. Despite growing evidence that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) facilitates ToM skills among healthy individuals, methodological challenges, such as the influence of general cognitive deficits, have made it difficult to identify the relationship between ToM processing and VMPFC function in schizophrenia. We used voxel-based morphometry and a multi-method behavioral assessment of ToM processing, including performance-based (Recognition of Faux Pas Test), self-report (Interpersonal Reactivity Index, Perspective-Taking), and interview-rated (Quality of Life Scale-Empathy score) ToM assessments, to investigate whether ToM skills were related to VMPFC gray matter volume (GMV). Standardized neuropsychological measures were used to assess global cognition. Twenty-one schizophrenia and 17 healthy control subjects participated. Between-group behavioral analyses showed that, as compared with healthy participants, schizophrenia participants had worse ToM performance and lower self-reported ToM processing in daily life. The between-group analysis of GMV showed that schizophrenia participants had less VMPFC GMV than healthy participants. Moreover, among schizophrenia participants, all three measures of ToM processing were associated with VMPFC GMV, such that worse ToM skills were related to less VMPFC GMV. This association remained strong for self-reported and interview-rated ToM skills, even when controlling for the influence of global cognition. The findings suggest that among individuals with schizophrenia, reduced VMPFC GMV is associated with deficits using ToM skills to enhance social relationships. 2011 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Theory of mind and emotion recognition skills in children with specific language impairment, autism spectrum disorder and typical development: group differences and connection to knowledge of grammatical morphology, word-finding abilities and verbal working memory.

PubMed

Loukusa, Soile; Mäkinen, Leena; Kuusikko-Gauffin, Sanna; Ebeling, Hanna; Moilanen, Irma

2014-01-01

Social perception skills, such as understanding the mind and emotions of others, affect children's communication abilities in real-life situations. In addition to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is increasing knowledge that children with specific language impairment (SLI) also demonstrate difficulties in their social perception abilities. To compare the performance of children with SLI, ASD and typical development (TD) in social perception tasks measuring Theory of Mind (ToM) and emotion recognition. In addition, to evaluate the association between social perception tasks and language tests measuring word-finding abilities, knowledge of grammatical morphology and verbal working memory. Children with SLI (n = 18), ASD (n = 14) and TD (n = 25) completed two NEPSY-II subtests measuring social perception abilities: (1) Affect Recognition and (2) ToM (includes Verbal and non-verbal Contextual tasks). In addition, children's word-finding abilities were measured with the TWF-2, grammatical morphology by using the Grammatical Closure subtest of ITPA, and verbal working memory by using subtests of Sentence Repetition or Word List Interference (chosen according the child's age) of the NEPSY-II. Children with ASD scored significantly lower than children with SLI or TD on the NEPSY-II Affect Recognition subtest. Both SLI and ASD groups scored significantly lower than TD children on Verbal tasks of the ToM subtest of NEPSY-II. However, there were no significant group differences on non-verbal Contextual tasks of the ToM subtest of the NEPSY-II. Verbal tasks of the ToM subtest were correlated with the Grammatical Closure subtest and TWF-2 in children with SLI. In children with ASD correlation between TWF-2 and ToM: Verbal tasks was moderate, almost achieving statistical significance, but no other correlations were found. Both SLI and ASD groups showed difficulties in tasks measuring verbal ToM but differences were not found in tasks measuring non-verbal Contextual ToM. The association between Verbal ToM tasks and language tests was stronger in children with SLI than in children with ASD. There is a need for further studies in order to understand interaction between different areas of language and cognitive development. © 2014 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Early Bilingualism Enhances Mechanisms of False-Belief Reasoning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kovacs, Agnes Melinda

2009-01-01

In their first years, children's understanding of mental states seems to improve dramatically, but the mechanisms underlying these changes are still unclear. Such "theory of mind" (ToM) abilities may arise during development, or have an innate basis, developmental changes reflecting limitations of other abilities involved in ToM tasks (e.g.…

A child-centred exploration of the relevance of family and friends to theory of mind development.

PubMed

Wright, Barlow C; Mahfoud, Janina

2012-02-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) is said to develop at around 4 years old. But some studies suggest it develops considerably earlier than this, with others suggesting it develops much later. Although several recent studies have found that social factors (like gender, family size, number of siblings, and number of friends) can impact on ToM, other studies contradict those findings. We wondered whether addressing several procedural issues and ensuring the task concerns real protagonists in real time, would bear on the above issues. Here, 114 children of 3-6 years completed four ToM tasks incorporating controls from experimental psychology, including randomly varying the order of ToM and non-ToM questions across participants. Now, children passed ToM tasks from around 5 years old, rather than 4 years or earlier. Girls did not develop ToM any earlier than boys. There was clear correlational evidence for the older-sibling effect and effects of friends but no reliable effects of nuclear or extended family. However, when these factors were set in the context of one another, the sibling effect was driven by a negative influence from younger siblings (as opposed to older siblings) and the friends effect was driven by friends at school (as opposed to friends at home). Finally, "friends" was a stronger predictor than siblings but memory (a cognitive factor) and age (a maturational factor) were the strongest predictors of all. © 2011 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2011 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

The link between impaired theory of mind and executive function in children with cerebral palsy.

PubMed

Li, Xiaoming; Wang, Kai; Wu, Jianxian; Hong, Yongfeng; Zhao, Jingpu; Feng, Xiaojun; Xu, Mei; Wang, Min; Ndasauka, Yamikani; Zhang, Xiaochu

2014-07-01

The aim of the study was to explore the relationship between theory of mind (ToM) deficits and executive function (EF) impairments in children with cerebral palsy (CP), 42 CP with children and 42 typically developing (TD) children, acting as controls, were assessed on the tasks of ToM (false belief and faux pas) and EF (inhibition, updating and shifting). Results showed that CP children had deficits both in ToM and EF tasks. The correlation analyses showed that two EF components (inhibition and updating) were strongly related to false belief and faux pas in both two groups. We also found correlation between shifting and false belief and faux pas. However, this correlation was only found in TD children and not in children with CP. These findings suggest that children with CP lag behind TD children in both ToM and EF. Further, the results reveal, interestingly, that ToM deficits in CP children might be related to their inhibition and updating impairments, but not to shifting impairments. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hearing Mothers and Oral Deaf Children: An Atypical Relational Context for Theory of Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lecciso, Flavia; Petrocchi, Serena; Marchetti, Antonella

2013-01-01

The study assessed Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities in a group of oral deaf children and in their hearing mothers using a battery of ToM tasks. It also investigated the connection between mother and child in ToM performance. Participants were: 17 oral deaf children (aged 5 to 14 years) were paired by gender, age, and mental age with 17 hearing…

The Children's Social Understanding Scale: Construction and Validation of a Parent-Report Measure for Assessing Individual Differences in Children's Theories of Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tahiroglu, Deniz; Moses, Louis J.; Carlson, Stephanie M.; Mahy, Caitlin E. V.; Olofson, Eric L.; Sabbagh, Mark A.

2014-01-01

Children's theory of mind (ToM) is typically measured with laboratory assessments of performance. Although these measures have generated a wealth of informative data concerning developmental progressions in ToM, they may be less useful as the sole source of information about individual differences in ToM and their relation to other facets of…

The relationship between theory of mind and autobiographical memory in high-functioning autism and Asperger syndrome.

PubMed

Adler, Noga; Nadler, Benny; Eviatar, Zohar; Shamay-Tsoory, Simone G

2010-06-30

The relationship between theory of mind (ToM) and autobiographical memory (AM) in high-functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger syndrome (AS) has never been investigated. Here, we show that ToM abilities could be predicted by levels of AM in HFA and AS as compared to controls, suggesting that difficulties in AM are closely related to ToM impairments in HFA and AS.

Translating child development research into practice: Can teachers foster children's theory of mind in primary school?

PubMed

Bianco, Federica; Lecce, Serena

2016-12-01

Translating research findings into practice should be one of the objectives of developmental psychology. Recently, research demonstrated the existence of individual differences in theory of mind (ToM) during middle childhood that are crucial for children's academic and social adjustment. This study aims to transfer the results of recent experimental studies on ToM interventions into primary-school teachers' practices. It examines whether a ToM training programme, based on conversations about mental states, can be effective under real-world school conditions and if it can be translated in such a way that it becomes suitable for primary-school teachers. Seventy-two 8- to 9-year-old children took part in the study. A total of four classes were recruited and randomly assigned to the experimental (34 children, 18 boys) or to the control condition (38 children, 18 boys). The ToM group and the control group were matched at pre-test for age, ToM, socio-economic background, verbal ability, working memory, and planning. Teachers were trained in four teacher-training sessions; the classroom-training programme was delivered by teachers in four sessions (each 50 min long). Children were assessed before the intervention, after the end of the programme, and 2 months later. The ToM group improved ToM skills significantly more than the control group both in the short and in the long term. Teachers can successfully promote their pupils' ToM development during their regular teaching hours. Results are discussed in the light of the importance of ToM promotion for children's school adjustment. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Theory-of-mind development in oral deaf children with cochlear implants or conventional hearing aids.

PubMed

Peterson, Candida C

2004-09-01

In the context of the established finding that theory-of-mind (ToM) growth is seriously delayed in late-signing deaf children, and some evidence of equivalent delays in those learning speech with conventional hearing aids, this study's novel contribution was to explore ToM development in deaf children with cochlear implants. Implants can substantially boost auditory acuity and rates of language growth. Despite the implant, there are often problems socialising with hearing peers and some language difficulties, lending special theoretical interest to the present comparative design. A total of 52 children aged 4 to 12 years took a battery of false belief tests of ToM. There were 26 oral deaf children, half with implants and half with hearing aids, evenly divided between oral-only versus sign-plus-oral schools. Comparison groups of age-matched high-functioning children with autism and younger hearing children were also included. No significant ToM differences emerged between deaf children with implants and those with hearing aids, nor between those in oral-only versus sign-plus-oral schools. Nor did the deaf children perform any better on the ToM tasks than their age peers with autism. Hearing preschoolers scored significantly higher than all other groups. For the deaf and the autistic children, as well as the preschoolers, rate of language development and verbal maturity significantly predicted variability in ToM, over and above chronological age. The finding that deaf children with cochlear implants are as delayed in ToM development as children with autism and their deaf peers with hearing aids or late sign language highlights the likely significance of peer interaction and early fluent communication with peers and family, whether in sign or in speech, in order to optimally facilitate the growth of social cognition and language.

Theory of mind and its relationship with executive functions and emotion recognition in borderline personality disorder.

PubMed

Baez, Sandra; Marengo, Juan; Perez, Ana; Huepe, David; Font, Fernanda Giralt; Rial, Veronica; Gonzalez-Gadea, María Luz; Manes, Facundo; Ibanez, Agustin

2015-09-01

Impaired social cognition has been claimed to be a mechanism underlying the development and maintenance of borderline personality disorder (BPD). One important aspect of social cognition is the theory of mind (ToM), a complex skill that seems to be influenced by more basic processes, such as executive functions (EF) and emotion recognition. Previous ToM studies in BPD have yielded inconsistent results. This study assessed the performance of BPD adults on ToM, emotion recognition, and EF tasks. We also examined whether EF and emotion recognition could predict the performance on ToM tasks. We evaluated 15 adults with BPD and 15 matched healthy controls using different tasks of EF, emotion recognition, and ToM. The results showed that BPD adults exhibited deficits in the three domains, which seem to be task-dependent. Furthermore, we found that EF and emotion recognition predicted the performance on ToM. Our results suggest that tasks that involve real-life social scenarios and contextual cues are more sensitive to detect ToM and emotion recognition deficits in BPD individuals. Our findings also indicate that (a) ToM variability in BPD is partially explained by individual differences on EF and emotion recognition; and (b) ToM deficits of BPD patients are partially explained by the capacity to integrate cues from face, prosody, gesture, and social context to identify the emotions and others' beliefs. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Exploratory study of the association between insight and Theory of Mind (ToM) in stable schizophrenia patients.

PubMed

Pousa, Esther; Duñó, Rosó; Blas Navarro, J; Ruiz, Ada I; Obiols, Jordi E; David, Anthony S

2008-05-01

Poor insight and impairment in Theory of Mind (ToM) reasoning are common in schizophrenia, predicting poorer clinical and functional outcomes. The present study aimed to explore the relationship between these phenomena. 61 individuals with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia during a stable phase were included. ToM was assessed using a picture sequencing task developed by Langdon and Coltheart (1999), and insight with the Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder (SUMD; Amador et al., 1993). Multivariate linear regression analysis was carried out to estimate the predictive value of insight on ToM, taking into account several possible confounders and interaction variables. No direct significant associations were found between any of the insight dimensions and ToM using bivariate analysis. However, a significant linear regression model which explained 48% of the variance in ToM was revealed in the multivariate analysis. This included the 5 insight dimensions and 3 interaction variables. Misattribution of symptoms--in aware patients with age at onset >20 years--and unawareness of need for medication--in patients with GAF >60--were significantly predictive of better ToM. Insight and ToM are two complex and distinct phenomena in schizophrenia. Relationships between them are mediated by psychosocial, clinical, and neurocognitive variables. Intact ToM may be a prerequisite for aware patients to attribute their symptoms to causes other than mental illness, which could in turn be associated with denial of need for medication.

Steps in Theory-of-Mind Development for Children with Deafness or Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Candida C.; Wellman, Henry M.; Liu, David

2005-01-01

Prior research demonstrates that understanding theory of mind (ToM) is seriously and similarly delayed in late-signing deaf children and children with autism. Are these children simply delayed in timing relative to typical children, or do they demonstrate different patterns of development? The current research addressed this question by testing…

Theory of mind ability in high socially anxious individuals.

PubMed

Lenton-Brym, Ariella P; Moscovitch, David A; Vidovic, Vanja; Nilsen, Elizabeth; Friedman, Ori

2018-06-25

Research has demonstrated an association between social anxiety and impaired Theory of Mind (ToM). We assess whether ToM deficits occur even at a subclinical level of social anxiety and whether group differences in ToM performance are consistent with interpretation bias. We also explore potential reasons as to why socially anxious individuals may perform differently on ToM tasks. Undergraduate participants high (HSA; n = 78) and low (LSA; n = 35) in social anxiety completed a task of ToM decoding, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (MIE), a task of ToM reasoning, the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC), and a post-task questionnaire about their experience completing the MASC. HSAs performed marginally worse than LSAs on the MIE on neutrally valenced trials, and their pattern of errors may be consistent with a negative interpretation bias. HSAs and LSAs did not differ overall in performance on the MASC, though HSAs reported experiencing more confusion and distress than LSAs during the task, and this distress was associated with more MASC errors for HSA participants only. These results provide insight into the nature of ToM ability in socially anxious individuals and highlight important avenues for future research.

Money Affects Theory of Mind Differently by Gender

PubMed Central

Ridinger, Garret; McBride, Michael

2015-01-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) ─ the ability to understand other’s thoughts, intentions, and emotions ─ is important for navigating interpersonal relationships, avoiding conflict, and empathizing. Prior research has identified many factors that affect one’s ToM ability, but little work has examined how different kinds of monetary incentives affect ToM ability. We ask: Does money affect ToM ability? If so, how does the effect depend on the structure of monetary incentives? How do the differences depend on gender? We hypothesize that money will affect ToM ability differently by gender: monetary rewards increase males’ motivation to express ToM ability while simultaneously crowding out females’ motivation. This prediction is confirmed in an experiment that varies the structure of monetary rewards for correct answers in the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). RMET scores decrease for females and increase for males with individual payments, and this effect is stronger with competitively-structured payments. RMET scores do not significantly change when monetary earnings go to a charity. Whether money improves or hinders ToM ability, and, hence, success in social interactions, thus depends on the interaction of gender and monetary incentive structure. PMID:26633171

Early bilingualism enhances mechanisms of false-belief reasoning.

PubMed

Kovács, Agnes Melinda

2009-01-01

In their first years, children's understanding of mental states seems to improve dramatically, but the mechanisms underlying these changes are still unclear. Such 'theory of mind' (ToM) abilities may arise during development, or have an innate basis, developmental changes reflecting limitations of other abilities involved in ToM tasks (e.g. inhibition). Special circumstances such as early bilingualism may enhance ToM development or other capacities required by ToM tasks. Here we compare 3-year-old bilinguals and monolinguals on a standard ToM task, a modified ToM task and a control task involving physical reasoning. The modified ToM task mimicked a language-switch situation that bilinguals often encounter and that could influence their ToM abilities. If such experience contributes to an early consolidation of ToM in bilinguals, they should be selectively enhanced in the modified task. In contrast, if bilinguals have an advantage due to better executive inhibitory abilities involved in ToM tasks, they should outperform monolinguals on both ToM tasks, inhibitory demands being similar. Bilingual children showed an advantage on the two ToM tasks but not on the control task. The precocious success of bilinguals may be associated with their well-developed control functions formed during monitoring and selecting languages.

Early Manifestations of Children's Theory of Mind: The Roles of Maternal Mind-Mindedness and Infant Security of Attachment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laranjo, Jessica; Bernier, Annie; Meins, Elizabeth; Carlson, Stephanie M.

2010-01-01

This study investigated two aspects of mother-child relationships--mothers' mind-mindedness and infant attachment security--in relation to two early aspects of children's theory of mind development (ToM). Sixty-one mother-child dyads (36 girls) participated in testing phases at 12 (T1), 15 (T2), and 26 months of age (T3), allowing for assessment…

Social versus Intrapersonal ToM: Social ToM Is a Cognitive Strength for Low- and Middle-SES Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lucariello, Joan M.; Durand, Tina M.; Yarnell, Lisa

2007-01-01

Metarepresentational theory of mind (ToM) was studied in middle- and low-SES five- and six-year-olds. Two aspects of ToM were distinguished. Reasoning about one's own mental states (Intrapersonal ToM) was assessed in the intrapersonal ToM task condition and reasoning about others' mental states (Social ToM) was assessed in the social ToM task…

Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind.

PubMed

Kidd, David Comer; Castano, Emanuele

2013-10-18

Understanding others' mental states is a crucial skill that enables the complex social relationships that characterize human societies. Yet little research has investigated what fosters this skill, which is known as Theory of Mind (ToM), in adults. We present five experiments showing that reading literary fiction led to better performance on tests of affective ToM (experiments 1 to 5) and cognitive ToM (experiments 4 and 5) compared with reading nonfiction (experiments 1), popular fiction (experiments 2 to 5), or nothing at all (experiments 2 and 5). Specifically, these results show that reading literary fiction temporarily enhances ToM. More broadly, they suggest that ToM may be influenced by engagement with works of art.

The validity and scalability of the Theory of Mind Scale with toddlers and preschoolers.

PubMed

Hiller, Rachel M; Weber, Nathan; Young, Robyn L

2014-12-01

Despite the importance of theory of mind (ToM) for typical development, there remain 2 key issues affecting our ability to draw robust conclusions. One is the continued focus on false belief as the sole measure of ToM. The second is the lack of empirically validated measures of ToM as a broad construct. Our key aim was to examine the validity and reliability of the 5-item ToM scale (Peterson, Wellman, & Liu, 2005). In particular, we extended on previous research of this scale by assessing its scalability and validity for use with children from 2 years of age. Sixty-eight typically developing children (aged 24 to 61 months) were assessed on the scale's 5 tasks, along with a sixth Sally-Anne false-belief task. Our data replicated the scalability of the 5 tasks for a Rasch-but not Guttman-scale. Guttman analysis showed that a 4-item scale may be more suitable for this age range. Further, the tasks showed good internal consistency and validity for use with children as young as 2 years of age. Overall, the measure provides a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of ToM, and in particular, the longitudinal assessment of this ability as a construct. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Perceived social acceptance, theory of mind and social adjustment in children with intellectual disabilities.

PubMed

Fiasse, Catherine; Nader-Grosbois, Nathalie

2012-01-01

Perceived social acceptance, theory of mind (ToM) and social adjustment were investigated in 45 children with intellectual disabilities (ID) compared with 45 typically developing (TD) preschoolers, matched for developmental age assessed by means of the Differential Scales of Intellectual Efficiency-Revised edition (EDEI-R, Perron-Borelli, 1996). Children's understanding of beliefs and emotions was assessed by means of ToM belief tasks (Nader-Grosbois & Thirion-Marissiaux, 2011) and ToM emotion tasks (Nader-Grosbois & Thirion-Marissiaux, 2011). Seven items from the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for children (PSPCSA, Harter & Pike, 1980) assessed children's perceived social acceptance. Their teachers completed the Social Adjustment for Children Scale (EASE, Hughes, Soares-Boucaud, Hochmann, & Frith, 1997). For both groups together, the results showed that perceived social acceptance mediates the relation between ToM skills and social adjustment. The presence or absence of intellectual disabilities does not moderate the relations either between ToM skills and perceived social acceptance, or between perceived social acceptance and social adjustment. The study did not confirm the difference hypothesis of structural and relational patterns between these three processes in children with ID, but instead supported the hypothesis of a similar structure that develops in a delayed manner. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory of Mind and Emotion Understanding Predict Moral Development in Early Childhood

PubMed Central

Lane, Jonathan D.; Wellman, Henry M.; Olson, Sheryl L.; LaBounty, Jennifer; Kerr, David C. R.

2011-01-01

The current study utilized longitudinal data to investigate how theory of mind (ToM) and emotion understanding (EU) concurrently and prospectively predicted young children’s moral reasoning and decision-making. One hundred twenty-eight children were assessed on measures of ToM and EU at 3.5 years- and 5.5 years-of-age. At 5.5 years, children were also assessed on the quality of moral reasoning and decision-making they used to negotiate prosocial moral dilemmas, in which the needs of a story protagonist conflict with the needs of another story character. More sophisticated EU predicted greater use of physical- and material-needs reasoning, and a more advanced ToM predicted greater use of psychological-needs reasoning. Most intriguing, ToM and EU jointly predicted greater use of higher-level acceptance-authority reasoning, which is likely a product of children’s increasing appreciation for the knowledge held by trusted adults and children’s desire to behave in accordance with social expectations. PMID:21121472

Theory of mind and emotion understanding predict moral development in early childhood.

PubMed

Lane, Jonathan D; Wellman, Henry M; Olson, Sheryl L; LaBounty, Jennifer; Kerr, David C R

2010-11-01

The current study utilized longitudinal data to investigate how theory of mind (ToM) and emotion understanding (EU) concurrently and prospectively predicted young children's moral reasoning and decision making. One hundred twenty-eight children were assessed on measures of ToM and EU at 3.5 and 5.5 years of age. At 5.5 years, children were also assessed on the quality of moral reasoning and decision making they used to negotiate prosocial moral dilemmas, in which the needs of a story protagonist conflict with the needs of another story character. More sophisticated EU predicted greater use of physical- and material-needs reasoning, and a more advanced ToM predicted greater use of psychological-needs reasoning. Most intriguing, ToM and EU jointly predicted greater use of higher-level acceptance-authority reasoning, which is likely a product of children's increasing appreciation for the knowledge held by trusted adults and children's desire to behave in accordance with social expectations.

Empathy and Theory of Mind in Deaf and Hearing Children.

PubMed

Peterson, Candida C

2016-04-01

Empathy (or sharing another's emotion) and theory of mind (ToM: the understanding that behavior is guided by true and false beliefs) are cornerstones of human social life and relationships. In contrast to ToM, there has been little study of empathy's development, especially in deaf children. Two studies of a total of 117 children (52 hearing; 65 deaf children of hearing parents) aged 4-13 years were therefore designed to (a) compare levels of empathy in deaf and hearing children, and (b) explore correlations of ToM with empathy in deaf and hearing groups. Results showed that (a) deaf children scored lower in empathy than their hearing peers and (b) empathy and ToM were significantly correlated for deaf children but not for the hearing. Possible reasons for these divergent developmental patterns were considered, along with implications for future research. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Why We Think We Can't Dance: Theory of Mind and Children's Desire to Perform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chaplin, Lan Nguyen; Norton, Michael I.

2015-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) allows children to achieve success in the social world by understanding others' minds. A study with 3- to 12-year-olds, however, demonstrates that gains in ToM are linked to decreases in children's desire to engage in performative behaviors associated with health and well-being, such as singing and dancing. One hundred and…

Mind What Mother Says: Narrative Input and Theory of Mind in Typical Children and Those on the Autism Spectrum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slaughter, Virginia; Peterson, Candida C.; Mackintosh, Emily

2007-01-01

In 2 studies mothers read wordless storybooks to their preschool-aged children; narratives were analyzed for mental state language. Children's theory-of-mind understanding (ToM) was concurrently assessed. In Study 1, children's (N=30; M age 3 years 9 months) ToM task performance was significantly correlated with mothers' explanatory, causal, and…

The origins of children's metamemory: the role of theory of mind.

PubMed

Lecce, Serena; Demicheli, Patrizia; Zocchi, Silvia; Palladino, Paola

2015-03-01

The relation between preschoolers' theory of mind (ToM) and declarative metamemory (DM) was investigated in two studies. The first study focused on 4-year-old children's (N=106) cognitive and affective ToM and their DM. The data showed a significant association between cognitive (but not affective) ToM and DM, independent of verbal ability, non-verbal ability, and working memory. The second study involved 83 children tested at 4 years 6 months of age (and 6 months later) for cognitive ToM and DM. Here, results showed that early cognitive ToM, in particular false-belief understanding, predicts later DM independent of early verbal ability. These data support a view considering cognitive ToM as a precursor of children's DM. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Implicit and Explicit False Belief Development in Preschool Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grosse Wiesmann, Charlotte; Friederici, Angela D.; Singer, Tania; Steinbeis, Nikolaus

2017-01-01

The ability to represent the mental states of other agents is referred to as Theory of Mind (ToM). A developmental breakthrough in ToM consists of understanding that others can have false beliefs about the world. Recently, infants younger than 2 years of age have been shown to pass novel implicit false belief tasks. However, the processes…

The involvement of emotion recognition in affective theory of mind.

PubMed

Mier, Daniela; Lis, Stefanie; Neuthe, Kerstin; Sauer, Carina; Esslinger, Christine; Gallhofer, Bernd; Kirsch, Peter

2010-11-01

This study was conducted to explore the relationship between emotion recognition and affective Theory of Mind (ToM). Forty subjects performed a facial emotion recognition and an emotional intention recognition task (affective ToM) in an event-related fMRI study. Conjunction analysis revealed overlapping activation during both tasks. Activation in some of these conjunctly activated regions was even stronger during affective ToM than during emotion recognition, namely in the inferior frontal gyrus, the superior temporal sulcus, the temporal pole, and the amygdala. In contrast to previous studies investigating ToM, we found no activation in the anterior cingulate, commonly assumed as the key region for ToM. The results point to a close relationship of emotion recognition and affective ToM and can be interpreted as evidence for the assumption that at least basal forms of ToM occur by an embodied, non-cognitive process. Copyright © 2010 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Validity and Reliability of Published Comprehensive Theory of Mind Tests for Normal Preschool Children: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Ziatabar Ahmadi, Seyyede Zohreh; Jalaie, Shohreh; Ashayeri, Hassan

2015-09-01

Theory of mind (ToM) or mindreading is an aspect of social cognition that evaluates mental states and beliefs of oneself and others. Validity and reliability are very important criteria when evaluating standard tests; and without them, these tests are not usable. The aim of this study was to systematically review the validity and reliability of published English comprehensive ToM tests developed for normal preschool children. We searched MEDLINE (PubMed interface), Web of Science, Science direct, PsycINFO, and also evidence base Medicine (The Cochrane Library) databases from 1990 to June 2015. Search strategy was Latin transcription of 'Theory of Mind' AND test AND children. Also, we manually studied the reference lists of all final searched articles and carried out a search of their references. Inclusion criteria were as follows: Valid and reliable diagnostic ToM tests published from 1990 to June 2015 for normal preschool children; and exclusion criteria were as follows: the studies that only used ToM tests and single tasks (false belief tasks) for ToM assessment and/or had no description about structure, validity or reliability of their tests. METHODological quality of the selected articles was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP). In primary searching, we found 1237 articles in total databases. After removing duplicates and applying all inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected 11 tests for this systematic review. There were a few valid, reliable and comprehensive ToM tests for normal preschool children. However, we had limitations concerning the included articles. The defined ToM tests were different in populations, tasks, mode of presentations, scoring, mode of responses, times and other variables. Also, they had various validities and reliabilities. Therefore, it is recommended that the researchers and clinicians select the ToM tests according to their psychometric characteristics, validity and reliability.

Talking theory of mind talk: young school-aged children's everyday conversation and understanding of mind and emotion.

PubMed

De Rosnay, Marc; Fink, Elian; Begeer, Sander; Slaughter, Virginia; Peterson, Candida

2014-09-01

Links between young children's everyday use of mindful conversational skills and their success on laboratory tests of theory of mind understanding (ToM) were evaluated. Using published scales, teachers rated the conversational behavior and shyness of 129 children aged 60 to 101 months (M = 78·8 months) who were in their first years of primary school. The children also took batteries of first- and second-order false-belief tests along with tests of emotion understanding and general language ability. Correlational and regression analyses showed that performance on false-belief tests of ToM significantly predicted children's competence at reading others' minds in their everyday conversational interactions. Furthermore, these links transcended individual differences in language ability, shy personality, emotion understanding, and age. These findings augment and extend a growing body of evidence linking performance on laboratory ToM tests to socially competent real-world behavior.

Development and psychometric properties of an informant assessment scale of theory of mind for adults with traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Zhang, Dengke; Pang, Yanxia; Cai, Weixiong; Fazio, Rachel L; Ge, Jianrong; Su, Qiaorong; Xu, Shuiqin; Pan, Yinan; Chen, Sanmei; Zhang, Hongwei

2016-08-01

Impairment of theory of mind (ToM) is a common phenomenon following traumatic brain injury (TBI) that has clear effects on patients' social functioning. A growing body of research has focused on this area, and several methods have been developed to assess ToM deficiency. Although an informant assessment scale would be useful for examining individuals with TBI, very few studies have adopted this approach. The purpose of the present study was to develop an informant assessment scale of ToM for adults with traumatic brain injury (IASToM-aTBI) and to test its reliability and validity with 196 adults with TBI and 80 normal adults. A 44-item scale was developed following a literature review, interviews with patient informants, consultations with experts, item analysis, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The following three common factors were extracted: social interaction, understanding of beliefs, and understanding of emotions. The psychometric analyses indicate that the scale has good internal consistency reliability, split-half reliability, test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, structural validity, discriminate validity and criterion validity. These results provide preliminary evidence that supports the reliability and validity of the IASToM-aTBI as a ToM assessment tool for adults with TBI.

Theory of mind and functionality in bipolar patients with symptomatic remission.

PubMed

Barrera, Angeles; Vázquez, Gustavo; Tannenhaus, Lucila; Lolich, María; Herbst, Luis

2013-01-01

Functional deficits are commonly observed in bipolar disorder after symptomatic remission. Social cognition deficits have also been reported, which could contribute to dysfunction in patients with bipolar disorder in remission. Twelve bipolar disorder patients in symptomatic remission (7 patients with bipolar disorder type I and 5 with bipolar disorder type II) and 12 healthy controls completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test and the Faux Pas Test to evaluate theory of mind (ToM). Both groups also completed the Functional Assessment Short Test (FAST). The performance of the bipolar patients in the cognitive component of ToM was below normal, although the difference between the control group was not statistically significant (P=.078), with a trend to a worse performance associated with a higher number of depressive episodes (P=.082). There were no statistically significant differences between groups for the emotional component of ToM. Global functionality was significantly lower in bipolar patients compared to the control group (P=.001). Significant differences were also observed between both groups in five of the six dimensions of functionality assessed. No significant correlation was found between functionality and theory of mind. Bipolar patients in symptomatic remission exhibit impairments in several areas of functioning. Cognitive ToM appears more affected than emotional ToM. Deficits in ToM were not related to functional impairment. Copyright © 2012 SEP y SEPB. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Reciprocal Associations between Young Children's Developing Moral Judgments and Theory of Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smetana, Judith G.; Jambon, Marc; Conry-Murray, Clare; Sturge-Apple, Melissa L.

2012-01-01

Associations between young children's developing theory of mind (ToM) and judgments of prototypical moral transgressions were examined 3 times across 1 year in 70 American middle class 2.5- to 4-year-olds. Separate path models controlling for cross-time stability in judgments, within-time associations, and children's age at Wave 1 indicated that…

[Theory of mind in schizophrenia].

PubMed

Bonshtein, Udi

2006-12-01

The term "theory of mind" (ToM) refers to the capacity to infer one's own and other persons' mental states (e.g. their beliefs, feelings, intentions or knowledge). It was found that children in the autistic spectrum have deficits in ToM. One of the suggestions was that unlike autistic people, ToM skills are normally developed in schizophrenia patients, but "lost" in the first psychotic episode. The deficit may disappear on remission from the acute phase, as described in some studies. A substantial body of research has highlighted the impaired ToM in schizophrenia. There is good empirical evidence that ToM is specifically impaired in schizophrenia and that many psychotic symptoms--for instance, delusions of alien control and persecution, the presence of thought and language disorganization, and other behavioral symptoms--may best be understood in light of a disturbed capacity in patients to relate their own intentions to executing behavior, and to monitor others' intentions. However, it is still under debate how an impaired ToM in schizophrenia is associated with other aspects of cognition, how the impairment fluctuates with acuity or chronicity of the schizophrenic disorder, and if it is a state or trate marker. The paper reviews the current literature and suggests potential implications and future research areas.

Putting theory of mind in its place: psychological explanations of the socio-emotional-communicative impairments in autistic spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Boucher, Jill

2012-05-01

In this review, the history of the theory of mind (ToM) theory of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is outlined (in which ToM is indexed by success on false belief tasks), and the explanatory power and psychological causes of impaired ToM in ASD are critically discussed. It is concluded that impaired ToM by itself has only limited explanatory power, but that explorations of the psychological precursors of impaired ToM have been fruitful in increasing understanding of mindreading impairments in ASD (where 'mindreading' refers those abilities that underlie triadic interaction as well as ToM). It is argued that early explanations of impaired mindreading are untenable for various reasons, but that impairments of dyadic interaction in ASD that could lead to impaired ability to represent others' mental states may be the critical psychological cause, or causes, of impaired ToM. The complexity of causal routes to impaired ToM is emphasized.

Theory of Mind Development is Impaired in 4-year-old Children with Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Tobacco Smoking

PubMed Central

Reidy, Rosemary E; Ross, Randal G; Hunter, Sharon K

2014-01-01

Aims Theory of Mind (ToM) is an important component of social cognition. Deficits in ToM are found in various neurodevelopmental disorders and social and environmental factors have been found to influence ToM development. Little previous research has focused on effects of exposure to toxins; this report examines the impact of tobacco. Place of Study Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, between April 2006 – August 2012. Methodology 101 children, 18 with prenatal exposure to tobacco, underwent ToM testing at 40 (n=89) and 48 (n=77) months of age. Test questions received dichotomous pass/fail scores and percentage of correct responses was utilized as the primary dependent variable. Results At 40 months of age children were rarely able to correctly answer false belief questions and there were no significant differences according to prenatal tobacco exposure. At 48 months of age, there was a significant effect of prenatal tobacco exposure with non-exposed 48-month-olds correctly answering 45±40.6% of content false belief questions correctly, compared to 13.9±25.3% for 48-month-olds with prenatal tobacco exposure (F=4.79, df= 1,73, p=.032) Conclusion ToM abilities are rapidly developing between 40 and 48 months of age. Prenatal exposure to tobacco is associated with impairment at 48 but not 40 months of age. This finding supports consideration of nicotinic mechanisms as contributors to early development of social cognition. PMID:25558458

Indicators of Theory of Mind in Narrative Production: A Comparison between Individuals with Genetic Syndromes and Typically Developing Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lorusso, M. L.; Galli, R.; Libera, L.; Gagliardi, C.; Borgatti, R.; Hollebrandse, B.

2007-01-01

It is a matter of debate whether the development of theory of mind (ToM) depends on linguistic development or is, rather, an expression of cognitive development. The study of genetic syndromes, which are characterized by intellectual impairment as well as by different linguistic profiles, may provide useful information with respect to this issue.…

The relationship between theory of mind and insight in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

PubMed

Tulacı, Rıza Gökçer; Cankurtaran, Eylem Şahin; Özdel, Kadir; Öztürk, Nefise; Kuru, Erkan; Özdemir, İlker

2018-02-09

It is known that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients with poor insight display more severe neuropsychological impairments than other patients with OCD. There are limited studies of OCD and theory of mind (ToM). To investigate ToM skills in patients with OCD and the relationship between insight and ToM skills by comparing OCD patients with good and poor insight. Eighty patients with OCD and 80 healthy controls completed the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV axis I disorders, the Yale Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, the Beck Anxiety and Beck Depression Inventories, and the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale. To assess ToM skills, first- and second-order false-belief tests, a hinting test, a faux pas test, a reading the mind in the eyes test, and a double-bluff test were administered. Patients with OCD had poorer ToM abilities than healthy controls. All ToM scores were significantly lower in the poor insight group than in the good insight group (p < .001). A significant negative correlation was found between the BABS-total scores and all the ToM test mean scores (p < .05). The finding of significantly lower ToM skills in OCD with poor insight than in OCD with good insight may contribute to the idea of OCD with poor insight being a subtype with different clinical and neuropsychological characteristics.

Deficits of cognitive theory of mind and its relationship with functioning in individuals with an at-risk mental state and first-episode psychosis.

PubMed

Ohmuro, Noriyuki; Katsura, Masahiro; Obara, Chika; Kikuchi, Tatsuo; Sakuma, Atsushi; Iizuka, Kunio; Hamaie, Yumiko; Ito, Fumiaki; Matsuoka, Hiroo; Matsumoto, Kazunori

2016-09-30

Disturbance of theory of mind (ToM) and its relationship with functioning in schizophrenia is well documented; however, this is unclear in spectrum disorders like at-risk mental state (ARMS) and first-episode psychosis (FEP). To assess mental state reasoning ability, the total score of the Theory of Mind Picture Stories Task questionnaire was compared among 36 Japanese individuals with ARMS, 40 with FEP, and 25 healthy controls (HC). Pearson's correlations between ToM performance and global and social functioning indices were examined. ToM performance for FEP and ARMS subjects was significantly lower than that for HC, though the significance of the difference between the ARMS and HC disappeared when controlling for premorbid IQ. ToM deficits in ARMS subjects were confirmed only in the comprehension of higher-order false belief. Only among FEP subjects were ToM performance and global functioning significantly correlated, though the significance disappeared when controlling for neurocognitive performance or dose of antipsychotics. No significant correlation between ToM performance and social functioning was observed in the FEP and ARMS groups. The current findings suggest that ToM deficits emerge in ARMS subjects confined within a higher-order domain, and that the relationship between ToM impairment and functional deterioration might be established after psychosis onset. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory of mind through the ages: older and middle-aged adults exhibit more errors than do younger adults on a continuous false belief task.

PubMed

Bernstein, Daniel M; Thornton, Wendy Loken; Sommerville, Jessica A

2011-10-01

Theory of mind (ToM), or the ability to understand mental states, is a fundamental aspect of social cognition. Previous research has documented marked advances in ToM in preschoolers, and declines in ToM in older-aged adults. In the present study, younger (n=37), middle-aged (n=20), and older (n=37) adults completed a continuous false belief task measuring ToM. Middle-aged and older adults exhibited more false belief bias than did younger adults, irrespective of language ability, executive function, processing speed, and memory. The authors conclude that ToM declines from younger to older adulthood, independent of age-related changes to domain-general cognitive functioning.

Affective and cognitive theory of mind in borderline personality disorder: The role of comorbid depression.

PubMed

Zabihzadeh, Abbas; Maleki, Gheysar; Richman, Mara J; Hatami, AmirJalal; Alimardani, Zahedeh; Heidari, Mostafa

2017-11-01

Disturbed interpersonal relationships and misreading of others' intentions are core symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Despite these impairments, some studies have found an enhanced theory of mind (ToM) in BPD patients. Taking this into consideration, the current study attempts to further understand these discrepancies by separating ToM into two domains: affective and cognitive. Moreover, the study considered the role of comorbid symptoms of depression in these patients. Subjects were 21 patients with BPD, 23 patients with BPD and comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD), and 25 healthy controls (HC). ToM was measured with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and the Faux Pas Task, which assessed the affective and cognitive aspects of ToM, respectively. In addition, all participants were evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results showed that in both BPD groups (i.e., BPD without MDD and BPD with MDD) affective ToM scores were higher than in the HC group; however, in the cognitive ToM, the HC group performed better than the both BPD groups. Also, overall the BPD group with MDD had decreased ToM skills. Finally, BPD groups received greater scores on the BDI as compared to the HC group. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

False belief attribution in children with Williams syndrome: the answer is in the emotion.

PubMed

Campos, R; Martínez-Castilla, P; Sotillo, M

2017-11-01

Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) show difficulties in attributing false beliefs, whereas they are better at attributing emotions. This study examines whether being asked about the emotion linked to a false belief, instead of explicitly about the belief, facilitates performance on theory of mind (ToM) tasks. Thirty children with WS and 90 typically developing children, who were individually matched on mental age (50-112 months), were administered six explicit (i.e. questions on belief) and six implicit (i.e. questions on emotion) trials of false belief tasks. Theory of mind competences were related to cognitive development. Children with WS performed comparably to typically developing children on the emotion questions. Correct answers to questions on emotion reveal an implicit understanding of false belief. The Representational redescription process could be impaired in the domain of ToM in this population. This finding has relevant implications for the design of supports aiming to optimise the development of ToM competences in individuals with WS. © 2017 MENCAP and International Association of the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Idiom, syntax, and advanced theory of mind abilities in children with autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Whyte, Elisabeth M; Nelson, Keith E; Scherf, K Suzanne

2014-02-01

When researchers investigate figurative language abilities (including idioms) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), syntax abilities may be more important than once considered. In addition, there are limitations to the overreliance on false-belief tasks to measure theory of mind (TOM) abilities. In the current study, the authors investigated idiom, syntax, and advanced TOM abilities in children with ASD compared to children with typical development (TD). Twenty-six children with ASD, ages 5 to 12 years, were compared to individuals in each of 2 control groups of children with TD: 1 matched on chronological age and nonverbal IQ, and 1 matched on syntax age-equivalence and raw scores. Idiom comprehension, syntax, vocabulary, and 2 measures of advanced TOM abilities were examined. Although children with ASD performed worse on idiom comprehension compared to the age-matched group with TD, they exhibited comparable idiom performance to the syntax-matched group with TD. Advanced TOM abilities were related to idiom comprehension for children with ASD, but not for children with TD, above the contributions of basic language abilities. Syntax abilities should be used as a matching variable when examining figurative or other late-developing language skills.

Children's Teaching Skills: The Role of Theory of Mind and Executive Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis-Unger, Angela C.; Carlson, Stephanie M.

2008-01-01

Teaching others effectively may rely on knowledge about the mind as well as self-control processes. The goal of this investigation was to explore the role of theory of mind (ToM) and executive function (EF) in children's developing teaching skills. Children 3.5-5.5 years of age (N = 82) were asked to teach a confederate learner how to play a board…

Mind and Body: Concepts of Human Cognition, Physiology and False Belief in Children with Autism or Typical Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Candida C.

2005-01-01

This study examined theory of mind (ToM) and concepts of human biology (eyes, heart, brain, lungs and mind) in a sample of 67 children, including 25 high functioning children with autism (age 6-13), plus age-matched and preschool comparison groups. Contrary to Baron-Cohen [1989, "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders," 19(4),…

Money Affects Theory of Mind Differently by Gender.

PubMed

Ridinger, Garret; McBride, Michael

2015-01-01

Theory of Mind (ToM)--the ability to understand other's thoughts, intentions, and emotions--is important for navigating interpersonal relationships, avoiding conflict, and empathizing. Prior research has identified many factors that affect one's ToM ability, but little work has examined how different kinds of monetary incentives affect ToM ability. We ask: Does money affect ToM ability? If so, how does the effect depend on the structure of monetary incentives? How do the differences depend on gender? We hypothesize that money will affect ToM ability differently by gender: monetary rewards increase males' motivation to express ToM ability while simultaneously crowding out females' motivation. This prediction is confirmed in an experiment that varies the structure of monetary rewards for correct answers in the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). RMET scores decrease for females and increase for males with individual payments, and this effect is stronger with competitively-structured payments. RMET scores do not significantly change when monetary earnings go to a charity. Whether money improves or hinders ToM ability, and, hence, success in social interactions, thus depends on the interaction of gender and monetary incentive structure.

Differential recruitment of theory of mind brain network across three tasks: An independent component analysis.

PubMed

Thye, Melissa D; Ammons, Carla J; Murdaugh, Donna L; Kana, Rajesh K

2018-07-16

Social neuroscience research has focused on an identified network of brain regions primarily associated with processing Theory of Mind (ToM). However, ToM is a broad cognitive process, which encompasses several sub-processes, such as mental state detection and intentional attribution, and the connectivity of brain regions underlying the broader ToM network in response to paradigms assessing these sub-processes requires further characterization. Standard fMRI analyses which focus only on brain activity cannot capture information about ToM processing at a network level. An alternative method, independent component analysis (ICA), is a data-driven technique used to isolate intrinsic connectivity networks, and this approach provides insight into network-level regional recruitment. In this fMRI study, three complementary, but distinct ToM tasks assessing mental state detection (e.g. RMIE: Reading the Mind in the Eyes; RMIV: Reading the Mind in the Voice) and intentional attribution (Causality task) were each analyzed using ICA in order to separately characterize the recruitment and functional connectivity of core nodes in the ToM network in response to the sub-processes of ToM. Based on visual comparison of the derived networks for each task, the spatiotemporal network patterns were similar between the RMIE and RMIV tasks, which elicited mentalizing about the mental states of others, and these networks differed from the network derived for the Causality task, which elicited mentalizing about goal-directed actions. The medial prefrontal cortex, precuneus, and right inferior frontal gyrus were seen in the components with the highest correlation with the task condition for each of the tasks highlighting the role of these regions in general ToM processing. Using a data-driven approach, the current study captured the differences in task-related brain response to ToM in three distinct ToM paradigms. The findings of this study further elucidate the neural mechanisms associated with mental state detection and causal attribution, which represent possible sub-processes of the complex construct of ToM processing. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Knowing Minds, Controlling Actions: The Developmental Relations between Theory of Mind and Executive Function from 2 to 4 Years of Age

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muller, Ulrich; Liebermann-Finestone, Dana P.; Carpendale, Jeremy I. M.; Hammond, Stuart I.; Bibok, Maximilian B.

2012-01-01

This longitudinal study examined the concurrent and predictive relations between executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM) in 82 preschoolers who were assessed when they were 2, 3, and 4 years old. The results showed that the concurrent relation between EF and ToM, after controlling for age, verbal ability, and sex, was significant at 3 and…

Examining the Effectiveness of Naturalistic Social Skills Training in Developing Social Skills and Theory of Mind in Preschoolers with ASD.

PubMed

Szumski, Grzegorz; Smogorzewska, Joanna; Grygiel, Paweł; Orlando, Ann-Marie

2017-11-20

We compared the effectiveness of two programs for developing social skills, 'Play Time/Social Time' (PT/ST) and 'I Can Problem Solve' (ICPS), in improving the social skills and theory of mind (ToM) of preschoolers with ASD. The experiment took place in a classroom setting. Fifty-two children attended and data were analyzed with latent growth curve models. Comparison with a control group indicated that both programs were effective in developing social skills. The PT/ST program was more effective than ICPS in developing interaction skills; both programs improved children's ability to cope with difficult social situations. The ICPS program was marginally effective in developing ToM when compared with PT/ST and control condition. These results are relevant to children with ASD and their teachers.

Social Maturity and Theory of Mind in Typically Developing Children and Those on the Autism Spectrum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Candida C.; Slaughter, Virginia P.; Paynter, Jessica

2007-01-01

Background: Results of several studies using the Vineland scale to explore links between social behavior and theory of mind (ToM) have produced mixed results, especially for children on the autism spectrum. The present pair of studies developed a psychometrically sound, age-referenced measure of social maturity to explore these issues further.…

Referential Communication Abilities and Theory of Mind Development in Preschool Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Resches, Mariela; Pereira, Miguel Perez

2007-01-01

This work aims to analyse the specific contribution of social abilities (here considered as the capacity for attributing knowledge to others) in a particular communicative context. 74 normally developing children (aged 3;4 to 5;9, M=4.6) were given two Theory of Mind (ToM) tasks, which are considered to assess increasing complexity levels of…

Theory of Mind Abilities and Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimhi, Yael

2014-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurobiological disorder that significantly impairs children's social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and behaviors. Questions about theory of mind (ToM) deficits in ASD have generated a large number of empirical studies. This article reviews current studies of the relationship between ToM and…

Theory of Mind and Giftedness: New Connections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Cheryl L.; Shore, Bruce M.

2011-01-01

The social and cognitive phenomena associated with theory of mind (ToM) and research on the social and cognitive qualities of giftedness have not been sufficiently connected. The common focus areas for ToM researchers (e.g., false-belief understanding, deception, and autism) should be of interest to gifted education research because these are…

Theory of Mind in Substance Users: A Systematic Minireview.

PubMed

Sanvicente-Vieira, Breno; Romani-Sponchiado, Aline; Kluwe-Schiavon, Bruno; Brietzke, Elisa; Araujo, Renata Brasil; Grassi-Oliveira, Rodrigo

2017-01-02

Theory of mind concerns the sociocognitive ability to infer others' thoughts. It has been theorized to be impaired in substance use and abuse, as its alterations might explain negative social and interpersonal outcomes noted in the course of disorders. In addition, the brain structures involved in Theory of Mind (ToM) have been found to be disrupted in drug use conditions. We undertook a systematic review of ToM functioning in drug use conditions. Four electronic databases (MEDLINE, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Embase) were searched to find studies that have addressed ToM and conditions related to actual or previous drug use. The search found 147 papers, of which 14 fulfilled our review eligibility criteria. Different methods were used, but overall, results indicated that drugs are related to ToM deficits, particularly related to alcohol and amphetamines use. These impairments correlate with other clinical and cognitive functions. Despite the lack of studies and the methodological limitations of the existing ones Theory of Mind seems to play a role in drug use conditions, which requires further investigation.

Theory of Mind and Executive Functions in Young Bilingual Children.

PubMed

Dahlgren, SvenOlof; Almén, Helena; Dahlgren Sandberg, Annika

2017-01-01

Few studies have explored the relationship between theory of mind (ToM), executive function (EF), and bilingualism at the same time. In this study 14 young bilingual children were compared with monolingual children on a test battery composed of 5 ToM tests, 5 EF tests, and 1 test of general language ability. The result showed that despite significantly lower verbal ability, the bilingual children outperformed the monolingual ones on tests of EF. There were no differences in ToM performance. The authors argue that there is a strong relationship between bilingualism and EF, but, contrary to results from earlier studies, they could not find any relationship between bilingualism and ToM. EF did not predict ToM performance. Lack of a significant relationship could be due to the children's young age and consequently their low scores on the ToM tasks.

'Theory of Mind', psychotic-like experiences and psychometric schizotypy in adolescents from the general population.

PubMed

Barragan, Marcela; Laurens, Kristin R; Navarro, José Blas; Obiols, Jordi E

2011-04-30

This study examined 'Theory of Mind' (ToM) functioning, its association with psychometric schizotypy and with self-reported psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and depressive symptoms, in a community sample of adolescents. Seventy-two adolescents (mean age 14.51years) from Barcelona, Spain, completed questionnaires assessing PLEs, depressive symptoms, and schizotypy. A verbal ToM task and a vocabulary test were administered. The effect of symptomatology, vocabulary ability, age, and gender on task performance was explored. Neither total score on schizotypy nor PLEs were associated with ToM performance. A significant effect of vocabulary on adolescent's performance of both ToM and control stories was found. ToM showed significant negative associations with positive schizotypy, and with one cluster of positive PLEs: first-rank experiences. Positive significant associations between ToM and persecutory delusions and the impulsive aspects of schizotypy were found. Depressive symptoms did not affect ToM performance. Positive schizotypal traits and first-rank symptoms are associated with ToM deficits in adolescents. Results support the trait-(versus state-) dependent notion of ToM impairments in schizophrenia. ToM may be a developmental impairment associated with positive schizotypy and PLEs. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selective effect of neurocognition on different theory of mind domains in first-episode psychosis.

PubMed

Fernandez-Gonzalo, Sol; Jodar, Merce; Pousa, Esther; Turon, Marc; Garcia, Rebeca; Rambla, Carla Hernandez; Palao, Diego

2014-08-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of neurocognition on affective and cognitive theory of mind (ToM) tasks in early phases of psychosis. In a cross-sectional study of 60 first-episode schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder patients, the implication of neurocognition in first- and second-order ToM stories, Hinting Task, and Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) was analyzed. Regression models were used, controlling for clinical symptoms and antipsychotic dose. Spatial span backward (odds ratio [OR], 0.34; p = 0.01) and intrusions in the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (OR, 4.86; p = 0.04) were the best factors to predict second-order ToM failure. Trail Making Test B (B = 0.01; p = 0.04) and negative symptoms (B = 0.09; p = 0.01) predicted Hinting task performance while Block design (B = 0.1; p = 0.04) was related to RMET outcome. Executive functions and clinical symptoms were related to ToM performance in first-episode schizophrenia patients, although different patterns of relationship were observed in each ToM task.

Theory of Mind, Social Desirability, and Unlikely Symptom Reporting in Offenders With and Without Psychopathy.

PubMed

Nentjes, Lieke; Bernstein, David P; Arntz, Arnoud; Slaats, Mariëtte E; Hannemann, Tina

2015-08-01

The current study investigated the relationship between psychopathy and theory of mind (ToM), by comparing the performance of nonpsychopathic offenders (n = 40), psychopathic offenders (n = 42), and nonoffender controls (n = 26) on Happé's test of ToM (Happé, 1994). In addition, we investigated whether offenders' ToM skills would moderate the association between the antisocial psychopathy component (Factor 2) and self-presentation (i.e., the tendency to report social desirability and unlikely symptoms). Results showed groups did not differ in ToM performance. As expected though, ToM moderated the association between psychopathy and self-presentation: only for offenders relatively high in ToM, Factor 2 was strongly related to less social desirability and more unlikely symptom reporting. These results could indicate that offenders who are high in both ToM and Factor 2 exaggerate their mental dysfunction to express their need for clinical attention. Results are used to critically evaluate the interpretation of occurrences in which offenders overplay their psychopathology.

Perceived Social Acceptance, Theory of Mind and Social Adjustment in Children with Intellectual Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fiasse, Catherine; Nader-Grosbois, Nathalie

2012-01-01

Perceived social acceptance, theory of mind (ToM) and social adjustment were investigated in 45 children with intellectual disabilities (ID) compared with 45 typically developing (TD) preschoolers, matched for developmental age assessed by means of the Differential Scales of Intellectual Efficiency-Revised edition (EDEI-R, Perron-Borelli, 1996).…

Theory of Mind in SLI Revisited: Links with Syntax, Comparisons with ASD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durrleman, Stephanie; Burnel, Morgane; Reboul, Anne

2017-01-01

Background: According to the linguistic determinism approach, knowledge of sentential complements such as: "John says that the earth" is flat plays a crucial role in theory of mind (ToM) development by providing a means to represent explicitly people's mental attitudes and beliefs. This approach predicts that mastery of complements…

The reciprocal relationship between executive function and theory of mind in middle childhood: a 1-year longitudinal perspective.

PubMed

Austin, Gina; Groppe, Karoline; Elsner, Birgit

2014-01-01

There is robust evidence showing a link between executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM) in 3- to 5-year-olds. However, it is unclear whether this relationship extends to middle childhood. In addition, there has been much discussion about the nature of this relationship. Whereas some authors claim that ToM is needed for EF, others argue that ToM requires EF. To date, however, studies examining the longitudinal relationship between distinct subcomponents of EF [i.e., attention shifting, working memory (WM) updating, inhibition] and ToM in middle childhood are rare. The present study examined (1) the relationship between three EF subcomponents (attention shifting, WM updating, inhibition) and ToM in middle childhood, and (2) the longitudinal reciprocal relationships between the EF subcomponents and ToM across a 1-year period. EF and ToM measures were assessed experimentally in a sample of 1,657 children (aged 6-11 years) at time point one (t1) and 1 year later at time point two (t2). Results showed that the concurrent relationships between all three EF subcomponents and ToM pertained in middle childhood at t1 and t2, respectively, even when age, gender, and fluid intelligence were partialled out. Moreover, cross-lagged structural equation modeling (again, controlling for age, gender, and fluid intelligence, as well as for the earlier levels of the target variables), revealed partial support for the view that early ToM predicts later EF, but stronger evidence for the assumption that early EF predicts later ToM. The latter was found for attention shifting and WM updating, but not for inhibition. This reveals the importance of studying the exact interplay of ToM and EF across childhood development, especially with regard to different EF subcomponents. Most likely, understanding others' mental states at different levels of perspective-taking requires specific EF subcomponents, suggesting developmental change in the relations between EF and ToM across childhood.

Gender-differentiated effects of theory of mind, emotion understanding, and social preference on prosocial behavior development: A longitudinal study.

PubMed

Kuhnert, Rebecca-Lee; Begeer, Sander; Fink, Elian; de Rosnay, Marc

2017-02-01

Although key differences have been found in boys' and girls' prosocial behavior toward peers, few studies have systematically examined gender differences in how intrinsic perspective-taking abilities-theory of mind (ToM) and emotion understanding (EU)-and the extrinsic peer environment relate to prosocial behavior. In this prospective longitudinal study, we studied gender differences in the relations between children's observed prosocial behavior and their ToM, EU, and social preference ratings in 114 children (58 boys and 56 girls). We used conventional ToM and EU tasks at 5 and 7years of age. Observed prosocial behavior in triadic peer interactions was assessed at both time points. Controlling for gender, age, verbal ability, and earlier prosocial behavior, ToM at 5years was found to predict prosocial behavior at 7years. Results also revealed gender-differentiated associations at 7years, whereby only girls' prosocial behavior was positively associated with EU. Results are discussed in terms of gender-differentiated patterns of socialization. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pragmatics of language and theory of mind in children with dyslexia with associated language difficulties or nonverbal learning disabilities.

PubMed

Cardillo, Ramona; Garcia, Ricardo Basso; Mammarella, Irene C; Cornoldi, Cesare

2017-03-15

The present study aims to find empirical evidence of deficits in linguistic pragmatic skills and theory of mind (ToM) in children with dyslexia with associated language difficulties or nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD), when compared with a group of typically developing (TD) children matched for age and gender. Our results indicate that children with dyslexia perform less well than TD children in most of the tasks measuring pragmatics of language, and in one of the tasks measuring ToM. In contrast, children with NLD generally performed better than the dyslexia group, and performed significantly worse than the TD children only in a metaphors task based on visual stimuli. A discriminant function analysis confirmed the crucial role of the metaphors subtest and the verbal ToM task in distinguishing between the groups. We concluded that, contrary to a generally-held assumption, children with dyslexia and associated language difficulties may be weaker than children with NLD in linguistic pragmatics and ToM, especially when language is crucially involved. The educational and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Theory of Mind (ToM) in Children with Autism or Typical Development: Links between Eye-Reading and False Belief Understanding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Candida C.; Slaughter, Virginia

2009-01-01

Previous research shows that high-functioning children with autism are slow to pass "litmus" false belief tests of ToM but how this may relate to other aspects of mindreading (e.g., discerning thoughts from facial expressions) is less clear, partly for methodological reasons. Thus the joint methodological and conceptual goals of this…

Can I Reach That Sticker? Preschoolers' Practical Judgments about Their Own and Others' Body Size

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunphy-Lelii, Sarah; Hooley, Merrilyn; McGivern, Lisa; Skouteris, Helen; Cox, Rachael

2014-01-01

Research to date has focused mostly on children's representation of their physical self as a prelude to the development of a theory of mind (ToM) and on their understanding of the self as distinct from others over time. Whether children approaching the well-known age of ToM mastery are also accurately appraising their own "body's"…

A longitudinal investigation of the relationship between maternal mind-mindedness and theory of mind.

PubMed

Kirk, Elizabeth; Pine, Karen; Wheatley, Lisa; Howlett, Neil; Schulz, Joerg; Fletcher, Ben C

2015-11-01

Data are presented from a longitudinal investigation examining the relationship between maternal mind-mindedness (MM) in infancy and socio-cognitive development in childhood. We revisited children (n = 18) who had taken part in a longitudinal study as infants. MM had been assessed at 10, 12, 16, and 20 months of age. We followed up these children at 5-6 years of age to test their higher order theory of mind (ToM) (using the strange stories task). The convergent validity, temporal stability, and predictive validity of the construct of MM were examined in a longitudinal data set. The five measures of MM were not significantly correlated. Mother's production of appropriate mind-related comments (but no other measures) showed evidence of temporal stability throughout infancy. Thus, MM (as measured by appropriate mind-related comments) was confirmed as a stable construct. Children's ToM at 5-6 years of age was significantly predicted by their mother's MM up to 4 years earlier, with MM accounting for 40% of the variance of the strange stories task scores. These findings identify a relationship between MM across a protracted period of infancy and socio-cognitive development at 5-6 years of age. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Worry amplifies theory-of-mind reasoning for negatively valenced social stimuli in generalized anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Zainal, Nur Hani; Newman, Michelle G

2018-02-01

Theory-of-mind (ToM) is the ability to accurately infer others' thoughts and feelings. In generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), cognitive and emotion regulation theories allude to the plausibility that ToM is conditional on the degree of individuals' state worry, a hallmark symptom. GAD and state worry may interact to predict ToM constructs. However, no experiments have directly tested such interactional hypotheses, and used ToM as a framework to advance understanding of social cognition in GAD. This study therefore aimed to address this gap. 171 participants (69 GAD, 102 Controls) were randomly assigned to either a Worry or Relaxation induction and completed well-validated ToM decoding (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test) and reasoning (Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition) tasks. GAD status significantly interacted with state worry to predict accuracy of overall reasoning, cognitive-reasoning, positive-reasoning, and negative-reasoning ToM. Worry, as opposed to relaxation, led sufferers of GAD to display more accurate overall reasoning and cognitive-reasoning ToM than controls, especially for negative signals. Participants with GAD who worried, but not relaxed, were also significantly better than the norm at interpreting negative signals. These findings remained after controlling for gender, executive function, social anxiety, and depressive symptoms. For other ToM abilities, mean scores of persons with and without GAD who either worried or relaxed were normative. The ToM reasoning measure lacked self-reference, and these preliminary findings warrant replication. Theoretical implications, such as the state worry-contingent nature of ToM in GAD, and clinical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Theory of mind reasoning in schizophrenia patients and non-psychotic relatives.

PubMed

Cassetta, Briana; Goghari, Vina

2014-08-15

Research consistently demonstrates that schizophrenia patients have theory of mind (ToM) impairments. Additionally, there is some evidence that family members of schizophrenia patients also demonstrate impairments in ToM, suggesting a genetic vulnerability for the disorder. This study assessed ToM abilities (i.e., sarcasm comprehension) in schizophrenia patients and their first-degree biological relatives during video-taped social interactions, to be representative of real-world interactions and to assess for disease-specific and/or genetic liability effects. Additionally, we assessed whether ToM abilities predicted social and global functioning in schizophrenia patients, and whether symptoms were associated with ToM deficits. Schizophrenia patients demonstrated impairments in sarcasm comprehension compared to controls and relatives, whereas relatives showed intact comprehension. Symptoms of schizophrenia significantly predicted worse ToM abilities. Furthermore, in schizophrenia patients, impaired ToM reasoning predicted worse social and global functioning. Given schizophrenia patients demonstrated impairments in ToM reasoning in a task that resembles real-life interactions, this might be a key area for remediation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The influence of inhibitory processes on affective theory of mind in young and old adults.

PubMed

Mahy, Caitlin E V; Vetter, Nora; Kühn-Popp, Nina; Löcher, Carolin; Krautschuk, Susan; Kliegel, Matthias

2014-01-01

The primary aim of this study was to examine the impact of an inhibition manipulation on the effect of age on theory of mind (ToM) in an ecologically valid, affective ToM task. Participants were 30 young and 30 old adults. The Cambridge Mindreading Face-Voice Battery was used to measure ToM; in addition, measures of fluid and crystallized intelligence were taken. Participants were subjected to three levels of inhibitory demand during ToM reasoning: emotional inhibition, non-emotional inhibition, and no inhibition. Old adults performed worse than young adults. The emotional and non-emotional inhibition conditions resulted in worse ToM performance compared to the no inhibition condition. There were no differences in the impact of the inhibition conditions on old and young adults. Regression analyses suggested that old adults' crystallized intelligence was a significant predictor of ToM performance, whereas it did not predict young adults' ToM performance. Results are discussed in terms of verbal ability as a possible compensatory mechanism in coping with verbal inhibitory load in ToM reasoning.

Are "Theory of Mind" Skills in People with Epilepsy Related to How Stigmatised They Feel? An Exploratory Study.

PubMed

Noble, A J; Robinson, A; Marson, A G

2016-01-01

Feelings of stigma are one of the main burdens reported by people with epilepsy (PWE). Adults with temporal or frontal lobe epilepsy and children with idiopathic generalised epilepsy are at risk of Theory of Mind (ToM) deficits. ToM refers to social cognitive skills, including the ability to understand the thoughts, intentions, beliefs, and emotions of others. It has been proffered that ToM deficits may contribute to the feelings of stigma experienced by PWE. In this study we tested this for the first time. We also determined the association between clinical and demographic factors and ToM performance. Five hundred and three PWE were recruited via epilepsy organisations and completed measures online. Feelings of stigma were measured using Jacoby's Stigma Scale, whilst the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test and the Faux Pas Test measured ToM. The median age of participants was 37 years, their median years living with epilepsy were 15, and 70% had experienced seizures in the prior 12 months. Feelings of stigma held a negligible, negative, and nonsignificant association with ToM performance (r s   -0.02 and -0.05). Our results indicate that the ToM model for understanding epilepsy stigma has limited utility and alternative approaches to understanding and addressing epilepsy-related stigma are required.

Affective and cognitive theory of mind abilities in youth with borderline personality disorder or major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Tay, Sarah-Ann; Hulbert, Carol A; Jackson, Henry J; Chanen, Andrew M

2017-09-01

Theory of mind (ToM) is an important social cognitive ability that has been investigated in BPD, with inconsistent findings indicating impaired, comparable, and enhanced ToM in BPD. This study aimed to clarify and extend previous findings by investigating affective and cognitive ToM abilities in youth early in the course of BPD, by including a clinical comparison group of youth with major depressive disorder (MDD). Female participants aged 15-24 years diagnosed with BPD (n = 41) or MDD (n = 37) completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and Happé's Cartoon Task, measures of affective and cognitive dimensions of ToM, respectively. The BPD group performed significantly worse than the MDD group on the affective ToM task, even after controlling for age, intelligence and depressive symptoms. Results for cognitive ToM were not significantly different. Finding of poorer performance on a measure of affective ToM, in BPD youth, relative to youth with MDD early in the course of BPD suggest a developmental failure of sociocognitive abilities needed for mentalising and which are theorised as giving rise to core features of BPD. Future research should employ more naturalistic paradigms to study social cognition and should assess individuals even earlier in the course of BPD. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Can patients with schizophrenia have good mentalizing skills? Disentangling heterogeneity of theory of mind.

PubMed

Bechi, Margherita; Bosia, Marta; Agostoni, Giulia; Spangaro, Marco; Buonocore, Mariachiara; Bianchi, Laura; Cocchi, Federica; Guglielmino, Carmelo; Mastromatteo, Antonella Rita; Cavallaro, Roberto

2018-06-07

Theory of Mind (ToM) is a multifaceted construct that involves mental states attribution in social interactions. Patients with schizophrenia are impaired in ToM abilities, but recent studies showed that a non-negligible number of patients perform within normal ranges or close to normal, whereas other patients are very impaired in ToM tasks. The present study aims to comprehensively analyze differences between patients with "poor" and "fair" mentalizing abilities, as identified through a median-split procedure on mental state attribution task, and healthy controls, as well as to explore the role of clinical, demographical, and neurocognitive predictors of ToM performance within groups. One hundred twenty-two patients with schizophrenia and 67 healthy controls were assessed for ToM, attention, and executive functioning. In addition, patients' daily functioning and psychopathological profiles were also rated. "Fair" mentalizers perform significantly better than "poor" mentalizers on cognitive abilities and quality of life and they differ from healthy controls in neurocognition and cognitive ToM performance, even though the global ToM performance is similar. Furthermore, regression models showed distinct contributing factors in each sub group: ToM is related to neurocognitive abilities and education in healthy subjects, while it is mainly associated with attention in "fair" group and it is related to clinical variables and executive functions in "poor" mentalizers. Although preliminary, these data shed new light on the heterogeneity of ToM deficit among patients with schizophrenia and could reflect on daily clinical practice, as they are important to develop individualized step-by-step rehabilitative programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Training Social Cognition: From Imitation to Theory of Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santiesteban, Idalmis; White, Sarah; Cook, Jennifer; Gilbert, Sam J.; Heyes, Cecilia; Bird, Geoffrey

2012-01-01

Evidence for successful socio-cognitive training in typical adults is rare. This study attempted to improve Theory of Mind (ToM) and visual perspective taking in healthy adults by training participants to either imitate or to inhibit imitation. Twenty-four hours after training, all participants completed tests of ToM and visual perspective taking.…

Siblings and Theory of Mind in Deaf Native Signing Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woolfe, Tyron; Want, Stephen C.; Siegal, Michael

2003-01-01

A study examined the basis of "theory of mind" (ToM) reasoning in 20 native signers (ages 4-8) of British Sign Language. Children and their siblings were given a measure of the quality of sibling relations. Sibling quality as perceived by siblings predicted children's ToM score over age and referential communication. (Contains…

Theory of Mind: Children's Understanding of Mental States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saracho, Olivia N.

2014-01-01

For more than three decades, theory of mind (ToM) has been one of the leading and prevalent issues in developmental psychology. ToM is the ability to ascribe mental states (e.g. beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge) to oneself and others as well as to recognise that others have beliefs, desires, and intentions that differ from…

Young Children's Emotion Comprehension and Theory of Mind Understanding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weimer, Amy A.; Sallquist, Julie; Bolnick, Rebecca R.

2012-01-01

Research Findings: The present study investigated the relation between theory of mind (ToM) and emotion understanding among 78 children 4 1/2; to 6 1/2; years old (35 boys, 43 girls). ToM understanding was assessed using ignorance and false belief questions within an emotion-understanding task that evaluated children's abilities to recognize…

Secret Keepers: Children's Theory of Mind and Their Conception of Secrecy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colwell, Malinda J.; Corson, Kimberly; Sastry, Anuradha; Wright, Holly

2016-01-01

In this mixed methods study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 3-5-year-olds (n?=?21) in a university-sponsored preschool programme and children completed a theory of mind (ToM) task. After grouping children into pass/no pass groups for the ToM tasks, analyses using interpretive phenomenology indicated that preschool children explain…

Training Theory of Mind and Executive Control: A Tool for Improving School Achievement?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kloo, Daniela; Perner, Josef

2008-01-01

In the preschool years, there are marked improvements in theory of mind (ToM) and executive functions. And, children's competence in these two core cognitive domains is associated with their academic achievement. Therefore, training ToM and executive control could be a valuable tool for improving children's success in school. This article reviews…

Theory of Mind: An Overview and Behavioral Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schlinger, Henry D., Jr.

2009-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the ability of an individual to make inferences about what others may be thinking or feeling and to predict what they may do in a given situation based on those inferences. Discussions of ToM focus almost exclusively on inferred cognitive structures and processes and shed little light on the actual behaviors…

Children's Theory of Mind, Self-Perceptions, and Peer Relations: A Longitudinal Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bosacki, Sandra Leanne

2015-01-01

This longitudinal study explored Theory of Mind (ToM), self-perceptions, and teacher ratings of peer relations of 91 children (52 females, ages 6-8?years) drawn from two schools situated in a mainly Euro-Canadian, middle socioeconomic status, semi-rural central Canadian context. ToM, self-perceptions, and teacher ratings of peer relations were…

Reducing the Language Content in ToM Tests: A Developmental Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burnel, Morgane; Perrone-Bertolotti, Marcela; Reboul, Anne; Baciu, Monica; Durrleman, Stephanie

2018-01-01

The goal of the current study was to statistically evaluate the reliable scalability of a set of tasks designed to assess Theory of Mind (ToM) without language as a confounding variable. This tool might be useful to study ToM in populations where language is impaired or to study links between language and ToM. Low verbal versions of the ToM tasks…

Growing up blind does not change the neural bases of Theory of Mind

PubMed Central

Bedny, Marina; Pascual-Leone, Alvaro; Saxe, Rebecca R.

2009-01-01

Humans reason about the mental states of others; this capacity is called Theory of Mind (ToM). In typically developing adults, ToM is supported by a consistent group of brain regions: the bilateral temporoparietal junction (TPJ), medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), precuneus (PC), and anterior temporal sulci (aSTS). How experience and intrinsic biological factors interact to produce this adult functional profile is not known. In the current study we investigate the role of visual experience in the development of the ToM network by studying congenitally blind adults. In experiment 1, participants listened to stories and answered true/false questions about them. The stories were either about mental or physical representations of reality (e.g., photographs). In experiment 2, participants listened to stories about people's beliefs based on seeing or hearing; people's bodily sensations (e.g., hunger); and control stories without people. Participants judged whether each story had positive or negative valance. We find that ToM brain regions of sighted and congenitally blind adults are similarly localized and functionally specific. In congenitally blind adults, reasoning about mental states leads to activity in bilateral TPJ, MPFC, PC, and aSTS. These brain regions responded more to passages about beliefs than passages about nonbelief representations or passages about bodily sensations. Reasoning about mental states that are based on seeing is furthermore similar in congenitally blind and sighted individuals. Despite their different developmental experience, congenitally blind adults have a typical ToM network. We conclude that the development of neural mechanisms for ToM depends on innate factors and on experiences represented at an abstract level, amodally. PMID:19553210

Can You Hear What I Think? Theory of Mind in Young Children With Moderate Hearing Loss.

PubMed

Netten, Anouk P; Rieffe, Carolien; Soede, Wim; Dirks, Evelien; Korver, Anna M H; Konings, Saskia; Briaire, Jeroen J; Oudesluys-Murphy, Anne Marie; Dekker, Friedo W; Frijns, Johan H M

The first aim of this study was to examine various aspects of Theory of Mind (ToM) development in young children with moderate hearing loss (MHL) compared with hearing peers. The second aim was to examine the relation between language abilities and ToM in both groups. The third aim was to compare the sequence of ToM development between children with MHL and hearing peers. Forty-four children between 3 and 5 years old with MHL (35 to 70 dB HL) who preferred to use spoken language were identified from a nationwide study on hearing loss in young children. These children were compared with 101 hearing peers. Children were observed during several tasks to measure intention understanding, the acknowledgement of the other's desires, and belief understanding. Parents completed two scales of the child development inventory to assess expressive language and language comprehension in all participants. Objective language test scores were available from the medical files of children with MHL. Children with MHL showed comparable levels of intention understanding but lower levels of both desire and belief understanding than hearing peers. Parents reported lower language abilities in children with MHL compared with hearing peers. Yet, the language levels of children with MHL were within the average range compared with test normative samples. A stronger relation between language and ToM was found in the hearing children than in children with MHL. The expected developmental sequence of ToM skills was divergent in approximately one-fourth of children with MHL, when compared with hearing children. Children with MHL have more difficulty in their ToM reasoning than hearing peers, despite the fact that their language abilities lie within the average range compared with test normative samples.

Linguistic Effects on the Neural Basis of Theory of Mind

PubMed Central

Frank, C. Kobayashi

2010-01-01

“Theory of mind” (ToM) has been described as the ability to attribute and understand other people’s desires and intentions as distinct from one’s own. There has been a debate about the extent to which language influences ToM development. Although very few studies directly examined linguistic influence on the neural basis of ToM, results from these studies indicate at least moderate influence of language on ToM. In this review both behavioral and neurological studies that examined the relationship between language and ToM are selectively discussed. This review focuses on cross-linguistic / cultural studies (especially Japanese vs. American / English) since my colleagues and I found evidence of significant linguistic influence on the neural basis of ToM through a series of functional brain imaging experiments. Evidence from both behavioral and neurological studies of ToM (including ours) suggests that the pragmatic (not the constitutive) aspects of language influence ToM understanding more significantly. PMID:21113278

Combined social cognitive and neurocognitive rehabilitation strategies in schizophrenia: neuropsychological and psychopathological influences on Theory of Mind improvement.

PubMed

Bechi, M; Bosia, M; Spangaro, M; Buonocore, M; Cocchi, F; Pigoni, A; Piantanida, M; Guglielmino, C; Bianchi, L; Smeraldi, E; Cavallaro, R

2015-11-01

Neurocognitive and social cognitive impairments represent important treatment targets in schizophrenia, as they are significant predictors of functional outcome. Different rehabilitative interventions have recently been developed, addressing both cognitive and psychosocial domains. Although promising, results are still heterogeneous and predictors of treatment outcome are not yet identified. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of two newly developed social cognitive interventions, respectively based on the use of videotaped material and comic strips, combined with domain-specific Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT). We also analysed possible predictors of training outcome, including basal neurocognitive performance, the degree of cognitive improvement after CRT and psychopathological variables. Seventy-five patients with schizophrenia treated with CRT, were randomly assigned to: social cognitive training (SCT) group, Theory of Mind Intervention (ToMI) group, and active control group (ACG). ANOVAs showed that SCT and ToMI groups improved significantly in ToM measures, whereas the ACG did not. We reported no influences of neuropsychological measures and improvement after CRT on changes in ToM. Both paranoid and non-paranoid subjects improved significantly after ToMI and SCT, without differences between groups, despite the better performance in basal ToM found among paranoid patients. In the ACG only non-paranoid patients showed an improvement in non-verbal ToM. Results showed that both ToMI and SCT are effective in improving ToM in schizophrenia with no influence of neuropsychological domains. Our data also suggest that paranoid symptoms may discriminate between different types of ToM difficulties in schizophrenia.

Social Anxiety Symptoms in Young Children: Investigating the Interplay of Theory of Mind and Expressions of Shyness.

PubMed

Colonnesi, Cristina; Nikolić, Milica; de Vente, Wieke; Bögels, Susan M

2017-07-01

Children's early onset of social anxiety may be associated with their social understanding, and their ability to express emotions adaptively. We examined whether social anxiety in 48-month-old children (N = 110; 54 boys) was related to: a) a lower level of theory of mind (ToM); b) a lower proclivity to express shyness in a positive way (adaptive); and c) a higher tendency to express shyness in a negative way (non-adaptive). In addition, we investigated to what extent children's level of social anxiety was predicted by the interaction between ToM and expressions of shyness. Children's positive and negative expressions of shyness were observed during a performance task. ToM was measured with a validated battery, and social anxiety was assessed using both parents' reports on questionnaires. Socially anxious children had a lower level of ToM, and displayed more negative and less positive shy expressions. However, children with a lower level of ToM who expressed more positive shyness were less socially anxious. Additional results show that children who displayed shyness only in a negative manner were more socially anxious than children who expressed shyness only in a positive way and children who did not display any shyness. Moreover, children who displayed both positive and negative expressions of shyness were more socially anxious than children who displayed shyness only in a positive way. These findings highlight the importance of ToM development and socio-emotional strategies, and their interaction, on the early development of social anxiety.

Theory of mind and decision-making processes are impaired in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Xi, Chunhua; Zhu, Youling; Mu, Yanfang; Chen, Bing; Dong, Bin; Cheng, Huaidong; Hu, Panpan; Zhu, Chunyan; Wang, Kai

2015-02-15

Prefrontal cortex plays a vital role in the theory of mind (ToM) and decision making, as shown in functional brain imaging and lesion studies. Considering the primary neuropathology of Parkinson's disease (PD) involving the frontal lobe system, patients with PD are expected to exhibit deficits in ToM and social decision making. The aim of this study was to investigate affective ToM and decision making in patients with PD and healthy controls (HC) in a task assessing affective ToM (Reading the Mind in the Eyes, RME) and two decision-making tasks (Iowa Gambling Task, IGT; Game of Dice Task, GDT). Consistent with previous findings, patients with PD were impaired in the affective ToM task, and when making decisions under ambiguity and in risk situations. The score of emotion recognition in the RME task was negatively correlated with the severity of the disease and positively correlated with the total number of advantageous cards chosen in the IGT. However, the final capital in the GDT was correlated with memory impairment. The present study implies that affective ToM and decision making under ambiguity may share similar neural mechanisms, while decision making under ambiguity and decision making under risk may involve processing within different neural networks. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Psychometric evaluation of the Theory of Mind Inventory (ToMI): a study of typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Hutchins, Tiffany L; Prelock, Patricia A; Bonazinga, Laura

2012-03-01

Two studies examined the psychometric properties of the Theory of Mind Inventory (ToMI). In Study One, 135 caregivers completed the ToMI for children (ages 3 through 17) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Findings revealed excellent test-retest reliability and internal consistency. Principle Components Analysis revealed three subscales related to the complexity of ToM understanding. In Study Two, data were collected for 124 typically developing children (2 through 12 years). Findings again revealed excellent test-retest and internal consistency. The ToMI distinguished groups by age (younger vs. older children) and developmental status (typically developing vs. ASD), and predicted child performance on a ToM task battery. Utility of the ToMI, study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Neuroanatomical Correlates of Theory of Mind Deficit in Parkinson’s Disease: A Multimodal Imaging Study

PubMed Central

Díez-Cirarda, María; Ojeda, Natalia; Peña, Javier; Cabrera-Zubizarreta, Alberto; Gómez-Beldarrain, María Ángeles; Gómez-Esteban, Juan Carlos; Ibarretxe-Bilbao, Naroa

2015-01-01

Background Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients show theory of mind (ToM) deficit since the early stages of the disease, and this deficit has been associated with working memory, executive functions and quality of life impairment. To date, neuroanatomical correlates of ToM have not been assessed with magnetic resonance imaging in PD. The main objective of this study was to assess cerebral correlates of ToM deficit in PD. The second objective was to explore the relationships between ToM, working memory and executive functions, and to analyse the neural correlates of ToM, controlling for both working memory and executive functions. Methods Thirty-seven PD patients (Hoehn and Yahr median = 2.0) and 15 healthy controls underwent a neuropsychological assessment and magnetic resonance images in a 3T-scanner were acquired. T1-weighted images were analysed with voxel-based morphometry, and white matter integrity and diffusivity measures were obtained from diffusion weighted images and analysed using tract-based spatial statistics. Results PD patients showed impairments in ToM, working memory and executive functions; grey matter loss and white matter reduction compared to healthy controls. Grey matter volume decrease in the precentral and postcentral gyrus, middle and inferior frontal gyrus correlated with ToM deficit in PD. White matter in the superior longitudinal fasciculus (adjacent to the parietal lobe) and white matter adjacent to the frontal lobe correlated with ToM impairment in PD. After controlling for executive functions, the relationship between ToM deficit and white matter remained significant for white matter areas adjacent to the precuneus and the parietal lobe. Conclusions Findings reinforce the existence of ToM impairment from the early Hoehn and Yahr stages in PD, and the findings suggest associations with white matter and grey matter volume decrease. This study contributes to better understand ToM deficit and its neural correlates in PD, which is a basic skill for development of healthy social relationships. PMID:26559669

Neuroanatomical Correlates of Theory of Mind Deficit in Parkinson's Disease: A Multimodal Imaging Study.

PubMed

Díez-Cirarda, María; Ojeda, Natalia; Peña, Javier; Cabrera-Zubizarreta, Alberto; Gómez-Beldarrain, María Ángeles; Gómez-Esteban, Juan Carlos; Ibarretxe-Bilbao, Naroa

2015-01-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) patients show theory of mind (ToM) deficit since the early stages of the disease, and this deficit has been associated with working memory, executive functions and quality of life impairment. To date, neuroanatomical correlates of ToM have not been assessed with magnetic resonance imaging in PD. The main objective of this study was to assess cerebral correlates of ToM deficit in PD. The second objective was to explore the relationships between ToM, working memory and executive functions, and to analyse the neural correlates of ToM, controlling for both working memory and executive functions. Thirty-seven PD patients (Hoehn and Yahr median = 2.0) and 15 healthy controls underwent a neuropsychological assessment and magnetic resonance images in a 3T-scanner were acquired. T1-weighted images were analysed with voxel-based morphometry, and white matter integrity and diffusivity measures were obtained from diffusion weighted images and analysed using tract-based spatial statistics. PD patients showed impairments in ToM, working memory and executive functions; grey matter loss and white matter reduction compared to healthy controls. Grey matter volume decrease in the precentral and postcentral gyrus, middle and inferior frontal gyrus correlated with ToM deficit in PD. White matter in the superior longitudinal fasciculus (adjacent to the parietal lobe) and white matter adjacent to the frontal lobe correlated with ToM impairment in PD. After controlling for executive functions, the relationship between ToM deficit and white matter remained significant for white matter areas adjacent to the precuneus and the parietal lobe. Findings reinforce the existence of ToM impairment from the early Hoehn and Yahr stages in PD, and the findings suggest associations with white matter and grey matter volume decrease. This study contributes to better understand ToM deficit and its neural correlates in PD, which is a basic skill for development of healthy social relationships.

Theory-of-mind-related neural activity for one’s romantic partner predicts partner well-being

PubMed Central

Felix, Steven; Yung, Matthew G.; Hooker, Christine I.

2016-01-01

Healthy social relationships are linked to myriad positive physical and mental health outcomes, raising the question of how to enhance relationship formation and quality. Behavioral data suggest that theory of mind (ToM) may be one such process. ToM is supported by a network of brain regions including the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), medial prefrontal cortex and precuneus (PC). However, little research has investigated how the ToM network supports healthy social relationships. Here, we investigate whether recruitment of the ToM network when thinking about the mental states of one’s romantic partner predicts the partner’s well-being. We find that selectivity in left TPJ (LTPJ) and PC for beliefs vs physical attributes of one’s partner is positively associated with partner well-being the day of and day after a meaningful encounter. Furthermore, LTPJ and PC selectivity moderated how the partner’s perception of being understood during the encounter affected their later well-being. Finally, we find the association between ToM-related neural selectivity and well-being robust to other factors related to the relationship and the encounter. Together, these data suggest that selective engagement of the neural network supporting ToM may be a key ingredient for the development and maintenance of healthy romantic relationships. PMID:26609107

Autism and epistemology IV: Does autism need a theory of mind?

PubMed

Fisch, Gene S

2013-10-01

In their article, "Does the autistic child have a 'theory of mind'?," Baron-Cohen et al. [1985] proposed a novel paradigm to explain social impairment in children diagnosed as autistic (AD). Much research has been undertaken since their article went to print. The purpose of this commentary is to gauge whether Theory of Mind (ToM)-or lack thereof-is a valid model for explaining abnormal social behavior in children with AD. ToM is defined as "the ability to impute mental states to oneself and to others" and "the ability to make inferences about what other people believe to be the case." The source for their model was provided by an article published earlier by Premack and Woodruff, "Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind?" Later research in chimpanzees did not support a ToM in primates. From the outset, ToM as a neurocognitive model of autism has had many shortcomings-methodological, logical, and empirical. Other ToM assumptions, for example, its universality in all children in all cultures and socioeconomic conditions, are not supported by data. The age at which a ToM emerges, or events that presage a ToM, are too often not corroborated. Recent studies of mirror neurons, their location and interconnections in brain, their relationship to social behavior and language, and the effect of lesions there on speech, language and social behavior, strongly suggests that a neurobiological as opposed to neurocognitive model of autism is a more parsimonious explanation for the social and behavioral phenotypes observed in autism. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cognitive, Affective, and Conative Theory of Mind (ToM) in Children with Traumatic Brain Injury

PubMed Central

Dennis, Maureen; Simic, Nevena; Bigler, Erin D.; Abildskov, Tracy; Agostino, Alba; Taylor, H. Gerry; Rubin, Kenneth; Vannatta, Kathryn; Gerhardt, Cynthia A.; Stancin, Terry; Yeates, Keith Owen

2012-01-01

We studied three forms of dyadic communication involving theory of mind (ToM) in 82 children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 61 children with orthopedic injury (OI): Cognitive (concerned with false belief), Affective (concerned with expressing socially deceptive facial expressions), and Conative (concerned with influencing another’s thoughts or feelings). We analyzed the pattern of brain lesions in the TBI group and conducted voxel-based morphometry for all participants in five large-scale functional brain networks, and related lesion and volumetric data to ToM outcomes. Children with TBI exhibited difficulty with Cognitive, Affective, and Conative ToM. The perturbation threshold for Cognitive ToM is higher than that for Affective and Conative ToM, in that Severe TBI disturbs Cognitive ToM but even Mild-Moderate TBI disrupt Affective and Conative ToM. Childhood TBI was associated with damage to all five large-scale brain networks. Lesions in the Mirror Neuron Empathy network predicted lower Conative ToM involving ironic criticism and empathic praise. Conative ToM was significantly and positively related to the package of Default Mode, Central Executive, and Mirror Neuron Empathy networks and, more specifically, to two hubs of the Default Mode network, the posterior cingulate/retrosplenial cortex and the hippocampal formation, including entorhinal cortex and parahippocampal cortex. PMID:23291312

Translating Child Development Research into Practice: Can Teachers Foster Children's Theory of Mind in Primary School?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bianco, Federica; Lecce, Serena

2016-01-01

Background: Translating research findings into practice should be one of the objectives of developmental psychology. Recently, research demonstrated the existence of individual differences in theory of mind (ToM) during middle childhood that are crucial for children's academic and social adjustment. Aims: This study aims to transfer the results of…

The Relation between Executive Function and Theory of Mind Is More than Skin Deep

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Stephanie M.; Claxton, Laura J.; Moses, Louis J.

2015-01-01

A simple "expression" account of the relation between executive function (EF) and children's developing theory of mind (ToM) has difficulty accounting for the generality of the changes occurring in children's mental-state understanding during the preschool years. The current study of preschool children (N = 43) showed that EF--especially…

Action Mechanisms for Social Cognition: Behavioral and Neural Correlates of Developing Theory of Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowman, Lindsay C.; Thorpe, Samuel G.; Cannon, Erin N.; Fox, Nathan A.

2017-01-01

Many psychological theories posit foundational links between two fundamental constructs: (1) our ability to produce, perceive, and represent action; and (2) our ability to understand the meaning and motivation behind the action (i.e. Theory of Mind; ToM). This position is contentious, however, and long-standing competing theories of…

Theory of Mind in Adults with Right Hemisphere Damage: What's the Story?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weed, Ethan; McGregor, William; Nielsen, Jorgen Feldbaek; Roepstorff, Andreas; Frith, Uta

2010-01-01

Why do people with right hemisphere damage (RHD) have difficulty with pragmatics and communication? One hypothesis has been that pragmatic impairment in RHD is the result of an underlying impairment in Theory of Mind (ToM): the ability to infer the mental states of others. In previous studies evaluating ToM abilities in people with RHD,…

How Is Theory of Mind Useful? Perhaps to Enable Social Pretend Play

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dore, Rebecca A.; Smith, Eric D.; Lillard, Angeline S.

2015-01-01

It is often claimed that theory of mind (ToM) is facilitated by pretend play (PP), or by a particular type of PP, social pretend play (SPP). The authors challenge that view, proposing instead that ToM might be useful for driving SPP, rather than the reverse. The authors discuss background theory, review pertinent studies, and explain why the…

Theory of mind and wisdom: The development of different forms of perspective-taking in late adulthood.

PubMed

Rakoczy, Hannes; Wandt, Raphaela; Thomas, Stefanie; Nowak, Jana; Kunzmann, Ute

2018-02-01

How does perspective-taking develop over the lifespan? This question has been investigated in two separate research traditions, dealing with theory of mind (ToM) and wisdom, respectively. Operating in almost complete isolation from each other, and using rather different conceptual approaches, these two traditions have produced seemingly contradictory results: While perspective-taking has been consistently found to decline in old age in ToM research, studies on wisdom have mostly found that perspective-taking remains constant or sometimes even increases in later adulthood. This study sought to integrate these two lines of research and clarify the seemingly contradictory patterns of findings by systematically testing for both forms of perspective-taking and their potential cognitive foundations. The results revealed (1) the dissociation in developmental patterns between ToM perspective-taking (declining with age) and wisdom-related perspective-taking (no decline with age) also held - documented here for the first time - in one and the same sample of younger versus older adults; (2) this dissociation was of limited generality: It did not (or only partly) hold once the material of the two types of tasks was more closely matched; and (3) the divergent developmental patterns of ToM perspective-taking versus wisdom-related perspective-taking could be accounted for to some degree by the fact that only TOM perspective-taking was related to developmental changes in fluid intelligence. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Theory of mind disability in major depression with or without psychotic symptoms: a componential view.

PubMed

Wang, Yong-Guang; Wang, Yi-Qiang; Chen, Shu-Lin; Zhu, Chun-Yan; Wang, Kai

2008-11-30

Previous reports have conceptualized theory of mind (ToM) as comprising two components and questioned whether ToM deficits are associated with psychotic symptoms. We investigated 33 nonpsychotic depressed inpatients, 23 psychotic depressed inpatients, and 53 normal controls with the following measures: Eyes Task, Faux pas Task, Verbal Fluency Test (VFT), Digit Span Test (DST) and WAIS-IQ. The depressed patients were also evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). The nonpsychotic depressed patients and the psychotic depressed individuals were significantly impaired on tasks involving ToM social-perceptual and social-cognitive components, as well as the VFT. The psychotic depressed patients performed significantly worse than nonpsychotic depressed patients on ToM tasks. An association was found between ToM performances and both BPRS total and hostile-suspiciousness scores in the depressed group. Both of the ToM components were impaired in depressed patients. Similar mechanisms and neurobiological substrate may contribute to schizophrenia and major depression.

The role of medial prefrontal cortex in theory of mind: a deep rTMS study.

PubMed

Krause, Laura; Enticott, Peter G; Zangen, Abraham; Fitzgerald, Paul B

2012-03-01

Neuroimaging studies suggest that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a central role in cognitive theory of mind (ToM). This can be assessed more definitively, however, using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Sixteen healthy participants (10 females, 6 males) completed tasks assessing cognitive and affective ToM following low-frequency deep rTMS to bilateral mPFC in active-stimulation and placebo-stimulation sessions. There was no effect of deep rTMS on either cognitive or affective ToM performance. When examining self-reported empathy, however, there was evidence for a double dissociation: deep rTMS disrupted affective ToM performance for those with high self-reported empathy, but improved affective ToM performance for those with low self-reported empathy. mPFC appears to play a role in affective ToM processing, but the present study suggest that stimulation outcomes are dependent on baseline empathic abilities. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Relationship between insight and theory of mind in schizophrenia: A meta-analysis.

PubMed

Bora, Emre

2017-12-01

Poor insight in schizophrenia has been associated with executive dysfunction and deficits in general cognitive ability. The overall outcome of available neurocognitive studies suggests that there is a significant but modest relationship between cognitive deficits and poor insight in schizophrenia. However, social cognitive abilities, particularly, theory of mind (ToM), might also play a role in poor insight in schizophrenia. A novel meta-analysis of the relationship between ToM and insight in schizophrenia was conducted. Current meta-analysis included 16 studies including 1085 patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. There was a significant association between ToM and clinical insight (r=0.28, CI=0.20-0.36). By contrast, there was no significant relationship between ToM and cognitive insight. Current findings suggest that there is a small but significant relationship between ToM and clinical insight in schizophrenia. ToM impairment is one of the factors contributing to poor insight in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Systematic Comparison of Brain Imaging Meta-Analyses of ToM with vPT.

PubMed

Arora, Aditi; Schurz, Matthias; Perner, Josef

2017-01-01

In visual perspective taking (vPT) one has to concern oneself with what other people see and how they see it. Since seeing is a mental state, developmental studies have discussed vPT within the domain of "theory of mind (ToM)" but imaging studies have not treated it as such. Based on earlier results from several meta-analyses, we tested for the overlap of visual perspective taking studies with 6 different kinds of ToM studies: false belief, trait judgments, strategic games, social animations, mind in the eyes, and rational actions. Joint activation was observed between the vPT task and some kinds of ToM tasks in regions involving the left temporoparietal junction (TPJ), anterior precuneus, left middle occipital gyrus/extrastriate body area (EBA), and the left inferior frontal and precentral gyrus. Importantly, no overlap activation was found for the vPT tasks with the joint core of all six kinds of ToM tasks. This raises the important question of what the common denominator of all tasks that fall under the label of "theory of mind" is supposed to be if visual perspective taking is not one of them.

The Voice of the Practitioner: Sharing Fiction Books to Support the Understanding of Theory of Mind in Deaf Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beazley, S.; Chilton, H.

2015-01-01

In recent years, there has been increasing research interest in the development of theory of mind (ToM) in deaf children and young people and the conditions which might enable or suppress development of the set of skills involved. However, the views of practitioners working with deaf children have not been widely explored. This paper presents the…

Does the way we read others' mind change over the lifespan? Insights from a massive web poll of cognitive skills from childhood to late adulthood.

PubMed

Klindt, David; Devaine, Marie; Daunizeau, Jean

2017-01-01

Mentalizing or Theory of Mind (ToM), i.e., the ability to recognize what people think or feel, is a crucial component of human social intelligence. It has been recently proposed that ToM can be decomposed into automatic and controlled neurocognitive components, where only the latter engage executive functions (e.g., working memory, inhibitory control and task switching). Critical here is the notion that such dual processes are expected to follow different developmental dynamics. In this work, we provide novel experimental evidence for this notion. We report data gathered from about thirty thousand participants of a massive web poll of people's cognitive skills, which included ToM and executive functions. We show that although the maturation of executive functions occurs in synchrony (around 20 years of age), this is not the case for different mentalizing competences, which either mature before (for elementary ToM constituents) or after (for higher-level ToM). In addition, we show that inter-individual differences in executive functions predict variability in higher-level ToM skills from the onset of adulthood onwards, i.e., after the complete maturation of executive functions. Taken together, these results indicate that the relative contribution of ToM's controlled component significantly changes with age. In particular, this implies that, over the lifespan, people may rely upon distinct cognitive architectures when reading others' minds. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory of Mind and social competence in children and adolescents with genetic generalised epilepsy (GGE): Relationships to epilepsy severity and anti-epileptic drugs.

PubMed

Stewart, Elizabeth; Catroppa, Cathy; Gill, Deepak; Webster, Richard; Lawson, John; Mandalis, Anna; Sabaz, Mark; Barton, Belinda; Lah, Suncica

2018-06-18

This study aimed to examine Theory of Mind (ToM) and social competence in children and adolescents with genetic generalised epilepsy (GGE), and explore how they relate to neurocognitive and epilepsy variables. Twenty-two children and adolescents with GGE (8-16 years old) and 22 typically developing controls completed two behavioural tasks (faux-pas, strange stories) assessing cognitive and affective ToM, and a battery of standardised neuropsychological tests. Parents completed questionnaires assessing ToM and social competence. Neurologists completed the Global Assessment Severity of Epilepsy (GASE) scale to measure of epilepsy severity. Children and adolescents with GGE were impaired in both cognitive and affective ToM, and had reduced social competence compared to controls, which was not attributable to low intellectual functioning or impaired executive skills (working memory, inhibition). Lower ToM correlated with reduced social competence in children and adolescents with GGE. Clinical variables identified included: (i) higher daily dosage of valproate, which was correlated with reduced affective ToM, (ii) higher daily dosages of ethosuximide and lamotrigine, which were correlated with reduced social competence, and (iii) overall epilepsy severity on the GASE, which was correlated with reduced social competence. Our study revealed cognitive and affective ToM impairments in children and adolescents with GGE, which correlated with everyday social problems. Moreover, higher dosages of commonly prescribed anti-epileptic drugs and overall epilepsy severity were related to ToM impairments and social competence problems. Although preliminary, these findings provide critical information for detection and screening procedures for social difficulties in children and adolescents with GGE, which are currently lacking. Copyright © 2018 British Epilepsy Association. All rights reserved.

How could Theory of Mind contribute to the differentiation of social adjustment profiles of children with externalizing behavior disorders and children with intellectual disabilities?

PubMed

Nader-Grosbois, Nathalie; Houssa, Marine; Mazzone, Stéphanie

2013-09-01

This study compared Theory of Mind (ToM) emotion and belief abilities in 43 children with externalized behavior (EB) disorders presenting low intelligence, 40 children with intellectual disabilities (ID) and 33 typically developing (TD) preschoolers (as a control group), matched for developmental age. The links between their ToM abilities, their level in seven self-regulation strategies as displayed in social problem-solving tasks and their social adjustment profiles (assessed by the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation, completed by their teachers) were examined. Children with EB presented lower comprehension of causes of emotions and lower self-regulation of joint attention and of attention than children with ID and TD children. In comparison with TD children, lower social adjustment was observed in nearly all dimensions of profiles in both atypical groups. Specifically, children with EB were significantly angrier than children with ID. Although variable patterns of positive correlations were obtained in atypical groups between self-regulation strategies and ToM abilities, the most numerous positive links were obtained in the group with EB. Regression analyses showed that developmental age predicted ToM abilities and certain dimensions of social adjustment profiles in atypical groups. In the ID group, ToM emotions predicted general adaptation, affective adaptation, interactions with peers and with adults and low internalizing problems. In the EB group, general adaptation was predicted by ToM emotions and self-regulation, interactions with peers by ToM beliefs, and a low level of externalizing problems by ToM emotions. Some implications for intervention and perspectives for research are suggested. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Role of theory of mind and executive function in explaining social intelligence: a structural equation modeling approach.

PubMed

Yeh, Zai-Ting

2013-01-01

Social intelligence is the ability to understand others and the social context effectively and thus to interact with people successfully. Research has suggested that the theory of mind (ToM) and executive function may play important roles in explaining social intelligence. The specific aim of the present study was to test with structural equation modeling (SEM) the hypothesis that performance on ToM tasks is more associated with social intelligence in the elderly than is performance on executive functions. One hundred and seventy-seven participants (age 56-96) completed ToM, executive function, and other basic cognition tasks, and were rated with social intelligence scales. The SEM results showed that ToM and executive function were strongly correlated (0.54); however, only the path coefficient from ToM to social intelligence, and not from executive function, was significant (0.37). ToM performance, but not executive function, was strongly correlated with social intelligence among elderly individuals. ToM and executive function might play different roles in social behavior during normal aging; however, based on the present results, it is possible that ToM might play an important role in social intelligence.

Relationship between theory of mind and functional independence is mediated by executive function.

PubMed

Ahmed, Fayeza S; Miller, L Stephen

2013-06-01

Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to comprehend another person's perspective. Although there is much literature of ToM in children, there is a limited and somewhat inconclusive amount of studies examining ToM in a geriatric population. This study examined ToM's relationship to functional independence. Two tests of ToM, tests of executive function, and a measure of functional ability were administered to cognitively intact older adults. Results showed that 1 test of ToM (Strange Stories test) significantly accounted for variance in functional ability, whereas the other did not (Faux Pas test). In addition, Strange Stories test performance was partially driven by a verbal abstraction-based executive function: proverb interpretation. A multiple mediation model was employed to examine whether executive functions explained the relationship between the Strange Stories test and functional ability. Results showed that both the combined and individual indirect effects of the executive function measures mediated the relationship. We argue that, although components of ToM are associated with functional independence, ToM does not appear to account for additional variance in functional independence beyond executive function measures. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Theory of mind network activity is altered in subjects with familial liability for schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Mohnke, Sebastian; Erk, Susanne; Schnell, Knut; Romanczuk-Seiferth, Nina; Schmierer, Phöbe; Romund, Lydia; Garbusow, Maria; Wackerhagen, Carolin; Ripke, Stephan; Grimm, Oliver; Haller, Leila; Witt, Stephanie H.; Degenhardt, Franziska; Tost, Heike; Heinz, Andreas; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Walter, Henrik

2016-01-01

As evidenced by a multitude of studies, abnormalities in Theory of Mind (ToM) and its neural processing might constitute an intermediate phenotype of schizophrenia. If so, neural alterations during ToM should be observable in unaffected relatives of patients as well, since they share a considerable amount of genetic risk. While behaviorally, impaired ToM function is confirmed meta-analytically in relatives, evidence on aberrant function of the neural ToM network is sparse and inconclusive. The present study therefore aimed to further explore the neural correlates of ToM in relatives of schizophrenia. About 297 controls and 63 unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia performed a ToM task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Consistent with the literature relatives exhibited decreased activity of the medial prefrontal cortex. Additionally, increased recruitment of the right middle temporal gyrus and posterior cingulate cortex was found, which was related to subclinical paranoid symptoms in relatives. These results further support decreased medial prefrontal activation during ToM as an intermediate phenotype of genetic risk for schizophrenia. Enhanced recruitment of posterior ToM areas in relatives might indicate inefficiency mechanisms in the presence of genetic risk. PMID:26341902

The Association between Sleep and Theory of Mind in School Aged Children with ADHD

PubMed Central

Tesfaye, Rackeb; Gruber, Reut

2017-01-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) is defined as the ability to infer a range of internal mental states of others, including beliefs, intentions, desires, and emotions. These abilities are associated with children’s ability to socialize effectively with peers. ToM impairments are associated with peer rejection and psychiatric disorders such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Previous studies have found poor sleep negatively impacts executive functioning (EF) and emotional information processing, which are essential for the effective use of ToM. Youth with ADHD have EF deficits and sleep problems. However, the relationship between sleep, executive functioning, and ToM in children with ADHD has not been studied. In this review, we propose that the poor social and interpersonal skills characterizing individuals with ADHD could be explained by the impact of poor sleep on the emotional and cognitive mechanisms underlying ToM. PMID:29099034

Does Affective Theory of Mind Contribute to Proactive Aggression in Boys with Conduct Problems and Psychopathic Tendencies?

PubMed

Gillespie, Steven M; Kongerslev, Mickey T; Sharp, Carla; Bo, Sune; Abu-Akel, Ahmad M

2018-04-27

Adolescent psychopathic tendencies are associated with phenotypic increases in proactive aggression. However, the extent to which an understanding of others' affective mental states, or affective theory of mind (ToM), contributes to proactive aggression remains unknown. We examined how performance on a well-known test of affective ToM, based on cropped images of the eye region, contributes to reactive and proactive types of aggression in a mixed ethnicity sample of 80 incarcerated adolescent boys. A hierarchical regression model showed that affective ToM predicted proactive aggression over and above the influence of clinically rated psychopathic tendencies. Importantly, affective ToM was unrelated to reactive aggression. Our results suggest that being able to recognize others' affective mental states may be an important factor in aggressing against others for personal gain. These findings have implications for interventions designed to enhance ToM in youth with conduct problems.

Effect of theory of mind and peer victimization on the schizotypy-aggression relationship.

PubMed

Lam, Bess Y H; Raine, Adrian; Lee, Tatia M C

2016-01-01

Prior longitudinal studies have established the relationship between schizophrenia and violence. However, previous studies on aggression and schizotypal personality are scarce. The present study examines whether peer victimization mediates the relationship between schizotypy and reactive-proactive aggression, and whether theory of mind (ToM) moderates this mediation. Schizotypy, peer victimization, reactive-proactive aggression, and ToM were assessed in 237 undergraduates. Peer victimization mediated the relationship between schizotypy and reactive aggression. ToM moderated this mediation effect; although peer victimization partially explains the schizotypy-aggression relationship, higher ToM skills weakened the detrimental effect of schizotypy on peer victimization which in turn reduces reactive aggression. In contrast, the moderated mediation was not significant for the proactive aggression model. Findings help delineate the underlying mechanism of the relationship between schizotypy and aggression. It is suggested that aggression could be reduced by enhancing ToM skills, thereby reducing peer victimization and the resultant schizotypy.

Effect of theory of mind and peer victimization on the schizotypy–aggression relationship

PubMed Central

Lam, Bess Y H; Raine, Adrian; Lee, Tatia M C

2016-01-01

Prior longitudinal studies have established the relationship between schizophrenia and violence. However, previous studies on aggression and schizotypal personality are scarce. The present study examines whether peer victimization mediates the relationship between schizotypy and reactive-proactive aggression, and whether theory of mind (ToM) moderates this mediation. Schizotypy, peer victimization, reactive-proactive aggression, and ToM were assessed in 237 undergraduates. Peer victimization mediated the relationship between schizotypy and reactive aggression. ToM moderated this mediation effect; although peer victimization partially explains the schizotypy–aggression relationship, higher ToM skills weakened the detrimental effect of schizotypy on peer victimization which in turn reduces reactive aggression. In contrast, the moderated mediation was not significant for the proactive aggression model. Findings help delineate the underlying mechanism of the relationship between schizotypy and aggression. It is suggested that aggression could be reduced by enhancing ToM skills, thereby reducing peer victimization and the resultant schizotypy. PMID:27336052

Making sense of self-conscious emotion: linking theory of mind and emotion in children with autism.

PubMed

Heerey, Erin A; Keltner, Dacher; Capps, Lisa M

2003-12-01

Self-conscious emotions such as embarrassment and shame are associated with 2 aspects of theory of mind (ToM): (a) the ability to understand that behavior has social consequences in the eyes of others and (b) an understanding of social norms violations. The present study aimed to link ToM with the recognition of self-conscious emotion. Children with and without autism identified facial expressions conscious of self-conscious and non-self-conscious emotions from photographs. ToM was also measured. Children with autism performed more poorly than comparison children at identifying self-conscious emotions, though they did not differ in the recognition of non-self-conscious emotions. When ToM ability was statistically controlled, group differences in the recognition of self-conscious emotion disappeared. Discussion focused on the links between ToM and self-conscious emotion.

Social Cognition in Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Associations with Executive Functions.

PubMed

Miranda, Ana; Berenguer, Carmen; Roselló, Belén; Baixauli, Inmaculada; Colomer, Carla

2017-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by social impairments. The first objective of this study was to analyze social cognition deficits of children with ADHD, high-functioning ASD (HFASD), and typical development (TD) in their performance on explicit and applied measures of theory of mind (ToM). The second objective was to investigate the relationships between executive functions and social cognition in HFASD and ADHD. One hundred and twenty-six 7- to 11-year old children, 52 with HFASD, 35 with ADHD, and 39 with TD, performed the NEPSY-II social perception subtests. Parents estimated their children's ToM skills using the Theory of Mind Inventory (ToMI). Teacher-reported data from the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) were also obtained. The HFASD and ADHD groups showed worse performance on the verbal ToM task than the TD group, and only the performance of the HFASD group was significantly lower than the TD group on the contextual ToM task. Parents also estimated that the HFASD group had more difficulties on the applied ToM than the ADHD and TD groups. Furthermore, there is a different executive function-theory of mind link in the HFASD and ADHD groups: behavioral regulation processes such as inhibition and emotional control are more associated with social cognition in children with ADHD, whereas metacognitive processes such as initiation and planning have a strong association with social cognition in children with HFASD. These findings have implications for understanding social perception deficits in neurodevelopmental disorders, highlighting the need for early intervention.

Alteration of affective Theory of Mind in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Poletti, Michele; Bonuccelli, Ubaldo

2013-03-01

The concept of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) concerns a population of older individuals at high risk of developing probable Alzheimer's disease (AD). Impairments of the cognitive component of Theory of Mind (ToM), that is the inference about other people's beliefs, have been well documented in AD; on the contrary, controversial findings have been reported on the affective component of ToM (inference about other's feelings), a process mainly based on medial portions of the prefrontal cortex. The current study aimed at evaluating the affective component of ToM in aMCI subjects. Twenty aMCI subjects and 20 age-matched healthy controls (HC) underwent a standard neuropsychological assessment and the assessment of affective ToM with the full 36-item version of reading the mind in the eyes (RME). Although aMCI subjects had formal impaired performances only in memory tasks, HC outperformed aMCI subjects in several cognitive tasks, including also the RME (mean RME scores 21.7 ± 3.0 vs. 17.0 ± 3.8%; 60.3% of correct answers vs. 47.2%). The lower RME performance of aMCI patients provides the first empirical evidence that aMCI may be associated with difficulties in tasks of affective ToM, in accordance with recent findings of early difficulties of aMCI patients in other processes that are mainly dependent on the medial prefrontal cortex, such as reversal learning and decision making under ambiguity. Findings of the current study need further empirical confirmation in larger samples of aMCI patients and also the investigation of other MCI subtypes is needed. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.

Social Cognition in Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Associations with Executive Functions

PubMed Central

Miranda, Ana; Berenguer, Carmen; Roselló, Belén; Baixauli, Inmaculada; Colomer, Carla

2017-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by social impairments. The first objective of this study was to analyze social cognition deficits of children with ADHD, high-functioning ASD (HFASD), and typical development (TD) in their performance on explicit and applied measures of theory of mind (ToM). The second objective was to investigate the relationships between executive functions and social cognition in HFASD and ADHD. One hundred and twenty-six 7- to 11-year old children, 52 with HFASD, 35 with ADHD, and 39 with TD, performed the NEPSY-II social perception subtests. Parents estimated their children's ToM skills using the Theory of Mind Inventory (ToMI). Teacher-reported data from the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) were also obtained. The HFASD and ADHD groups showed worse performance on the verbal ToM task than the TD group, and only the performance of the HFASD group was significantly lower than the TD group on the contextual ToM task. Parents also estimated that the HFASD group had more difficulties on the applied ToM than the ADHD and TD groups. Furthermore, there is a different executive function-theory of mind link in the HFASD and ADHD groups: behavioral regulation processes such as inhibition and emotional control are more associated with social cognition in children with ADHD, whereas metacognitive processes such as initiation and planning have a strong association with social cognition in children with HFASD. These findings have implications for understanding social perception deficits in neurodevelopmental disorders, highlighting the need for early intervention. PMID:28690570

Empathic Accuracy in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demurie, Ellen; De Corel, Maaike; Roeyers, Herbert

2011-01-01

In research on theory of mind (ToM) in individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) mainly static mind-reading tasks were used. In this study both a static (Eyes Test) and a more naturalistic (empathic accuracy task) ToM measure were used to investigate the perspective taking abilities of adolescents with ASD (n = 13), adolescents with…

Theory of Mind Training in Children with Autism: A Randomized Controlled Trial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Begeer, Sander; Gevers, Carolien; Clifford, Pamela; Verhoeve, Manja; Kat, Kirstin; Hoddenbach, Elske; Boer, Frits

2011-01-01

Many children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) participate in social skills or Theory of Mind (ToM) treatments. However, few studies have shown evidence for their effectiveness. The current study used a randomized controlled design to test the effectiveness of a 16-week ToM treatment in 8-13 year old children with ASD and normal IQs (n = 40).…

Towards a Better Understanding of the Relationship between Executive Control and Theory of Mind: An Intra-Cultural Comparison of Three Diverse Samples

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shahaeian, Ameneh; Henry, Julie D.; Razmjoee, Maryam; Teymoori, Ali; Wang, Cen

2015-01-01

Previous research has consistently indicated that theory of mind (ToM) is associated with executive control in the preschool years. However, interpretation of this literature is limited by the fact that most studies have focused exclusively on urbanized Western cultural samples. Consequently, it is not clear whether the association between ToM and…

Brief Report: Theory of Mind, Relational Reasoning, and Social Responsiveness in Children with and without Autism--Demonstration of Feasibility for a Larger-Scale Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pruett, John R., Jr.; Kandala, Sridhar; Petersen, Steven E.; Povinelli, Daniel J.

2015-01-01

Understanding the underpinnings of social responsiveness and theory of mind (ToM) will enhance our knowledge of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We hypothesize that higher-order relational reasoning (higher-order RR: reasoning necessitating integration of relationships among multiple variables) is necessary but not sufficient for ToM, and that…

The Relationship between Theory of Mind and Executive Function in a Sample of Children from Mainland China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Juan; Zhou, Shijie; Yao, Shuqiao; Su, Linyan; McWhinnie, Chad

2009-01-01

To explore the relationship between theory of mind (ToM) and executive function (EF) in a sample of individuals from mainland China, 20 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), 26 children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and 30 normal control subjects were compared on two batteries of ToM tasks and EF tasks. Children…

Theory of mind correlates with clinical insight but not cognitive insight in patients with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Zhang, Qi; Li, Xu; Parker, Giverny J; Hong, Xiao-Hong; Wang, Yi; Lui, Simon S Y; Neumann, David L; Cheung, Eric F C; Shum, David H K; Chan, Raymond C K

2016-03-30

Research on the relationship between insight and social cognition, in particular Theory of Mind (ToM), in schizophrenia has yielded mixed findings to date. Very few studies, however, have assessed both clinical insight and cognitive insight when examining their relationships with ToM in schizophrenia. The current study thus investigated the relationship between clinical insight, cognitive insight, and ToM in a sample of 56 patients with schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls. Twenty-seven patients were classified as low in clinical insight according to their scores on the 'insight' item (G12) of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Moreover, cognitive insight and ToM were assessed with the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS) and the Yoni task, respectively. The results indicated that patients with poor clinical insight performed worse on tasks of second-order cognitive and affective ToM, while the ToM performance of patients with high clinical insight was equivalent to that of healthy controls. Furthermore, while clinical insight was correlated with ToM and clinical symptoms, cognitive insight did not correlate with clinical insight, ToM, or clinical symptoms. Clinical insight thus appears to be an important factor related to ToM in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Promoting theory of mind in older adults: does age play a role?

PubMed

Rosi, Alessia; Cavallini, Elena; Bottiroli, Sara; Bianco, Federica; Lecce, Serena

2016-01-01

Previous research on age-related changes in Theory of Mind (ToM) showed a decline in older adults, particularly pronounced over 75 years of age. Evidence that ToM may be enhanced in healthy aging people has been demonstrated, but no study has focused on the role of age on the effects of ToM training for elderly people. The present study was designed to examine the efficacy of a ToM training on practiced (ToM Strange Stories) and transfer tasks (ToM Animations) in both young and older adults. The study involved 127 older adults belonging to two age groups: young-old (Mage = 64.41; SD = 2.49; range: 60-69 years) and old-old (Mage = 75.66; SD = 4.38; range: 70-85 years), randomly assigned to either a ToM group or a control group condition. All participants took part in two 2-hour testing sessions and four 2-hour training sessions. Results showed that both young-old and old-old adults in the ToM group condition improved their ability to reason on complex-mental states significantly more than participants in the control group condition. This positive effect of the training was evident on practiced and transfer ToM tasks. Crucially, age did not moderate the effect of the ToM training. These findings demonstrate that young-old and old-old adults equally benefit from the ToM training. Implications for the positive effect of the ToM training in old-old adults are discussed.

Theory of mind and empathy in preclinical and clinical Huntington’s disease

PubMed Central

Adjeroud, Najia; Besnard, Jérémy; Massioui, Nicole El; Verny, Christophe; Prudean, Adriana; Scherer, Clarisse; Gohier, Bénédicte; Bonneau, Dominique

2016-01-01

We investigated cognitive and affective Theory of Mind (ToM) and empathy in patients with premanifest and manifest Huntington’s disease (HD). The relationship between ToM performance and executive skills was also examined. Sixteen preclinical and 23 clinical HD patients, and 39 healthy subjects divided into 2 control groups were given a French adaptation of the Yoni test (Shamay-Tsoory, S.G., Aharon-Peretz, J. (2007). Dissociable prefrontal networks for cognitive and affective theory of mind: a lesion study. Neuropsychologia, 45(3), 3054–67) that examines first- and second-order cognitive and affective ToM processing in separate conditions with a physical control condition. Participants were also given questionnaires of empathy and cognitive tests which mainly assessed executive functions (inhibition and mental flexibility). Clinical HD patients made significantly more errors than their controls in the first- and second-order cognitive and affective ToM conditions of the Yoni task, but exhibited no empathy deficits. However, there was no evidence that ToM impairment was related to cognitive deficits in these patients. Preclinical HD patients were unimpaired in ToM tasks and empathy measures compared with their controls. Our results are consistent with the idea that impaired affective and cognitive mentalizing emerges with the clinical manifestation of HD, but is not necessarily part of the preclinical stage. Furthermore, these impairments appear independent of executive dysfunction and empathy. PMID:26211015

Psychometric properties of three measures assessing advanced theory of mind: Evidence from people with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Chen, Kuan-Wei; Lee, Shih-Chieh; Chiang, Hsin-Yu; Syu, Ya-Cing; Yu, Xiao-Xuan; Hsieh, Ching-Lin

2017-11-01

Patients with schizophrenia tend to have deficits in advanced Theory of Mind (ToM). The "Reading the mind in the eyes" test (RMET), the Faux Pas Task, and the Strange Stories are commonly used for assessing advanced ToM. However, most of the psychometric properties of these 3 measures in patients with schizophrenia are unknown. The aims of this study were to validate the psychometric properties of the 3 advanced ToM measures in patients with schizophrenia, including: (1) test-retest reliability; (2) random measurement error; (3) practice effect; (4) concurrent validity; and (5) ecological validity. We recruited 53 patients with schizophrenia, who completed the 3 measures twice, 4 weeks apart. The Revised Social Functioning Scale-Taiwan short version (R-SFST) was completed within 3 days of first session of assessments. We found that the intraclass correlation coefficients of the RMET, Strange Stories, and Faux Pas Task were 0.24, 0.5, and 0.76. All 3 advanced ToM measures had large random measurement error, trivial to small practice effects, poor concurrent validity, and low ecological validity. We recommend that the scores of the 3 advanced ToM measures be interpreted with caution because these measures may not provide reliable and valid results on patients' advanced ToM abilities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mind reading abilities in opiate-dependent patients: An exploratory study.

PubMed

Gandolphe, Marie-Charlotte; Lecluyse, Bérénice; Triquet, Claire; Brunelle, Emmanuel; Duparcq, Jean-Paul; Nandrino, Jean-Louis

2018-05-01

Impairments in social cognition have been described as playing a major role in the maintenance of addictive behavior in substance abusers. This study aimed to investigate the Theory of Mind (ToM) ability of opiate-dependent (OD) patients and to explore whether TOM ability was correlated with length of substance abuse, age at onset of substance abuse and length of abstinence. OD patients (N = 29) and non-dependent individuals (NDI) (N = 29) were submitted to the Theory of Mind Assessment Scale (Th.o.m.a.s.), a semi-structured interview, and to the Versailles-Lecture Intentionnelle en Situation (V-LIS), a movie paradigm in which participants have to infer the characters' intentions. The results confirmed a deficit in ToM ability in OD patients, with OD patients demonstrating poorer performance than NDI on both the V-LIS and the Th.o.m.a.s. The combination of perspective taking and reflecting on others' mental states was particularly difficult for OD patients. Furthermore, impairments in ToM abilities were not correlated with the age at onset of substance abuse or to the duration of substance abuse or abstinence. The results suggest OD patients may have impaired social cognition, demonstrating deficits in even basic social interaction skills, which may constitute a risk factor for addiction. These findings underline the importance of developing interventions to improve social cognition ability during the rehabilitation of OD patients. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Theory-of-mind use in remitted schizophrenia patients: The role of inhibition and perspective-switching.

PubMed

Wang, Yong-Guang; Shi, Jian-fei; Roberts, David L; Jiang, Xiao-ying; Shen, Zhi-hua; Wang, Yi-quan; Wang, Kai

2015-09-30

In social interaction, Theory of Mind (ToM) enables us to construct representations of others' mental states, and to use those representations flexibly to explain or predict others' behavior. Although previous literature has documented that schizophrenia is associated with poor ToM ability, little is known about the cognitive mechanisms underlying their difficulty in ToM use. This study developed a new methodology to test whether the difficulty in false-belief-use might be related to deficits in perspective-switching or impaired inhibitory control among 23 remitted schizophrenia patients and 18 normal controls. Patients showed a significantly greater error rate in a perspective-switching condition than a perspective-repeating position in a false-belief-use task, whereas normal controls did not show a difference between the two conditions. In addition, a larger main effect of inhibition was found in remitted schizophrenia patients than normal controls in both a false-belief-use task and control task. Thus, remitted schizophrenia patients' impairment in ToM use might be accounted for, at least partially, by deficits in perspective-switching and impaired inhibitory control. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Affective Qualities of Sibling Disputes, Mothers' Conflict Attitudes, and Children's Theory of Mind Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Randell, Angela C.; Peterson, Candida C.

2009-01-01

Preschoolers' theory of mind (ToM) was examined in relation to emotional features of their conflicts with siblings, using mothers as privileged informants. Fifty-four children aged 3 to 5 years and their 54 mothers took part. Children were given 10 standard false belief tasks and a standardized language test. Mothers completed questionnaires,…

Theory of Mind and Mental State Discourse during Book Reading and Story-Telling Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Symons, Douglas K.; Peterson, Candida C.; Slaughter, Virginia; Roche, Jackie; Doyle, Emily

2005-01-01

This article presents three studies conducted in Canada and Australia that relate theory of mind (ToM) development to mental state discourse. In Study 1, mental state discourse was examined while parents and their 5-7-year-old children jointly read a storybook which had a surprise ending about the identity of the main character. Comments specific…

Preschoolers' Social Interest toward a Child with ASD and Their Theory of Mind Abilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zakai-Mashiach, Mati; Ziv, Margalit; Dromi, Esther

2017-01-01

This study examined the Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities of typically developing preschoolers in three age groups: three- to four-, four- to five- and five- to six-years-old (n = 110), who differed in their spontaneous social interest toward included children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Social interest was assessed by administering a…

Teaching Theory of Mind: A Curriculum for Children with High Functioning Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, and Related Social Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ordetx, Kirstina

2012-01-01

This book provides teachers and other professionals with a highly effective, easy-to-follow curriculum for teaching children with high-functioning autism, Asperger syndrome and related social challenges to relate to and interact with others successfully by developing a solid, basic foundation in Theory of Mind (ToM). Dr. Kirstina Ordetx provides…

Further Evidence of Benefits of Thought-Bubble Training for Theory of Mind Development in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paynter, Jessica; Peterson, Candida C.

2013-01-01

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) routinely fail false belief tests of theory of mind (ToM), even at advanced chronological and mental ages. Initial training efforts were largely disappointing for those with ASD, suggesting an intractable deficit. However, more recently, children with ASD trained with various pictorial strategies…

The Role of Parents' Distancing Strategies in the Development of Five-Year-Old Children's Theory of Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galende, Nuria; de Miguel, Manuel Sanchez; Arranz, Enrique

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to analyse the relation between parents' distancing strategies and the performance of five-year-old children (N = 70) in Theory of Mind (ToM) tasks. The children's performances were assessed during individual sessions held at school. The distancing strategies practiced by the parents (cognitive and linguistic scaffolding,…

Cognitive load disrupts implicit theory-of-mind processing.

PubMed

Schneider, Dana; Lam, Rebecca; Bayliss, Andrew P; Dux, Paul E

2012-08-01

Eye movements in Sally-Anne false-belief tasks appear to reflect the ability to implicitly monitor the mental states of other individuals (theory of mind, or ToM). It has recently been proposed that an early-developing, efficient, and automatically operating ToM system subserves this ability. Surprisingly absent from the literature, however, is an empirical test of the influence of domain-general executive processing resources on this implicit ToM system. In the study reported here, a dual-task method was employed to investigate the impact of executive load on eye movements in an implicit Sally-Anne false-belief task. Under no-load conditions, adult participants displayed eye movement behavior consistent with implicit belief processing, whereas evidence for belief processing was absent for participants under cognitive load. These findings indicate that the cognitive system responsible for implicitly tracking beliefs draws at least minimally on executive processing resources. Thus, even the most low-level processing of beliefs appears to reflect a capacity-limited operation.

Theory of mind, severity of autistic symptoms and parental correlates in children and adolescents with Asperger syndrome.

PubMed

Nagar Shimoni, Hagit; Weizman, Abraham; Yoran, Roni Hegesh; Raviv, Amiram

2012-05-15

This study addresses the theory of mind (ToM) ability of Asperger's syndrome/high-functioning autism (AS/HFA) children and their parents and the severity of the autistic symptoms. Fifty-three families, each consisting of a mother, father and a child, participated in this study (N=159). The 53 children in the sample included 25 children diagnosed with AS/HFA and 28 typically developing (TD) children. The Social Attribution Task (SAT) and tests assessing autistic symptoms were used. AS/HFA children had lower scores than TD children on three of the SAT indices (Person, ToM Affective, and Salience). Fathers of AS/HFA children did not have lower scores than fathers of TD children on the SAT task, whereas mothers of AS/HFA children had lower scores on the Person index, a pattern similar to seen in their children, suggesting a possible genetic contribution of mothers to ToM deficit in AS/HFA children. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory of mind deficit in bipolar disorder: is it related to a previous history of psychotic symptoms?

PubMed

Lahera, Guillermo; Montes, José Manuel; Benito, Adolfo; Valdivia, María; Medina, Elena; Mirapeix, Isabel; Sáiz-Ruiz, Jerónimo

2008-12-15

It has been hypothesized that a Theory of Mind (ToM) deficit could be a vulnerability marker for psychosis. Recent studies, however, have shown ToM deficits in affective relapses of bipolar disorder as well as in the euthymic phase. This study analyzes the relationship between ToM and a previous history of psychotic symptoms in bipolar disorder. ToM, sustained attention and executive functions were analyzed in 75 bipolar euthymic patients with three or more previous relapses (42 of them had a history of psychotic symptoms and 33 did not) and 48 healthy subjects. ToM was assessed with the Advanced Test by Happé. ToM performance was similar in bipolar patients with or without a history of psychotic symptoms, and in both cases it was significantly reduced as compared with the healthy control group. Similarly, both bipolar groups showed impaired sustained attention and executive functions. This general cognitive deficit partially explains the differences obtained in ToM. The ToM instrument used shows low sensitivity for assessing ToM in bipolar patients and it could partially reflect general cognitive functioning rather than a specific deficit in psychosis. ToM deficit is not a trait marker for psychosis, given that it is present in bipolar disorder regardless of a previous history of psychotic symptoms.

Cognitive, affective, and conative theory of mind (ToM) in children with traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Dennis, Maureen; Simic, Nevena; Bigler, Erin D; Abildskov, Tracy; Agostino, Alba; Taylor, H Gerry; Rubin, Kenneth; Vannatta, Kathryn; Gerhardt, Cynthia A; Stancin, Terry; Yeates, Keith Owen

2013-07-01

We studied three forms of dyadic communication involving theory of mind (ToM) in 82 children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 61 children with orthopedic injury (OI): Cognitive (concerned with false belief), Affective (concerned with expressing socially deceptive facial expressions), and Conative (concerned with influencing another's thoughts or feelings). We analyzed the pattern of brain lesions in the TBI group and conducted voxel-based morphometry for all participants in five large-scale functional brain networks, and related lesion and volumetric data to ToM outcomes. Children with TBI exhibited difficulty with Cognitive, Affective, and Conative ToM. The perturbation threshold for Cognitive ToM is higher than that for Affective and Conative ToM, in that Severe TBI disturbs Cognitive ToM but even Mild-Moderate TBI disrupt Affective and Conative ToM. Childhood TBI was associated with damage to all five large-scale brain networks. Lesions in the Mirror Neuron Empathy network predicted lower Conative ToM involving ironic criticism and empathic praise. Conative ToM was significantly and positively related to the package of Default Mode, Central Executive, and Mirror Neuron Empathy networks and, more specifically, to two hubs of the Default Mode Network, the posterior cingulate/retrosplenial cortex and the hippocampal formation, including entorhinal cortex and parahippocampal cortex. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory of Mind training in children with autism: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Begeer, Sander; Gevers, Carolien; Clifford, Pamela; Verhoeve, Manja; Kat, Kirstin; Hoddenbach, Elske; Boer, Frits

2011-08-01

Many children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) participate in social skills or Theory of Mind (ToM) treatments. However, few studies have shown evidence for their effectiveness. The current study used a randomized controlled design to test the effectiveness of a 16-week ToM treatment in 8-13 year old children with ASD and normal IQs (n = 40). The results showed that, compared to controls, the treated children with ASD improved in their conceptual ToM skills, but their elementary understanding, self reported empathic skills or parent reported social behaviour did not improve. Despite the effects on conceptual understanding, the current study does not indicate strong evidence for the effectiveness of a ToM treatment on the daily life mindreading skills.

Theory of mind in SLI revisited: links with syntax, comparisons with ASD.

PubMed

Durrleman, Stephanie; Burnel, Morgane; Reboul, Anne

2017-11-01

According to the linguistic determinism approach, knowledge of sentential complements such as: John says that the earth is flat plays a crucial role in theory of mind (ToM) development by providing a means to represent explicitly people's mental attitudes and beliefs. This approach predicts that mastery of complements determines successful belief reasoning across explicit ToM tasks, even low-verbal ones, and across populations. (1) To investigate the link between a low-verbal ToM-task and complements in Specific Language Impairment (SLI), (2) To determine whether this population shows similar ToM performance to that of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or those with Typical Development (TD) once these groups are matched on competency for complements, (3) To explore whether complements conveying a falsehood without jeopardizing the veracity of the entire sentence, such as complements of verbs of communication, are more crucial for belief attribution than complements which do not have this property, namely complements of verbs of perception, (?John sees that the earth is flat). Children with SLI (n = 20), with ASD (n = 34) and TD (n = 30) completed sentence-picture-matching tasks assessing complementation with communication and perception verbs, as well as a picture-sequencing task assessing ToM. Children were furthermore evaluated for general grammatical and lexical abilities and non-verbal IQ. Results reveal that competency on complements relates to ToM performance with a low-verbal task in SLI, and that SLI, ASD and TD groups of equivalent performance on complements also perform similarly for ToM. Results further suggest that complements with an independent truth-value are the only ones to show a significant relation to ToM performance after teasing out the impact of non-verbal reasoning. This study suggests that clinical groups of different aetiologies as well as TD children perform comparably for ToM once they have similar complementation skills. Findings further highlight that specific types of complements, namely those with an independent truth value, relate in a special way to mentalizing. Future work should determine whether these specific structures could be effective in ToM remediation programmes. © 2017 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Meta-analysis of Theory of Mind (ToM) impairment in bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Bora, E; Bartholomeusz, C; Pantelis, C

2016-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) dysfunction is prominent in a number of psychiatric disorders, in particular, autism and schizophrenia, and can play a significant role in poor functioning. There is now emerging evidence suggesting that ToM abilities are also impaired in bipolar disorder (BP); however, the relationship between ToM deficits and mood state is not clear. We conducted a meta-analysis of ToM studies in BP. Thirty-four studies comparing 1214 patients with BP and 1097 healthy controls were included. BP groups included remitted (18 samples, 545 BP patients), subsyndromal (12 samples, 510 BP patients), and acute (manic and/or depressed) (10 samples, 159 BP patients) patients. ToM performance was significantly impaired in BP compared to controls. This impairment was evident across different types of ToM tasks (including affective/cognitive and verbal/visual) and was also evident in strictly euthymic patients with BP (d = 0.50). There were no significant differences between remitted and subsyndromal samples. However, ToM deficit was significantly more severe during acute episodes (d = 1.23). ToM impairment was significantly associated with neurocognitive and particularly with manic symptoms. Significant but modest sized ToM dysfunction is evident in remitted and subsyndromal BP. Acute episodes are associated with more robust ToM deficits. Exacerbation of ToM deficits may contribute to the more significant interpersonal problems observed in patients with acute or subsyndromal manic symptoms. There is a need for longitudinal studies comparing the developmental trajectory of ToM deficits across the course of the illness.

Theory of mind in schizophrenia: correlation with clinical symptomatology, emotional recognition and ward behavior.

PubMed

Lee, Woo Kyeong; Kim, Yong Kyu

2013-09-01

Several studies have suggested the presence of a theory of mind (ToM) deficit in schizophrenic disorders. This study examined the relationship of emotion recognition, theory of mind, and ward behavior in patients with schizophrenia. Fifty-five patients with chronic schizophrenia completed measures of emotion recognition, ToM, intelligence, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Nurse's Observation Scale for Inpatient Evaluation (NOSIE). Theory of mind sum score correlated significantly with IQ, emotion recognition, and ward behavior. Ward behavior was linked to the duration of the illness, and even more so to theory of mind deficits. Theory of mind contributed a significant proportion of the amount of variance to explain social behavior on the ward. Considering our study results, impaired theory of mind contributes significantly to the understanding of social competence in patients with schizophrenia. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

The Link between Preschoolers' Executive Function and Theory of Mind and the Role of Epistemic States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henning, Anne; Spinath, Frank M.; Aschersleben, Gisa

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the specific relation between 3- to 6-year-olds' performance on a task measuring executive function (EF), the Dimensional Change Card Sort task (DCCS), and different developmental attainments in their theory of mind (ToM) by employing a battery of scaled ToM tasks that were comparable in task format and task…

[Theory of mind in schizophrenia spectrum disorders].

PubMed

Bora, Emre

2009-01-01

To review studies that investigated theory of mind (ToM) deficits in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. After a thorough literature search, 71 studies were included in this review. Data regarding the relationship between ToM, and other cognitive skills, symptoms, and the impact of the state of illness were reviewed. ToM instruments used in schizophrenia spectrum disorders have some major psychometric limitations; however, previous research was still able to provide some important findings regarding mentalizing impairments in schizophrenia. While ToM deficits are more pronounced in the acute phase of illness, it seems to persist during periods of remission. There is also evidence of ToM deficits in the healthy relatives of schizophrenics, patients with delusional disorder and bipolar disorder (BD), and individuals with high schizotypy scores. ToM dysfunction might be secondary to other cognitive deficits in patients with schizophrenia that have a good prognosis, asymptomatic schizophrenia, delusional disorder, and BD. Other cognitive deficits do not seem to explain ToM dysfunction in patients with psychosis and severe negative symptoms. These findings support the contribution of impairment in both domain-general and domain-specific mechanisms to ToM deficits in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. ToM deficits may be important for understanding poor social functioning and poor insight in psychotic disorders. While ToM is influenced by state variables, it might be an endophenotype of schizophrenia; however, ToM is likely to be an indicator of other frontal lobe-related endophenotypes. Longitudinal studies conducted with high-risk individuals are particularly important.

Unique Theory of Mind Differentiation in Children with Autism and Asperger Syndrome

PubMed Central

Tine, Michele; Lucariello, Joan

2012-01-01

This study was designed to determine if ToM abilities of children with autism and Asperger syndrome differentiate into Intrapersonal ToM and Social ToM. A battery of Social and Intrapersonal ToM tasks was administered to 39 children with autism and 34 children with Asperger syndrome. For both groups of children, ToM differentiated and Intrapersonal ToM was stronger than Social ToM. This asymmetry was greater for children with autism, whose Social ToM was especially weak. These results support a differentiated, as opposed to integrated, ToM. Moreover, the findings provide a more thorough understanding of the cognitive abilities associated with autism and Asperger syndrome. PMID:22934174

Cognitive and affective theory of mind abilities in alcohol-dependent patients: the role of autobiographical memory.

PubMed

Nandrino, Jean-Louis; Gandolphe, Marie-Charlotte; Alexandre, Charlotte; Kmiecik, Elodie; Yguel, Jacques; Urso, Laurent

2014-10-01

Many studies of patients with alcohol dependence (AD) have highlighted their difficulty in identifying both their own emotional state and those of a social partner. We examined (1) the cognitive and affective theory of mind (ToM) abilities of AD patients and (2) how the efficiency of their autobiographical memory (AM) can affect the effectiveness of ToM ability. In a cross-sectional design, AD patients (N=50) and healthy controls (N=30) completed a ToM movie paradigm (Versailles-Situational Intention Reading, V-SIR) in which they inferred the intentions of characters in movies depicting social interactions, and the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Test (RMET), which assessed the emotional dimension of the ToM. AM was investigated using the "Autobiographical Memory Interview" (AMI) to assess both episodic and semantic components of AM. Concerning ToM, patients with AD showed lower performance in the RMET than control participants, whereas no difference was observed on the V-SIR test. AD patients had lower scores than controls on the AMI, for both episodic and semantic components and for different periods of life. A multiple linear regression analysis also showed that AM deficits might predict lower ToM performance, especially for the RMET task. Patients with AD have a specific affective ToM deficit. They used episodic memories to perceive the emotions of others, whereas controls used preferentially semantic memories to perform the task. Both these deficits could constitute a risk of relapse and should be a target for psychotherapeutic interventions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effectiveness of Theory of Mind Training On the Social Skills of Children with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders.

PubMed

Adibsereshki, Narges; Nesayan, Abbas; Asadi Gandomani, Roghayeh; Karimlou, Masood

2015-01-01

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) tend to have problems in establishing and maintaining their social relationships. Some professionals believe this social impairment is the result of deficit in Theory of Mind (ToM). This study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of ToM training on such children. A quasi-experimental method, pre- test, post-test with control group was used. The sample included of 12 girls and 12 boys with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders (HFASD). Two instruments were used as follows: the Theory of Mind test and the social skills questionnaire (1). The samples were randomly placed in the experimental and control groups. The experimental groups had 15 sessions of ToM training and the control groups had just regular school program. The data were analyzed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov, independent t- and twoway- variance tests. The scores for social skills in the experimental group were significantly more than the control group. ToM training might improve the social skills of children with autism spectrum disorders.

The Role of Physical Context, Verbal Skills, Non-Parental Care, Social Support, and Type of Parental Discipline in the Development of ToM Capacity in Five-Year-Old Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galende, Nuria; de Miguel, Manuel Sanchez; Arranz, Enrique

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of family context on the performance of 5-year-old children (N = 70) in theory of mind (ToM) tasks. The children's performances were assessed during individual sessions held at school. Children's verbal skills were assessed using the Peabody picture vocabulary test (PPVT). Interviews were also…

[Autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: similarities and differences in executive functioning and theory of mind].

PubMed

Miranda-Casas, Ana; Baixauli-Fortea, Immaculada; Colomer-Diago, Carla; Roselló-Miranda, Belén

2013-09-06

Although the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria do not overlap, the presence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in individuals with a clinical diagnosis of autism is quite high. At the same time, children with ADHD can have autistic traits, the most prevalent being social and communication difficulties. The analysis of the combination of executive functions and theory of mind (ToM) deficits could help to explain the overlap and differentiation between the two disorders. To review the findings of empirical studies in which children with ADHD and autism have been compared on indicators of executive functions and ToM. The literature review suggests the existence of distinct patterns in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and ADHD when the executive functioning is segmented by components. Children with ADHD experience deficits in inhibitory control, while children with ASD have problems with cognitive flexibility and planning. Regarding the domain of the mentalist skills, there are developmental differences, as well as differences in their severity. Younger children with ASD have greater deficiencies in the ToM compared to children with ADHD, and a primary deficit in social orientation. Although important progress has been made, some issues remain to be clarified, among which we can highlight the analysis of how ToM development affects poor executive functions development, using longitudinal studies that analyze the developmental paths of children with ASD and children with ADHD.

Impaired "affective theory of mind" is associated with right ventromedial prefrontal damage.

PubMed

Shamay-Tsoory, S G; Tomer, R; Berger, B D; Goldsher, D; Aharon-Peretz, J

2005-03-01

To examine the hypothesis that patients with ventromedial (VM) frontal lesions are impaired in the affective rather than cognitive facets of theory of mind (ToM). Prefrontal brain damage may result in impaired social behavior, especially when the damage involves the orbitofrontal/VM prefrontal cortex (PFC). It has been previously suggested that deficits in ToM may account for such aberrant behavior. However, inconsistent results have been reported, and different regions within the frontal cortex have been associated with ToM impairment. The performance of 26 patients with localized lesions in the PFC was compared with responses of 13 patients with posterior lesions and 13 normal control subjects. Three ToM tasks differing in the level of emotional processing involved were used: second-order false belief task, understanding ironic utterances, and identifying social faux pas. The results indicated that patients with VM (but not dorsolateral) prefrontal lesions were significantly impaired in irony and faux pas but not in second-order false belief as compared with patients with posterior lesions and normal control subjects. Lesions in the right VM area were associated with the most severe ToM deficit. These results are discussed in terms of the cognitive and affective facets of "mind-reading" processes mediated by the VM cortex.

Theory of mind and perceptual context-processing in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Uhlhaas, Peter J; Phillips, William A; Schenkel, Lindsay S; Silverstein, Steven M

2006-07-01

A series of studies have suggested that schizophrenia patients are deficient in theory of mind (ToM). However, the cognitive mechanisms underlying ToM deficits in schizophrenia are largely unknown. The present study examined the hypothesis that impaired ToM in schizophrenia can be understood as a deficit in context processing. Disorganised schizophrenia patients (N = 12), nondisorganised schizophrenia patients (N = 36), and nonpsychotic psychiatric patients (N = 26) were tested on three ToM tasks and a visual size perception task, a measure of perceptual context processing. In addition, statistical analyses were carried out which compared chronic, treatment-refractory schizophrenia patients (N = 28) to those with an episodic course of illness (N = 20). Overall, ToM performance was linked to deficits in context processing in schizophrenia patients. Statistical comparisons showed that disorganised as well as chronic schizophrenia patients were more impaired in ToM but more accurate in a visual size perception task where perceptual context is misleading. This pattern of results is interpreted as indicating a possible link between deficits in ToM and perceptual context processing, which together with deficits in perceptual grouping, are part of a broader dysfunction in cognitive coordination in schizophrenia.

Which are the best predictors of theory of mind delay in children with specific language impairment?

PubMed

Andrés-Roqueta, Clara; Adrian, Juan E; Clemente, Rosa A; Katsos, Napoleon

2013-01-01

The relationship between language and theory of mind (ToM) development in participants with specific language impairment (SLI) it is far from clear due to there were differences in study design and methodologies of previous studies. This research consisted of an in-depth investigation of ToM delay in children with SLI during the typical period of acquisition, and it studied whether linguistic or information-processing variables were the best predictors of this process. It also took into account whether there were differences in ToM competence due to the degree of pragmatic impairment within the SLI group. Thirty-one children with SLI (3;5-7;5 years old) and two control groups (age matched and language matched) were assessed with False Belief (FB) tasks, a wide battery of language measures and additional information-processing measures. The members of the SLI group were less competent than their age-matched peers at solving FB tasks, but they performed similarly to the language-matched group. Regression analysis showed that overall linguistic skills of children with SLI were the best predictor of ToM performance, and especially grammar abilities. No differences between SLI subgroups were found according to their pragmatic level. A delay in ToM development in children with SLI around the critical period of acquisition is confirmed more comprehensively, and it is shown to be more strongly related to their general linguistic level than to their age and other information-processing faculties. This finding stresses the importance of early educational and clinical programmes aimed at reducing deleterious effects in later development. © 2013 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Early Adolescents' Participation in Bullying: Is ToM Involved?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caravita, Simona C. S.; Di Blasio, Paola; Salmivalli, Christina

2010-01-01

The present study investigated the role of theory of mind (ToM) skills in three forms of involvement in bullying: ringleader bullying, defending the victim(s), and victimization. Individual (affective empathy) and interpersonal variables (social preference and perceived popularity) were assumed to moderate the associations between ToM and the ways…

The overlapping relationship between emotion perception and theory of mind.

PubMed

Mitchell, Rachel L C; Phillips, Louise H

2015-04-01

Socio-cognitive skills are crucial for successful interpersonal interactions. Two particularly important socio-cognitive processes are emotion perception (EP) and theory of mind (ToM), but agreement is lacking on terminology and conceptual links between these constructs. Here we seek to clarify the relationship between the two at multiple levels, from concept to neuroanatomy. EP is often regarded as a low-level perceptual process necessary to decode affective cues, while ToM is usually seen as a higher-level cognitive process involving mental state deduction. In information processing models, EP tends to precede ToM. At the neuroanatomical level, lesion study data suggest that EP and ToM are both right-hemisphere based, but there is also evidence that ToM requires temporal-cingulate networks, whereas EP requires partially separable regions linked to distinct emotions. Common regions identified in fMRI studies of EP and ToM have included medial prefrontal cortex and temporal lobe areas, but differences emerge depending on the perceptual, cognitive and emotional demands of the EP and ToM tasks. For the future, clarity of definition of EP and ToM will be paramount to produce distinct task manipulations and inform models of socio-cognitive processing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Autistic traits and positive psychotic experiences modulate the association of psychopathic tendencies with theory of mind in opposite directions.

PubMed

Gillespie, Steven M; Mitchell, Ian J; Abu-Akel, Ahmad M

2017-07-25

Various clinical disorders, including psychopathy, and autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders, have been linked with impairments in Theory of Mind (ToM). However, although these conditions can co-occur in the same individual, the effect of their inter-play on ToM abilities has not been investigated. Here we assessed ToM abilities in 55 healthy adults while performing a naturalistic ToM task, requiring participants to watch a short film and judge the actors' mental states. The results reveal for the first time that autistic traits and positive psychotic experiences interact with psychopathic tendencies in opposite directions to predict ToM performance-the interaction of psychopathic tendencies with autism traits was associated with a decrement in performance, whereas the interaction of psychopathic tendencies and positive psychotic experiences was associated with improved performance. These effects were specific to cognitive rather than affective ToM. These results underscore the importance of the simultaneous assessment of these dimensions within clinical settings. Future research in these clinical populations may benefit by taking into account such individual differences.

Plasticity in older adults' theory of mind performance: the impact of motivation.

PubMed

Zhang, Xin; Lecce, Serena; Ceccato, Irene; Cavallini, Elena; Zhang, Linfang; Chen, Tianyong

2017-09-08

Recently, motivation has been found to attenuate the age-related decline in Theory of Mind (ToM) performance (i.e. faux pas recognition). However, whether or not this effect could be generalized to other ToM tasks is still unknown. In the present study, we investigated whether and how motivation could enhance older adults' performance and reduce age differences in ToM tasks (Faux Pas vs. Animation task) that differ in familiarity. Following a previous paradigm, 171 Chinese adults (87 younger adults and 84 older adults) were recruited, and we experimentally manipulated the level of perceived closeness between participants and the experimenter before administering the ToM tasks in order to enhance participants' motivation. Results showed that, for the Faux Pas task, we replicated previous findings such that older adults under the enhanced motivation conditions performed equally well as younger adults. Conversely, for the Animation task, younger adults outperformed older adults, regardless of motivation. These results indicate that motivation can enhance older adults' performance in ToM tasks, however, this beneficial effect cannot be generalized across ToM tasks.

Individual differences in executive function and central coherence predict developmental changes in theory of mind in autism.

PubMed

Pellicano, Elizabeth

2010-03-01

There is strong evidence to suggest that individuals with autism show atypicalities in multiple cognitive domains, including theory of mind (ToM), executive function (EF), and central coherence (CC). In this study, the longitudinal relationships among these 3 aspects of cognition in autism were investigated. Thirty-seven cognitively able children with an autism spectrum condition were assessed on tests targeting ToM (false-belief prediction), EF (planning ability, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control), and CC (local processing) at intake and again 3 years later. Time 1 EF and CC skills were longitudinally predictive of change in children's ToM test performance, independent of age, language, nonverbal intelligence, and early ToM skills. Predictive relations in the opposite direction were not significant, and there were no developmental links between EF and CC. Rather than showing problems in ToM, EF and CC as co-occurring and independent atypicalities in autism, these findings suggest that early domain-general skills play a critical role in shaping the developmental trajectory of children's ToM.

Reading the Mind in the Eyes or reading between the lines? Theory of Mind predicts collective intelligence equally well online and face-to-face.

PubMed

Engel, David; Woolley, Anita Williams; Jing, Lisa X; Chabris, Christopher F; Malone, Thomas W

2014-01-01

Recent research with face-to-face groups found that a measure of general group effectiveness (called "collective intelligence") predicted a group's performance on a wide range of different tasks. The same research also found that collective intelligence was correlated with the individual group members' ability to reason about the mental states of others (an ability called "Theory of Mind" or "ToM"). Since ToM was measured in this work by a test that requires participants to "read" the mental states of others from looking at their eyes (the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" test), it is uncertain whether the same results would emerge in online groups where these visual cues are not available. Here we find that: (1) a collective intelligence factor characterizes group performance approximately as well for online groups as for face-to-face groups; and (2) surprisingly, the ToM measure is equally predictive of collective intelligence in both face-to-face and online groups, even though the online groups communicate only via text and never see each other at all. This provides strong evidence that ToM abilities are just as important to group performance in online environments with limited nonverbal cues as they are face-to-face. It also suggests that the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test measures a deeper, domain-independent aspect of social reasoning, not merely the ability to recognize facial expressions of mental states.

Developing the Frith-Happé animations: a quick and objective test of Theory of Mind for adults with autism.

PubMed

White, Sarah J; Coniston, Devorah; Rogers, Rosannagh; Frith, Uta

2011-04-01

It is now widely accepted that individuals with autism have a Theory of Mind (ToM) or mentalizing deficit. This has traditionally been assessed with false-belief tasks and, more recently, with silent geometric animations, an on-line ToM task. In adults with milder forms of autism standard false-belief tests, originally devised for children, often prove insensitive, while the Frith-Happé animations have had rather better success at capturing the on-line ToM deficit in this population. However, analysis of participants' verbal descriptions of these animations, which span scenarios from "Random" to "Goal-Directed" and "ToM," is time consuming and subjective. In this study, we developed and established the feasibility of an objective method of response through a series of multiple-choice questions. Sixteen adults with autism and 15 typically developing adults took part, matched for age and intelligence. The adults with autism were less accurate as a group at categorizing the Frith-Happé animations by the presence or absence of mental and physical interactions. Furthermore, they were less able to select the correct emotions that are typically attributed to the triangles in the mental state animations. This new objective method for assessing the understanding of the animations succeeded in being as sensitive as the original subjective method in detecting the mentalizing difficulties in autism, as well as being quicker and easier to administer and analyze. Copyright © 2011, International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Micro-Cultural Influences on Theory of Mind Development: A Comparative Study of Middle-Class and "Pemulung" Children in Jakarta, Indonesia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuntoro, Ike Anggraika; Saraswati, Liliek; Peterson, Candida; Slaughter, Virginia

2013-01-01

We investigated cultural influences on young children's acquisition of social-cognitive concepts. A theory of mind (ToM) scale (Wellman & Liu, 2004) was given to 129 children (71 boys, 58 girls) ranging in age from 3 years 0 months to 7 years 10 months. The children were from three distinct cultural groups: (a) trash pickers…

Sarcasm and Advanced Theory of Mind Understanding in Children and Adults with Prelingual Deafness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Reilly, Karin; Peterson, Candida C.; Wellman, Henry M.

2014-01-01

Two studies addressed key theoretical debates in theory of mind (ToM) development by comparing (a) deaf native signers (n = 18), (b) deaf late signers (n = 59), and (c) age-matched hearing persons (n = 74) in childhood (Study 1: n = 81) and adulthood (Study 2: n = 70) on tests of first- and second-order false belief and conversational sarcasm.…

Using virtual reality to assess theory of mind subprocesses and error types in early and chronic schizophrenia.

PubMed

Canty, Allana L; Neumann, David L; Shum, David H K

2017-12-01

Individuals with schizophrenia often demonstrate theory of mind (ToM) impairment relative to healthy adults. However, the exact nature of this impairment (first- vs. second-order ToM and cognitive vs. affective ToM) and the extent to which ToM abilities deteriorate with illness chronicity is unclear. Furthermore, little is known about the relationships between clinical symptoms and ToM error types (overmentalising, reduced mentalising and no ToM) in early and chronic schizophrenia. This study examined the nature and types of ToM impairment in individuals with early ( n  = 26) and chronic schizophrenia ( n  = 32) using a novel virtual reality task. Clinical participants and demographically-matched controls were administered the Virtual Assessment of Mentalising Ability, which provides indices of first- and second-order cognitive and affective ToM, and quantifies three different types of mentalising errors (viz., overmentalising, reduced mentalising, and no ToM). Individuals with early schizophrenia performed significantly poorer than healthy controls on first-order affective and second-order cognitive and affective ToM, but significantly higher than individuals with chronic schizophrenia on all ToM subscales. Whereas a lack of mental state concept was associated with negative symptoms, overmentalising was associated with positive symptoms. These findings suggest that ToM abilities selectively deteriorate with illness chronicity and error types are related to these individuals' presenting symptomology. An implication of the findings is that social-cognitive interventions for schizophrenia need to consider the nature, time course and symptomatology of the presenting patient.

THEORY OF MIND IN CHILDREN WITH FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM DISORDERS

PubMed Central

Lindinger, Nadine M.; Malcolm-Smith, Susan; Dodge, Neil C.; Molteno, Christopher D.; Thomas, Kevin G. F.; Meintjes, Ernesta M.; Jacobson, Joseph L.; Jacobson, Sandra W.

2015-01-01

Background Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the ability to understand and make inferences about other people’s intentions, feelings, and beliefs. Although children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are known to have deficits in social-cognitive function, little is known about ToM in FASD. Methods ToM ability was assessed using a developmentally sensitive ToM battery, including the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME) test, a measure of mental inferential ability that has been found to be impaired in other clinical populations. IQ and executive function (EF) were assessed as potential mediating variables. The battery was administered to 63 children (aged 9–11 years) from Cape Town, South Africa, whose mothers had been prospectively recruited during pregnancy. Children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS; n=8) and partial FAS (PFAS; n=19), as well as nonsyndromal heavily exposed children (HE; n=17), were compared to children born to abstaining or light drinkers (n=19) from the same community. Results No FASD group differences were found on the less challenging ToM tasks. By contrast, children with FAS and PFAS performed more poorly than controls on a more challenging ToM task, the RME test. A continuous measure of prenatal alcohol exposure was more sensitive than FASD diagnosis in that it was related to four higher-order ToM measures, particularly the ability to attribute mental states assessed on RME. IQ only partially mediated the effect of exposure on RME performance, and these effects were not mediated by EF. Hence, the data suggest that these ToM measures tap into a specific alcohol-related social-cognitive deficit that does not merely reflect poorer EF. FASD diagnosis and prenatal alcohol exposure were each also related to RME after control for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Conclusions These findings suggest that deficits in higher-order ToM function may play a significant role in the social-cognitive behavioural impairment in FASD. PMID:26842255

A Systematic Review of the Evidence for Impaired Cognitive Theory of Mind in Maltreated Children

PubMed Central

Benarous, Xavier; Guilé, Jean-Marc; Consoli, Angèle; Cohen, David

2015-01-01

Compared to the large number of studies exploring difficulties in emotion recognition in maltreated children, few (N = 12) have explored the cognitive aspect of theory of mind (ToM), i.e., the ability to understand others’ thoughts and intentions. A systematic review of these studies shows inconsistent results regarding cognitive ToM tasks. Youths with a history of maltreatment are more likely to fail at false-belief tasks (N = 2). However, results are less conclusive regarding other tasks (perspective-taking tasks, N = 4; and hostile attribution tasks, N = 7). Additionally, only one study controlled for potential psychopathology. Measures of psychopathology and other cognitive abilities, in addition to ToM, are required to establish a specific association between maltreatment and the cognitive dimension of ToM. PMID:26283975

A Systematic Review of the Evidence for Impaired Cognitive Theory of Mind in Maltreated Children.

PubMed

Benarous, Xavier; Guilé, Jean-Marc; Consoli, Angèle; Cohen, David

2015-01-01

Compared to the large number of studies exploring difficulties in emotion recognition in maltreated children, few (N = 12) have explored the cognitive aspect of theory of mind (ToM), i.e., the ability to understand others' thoughts and intentions. A systematic review of these studies shows inconsistent results regarding cognitive ToM tasks. Youths with a history of maltreatment are more likely to fail at false-belief tasks (N = 2). However, results are less conclusive regarding other tasks (perspective-taking tasks, N = 4; and hostile attribution tasks, N = 7). Additionally, only one study controlled for potential psychopathology. Measures of psychopathology and other cognitive abilities, in addition to ToM, are required to establish a specific association between maltreatment and the cognitive dimension of ToM.

Theory of mind and empathy in preclinical and clinical Huntington's disease.

PubMed

Adjeroud, Najia; Besnard, Jérémy; El Massioui, Nicole; Verny, Christophe; Prudean, Adriana; Scherer, Clarisse; Gohier, Bénédicte; Bonneau, Dominique; Allain, Philippe

2016-01-01

We investigated cognitive and affective Theory of Mind (ToM) and empathy in patients with premanifest and manifest Huntington's disease (HD). The relationship between ToM performance and executive skills was also examined. Sixteen preclinical and 23 clinical HD patients, and 39 healthy subjects divided into 2 control groups were given a French adaptation of the Yoni test (Shamay-Tsoory, S.G., Aharon-Peretz, J. (2007). Dissociable prefrontal networks for cognitive and affective theory of mind: a lesion study. Neuropsychologia, 45(3), 3054-67) that examines first- and second-order cognitive and affective ToM processing in separate conditions with a physical control condition. Participants were also given questionnaires of empathy and cognitive tests which mainly assessed executive functions (inhibition and mental flexibility). Clinical HD patients made significantly more errors than their controls in the first- and second-order cognitive and affective ToM conditions of the Yoni task, but exhibited no empathy deficits. However, there was no evidence that ToM impairment was related to cognitive deficits in these patients. Preclinical HD patients were unimpaired in ToM tasks and empathy measures compared with their controls. Our results are consistent with the idea that impaired affective and cognitive mentalizing emerges with the clinical manifestation of HD, but is not necessarily part of the preclinical stage. Furthermore, these impairments appear independent of executive dysfunction and empathy. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Theory of mind deficits partly mediate impaired social decision-making in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Yang, Liuqing; Li, Peifu; Mao, Haiying; Wang, Huiling; Shu, Chang; Bliksted, Vibeke; Zhou, Yuan

2017-05-05

Using paradigms from game theory, researchers have reported abnormal decision-making in social context in patients with schizophrenia. However, less is known about the underpinnings of the impairment. This study aimed to test whether theory of mind (ToM) deficits and/or neurocognitive dysfunctions mediate impaired social decision-making in patients with schizophrenia. We compared thirty-five patients with schizophrenia to thirty-eight matched healthy controls with regard to social decision-making using the mini Ultimatum Game (mini UG), a paradigm from game theory. Additionally, we assessed ToM using the Theory of Mind Picture Stories Task, a mental state attribution task, and assessed neurocognition using the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia. Mediation analyses were performed on the data. In contrast to the behavioral pattern of healthy controls in the mini UG, the patients with schizophrenia significantly accepted more disadvantageous offers and rejected more advantageous offers, and showed reduced sensitivity to the fairness-related context changes in the mini UG. Impaired ToM and neurocognition were also found in the patients. Mediation analyses indicated that ToM but not neurocognition partially mediated the group differences on the disadvantageous and advantageous offers in the mini UG. Patients with schizophrenia exhibited impaired social decision-making. This impairment can be partly explained by their ToM deficits rather than neurocognitive deficits. However, the exact nature of the ToM deficits that mediate impaired social decision-making needs to be identified in future.

Cognitive contributions to theory of mind ability in children with a traumatic head injury.

PubMed

Levy, Naomi Kahana; Milgram, Noach

2016-01-01

The objective of the current study is to examine the contribution of intellectual abilities, executive functions (EF), and facial emotion recognition to difficulties in Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities in children with a traumatic head injury. Israeli children with a traumatic head injury were compared with their non-injured counterparts. Each group included 18 children (12 males) ages 7-13. Measurements included reading the mind in the eyes, facial emotion recognition, reasoning the other's characteristics based on motive and outcome, Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices, similarities and digit span (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Revised 95 subscales), verbal fluency, and the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Functions. Non-injured children performed significantly better on ToM, abstract reasoning, and EF measures compared with children with a traumatic head injury. However, differences in ToM abilities between the groups were no longer significant after controlling for abstract reasoning, working memory, verbal fluency, or facial emotion recognition. Impaired ToM recognition and reasoning abilities after a head injury may result from other cognitive impairments. In children with mild and moderate head injury, poorer performance on ToM tasks may reflect poorer abstract reasoning, a general tendency to concretize stimuli, working memory and verbal fluency deficits, and difficulties in facial emotion recognition, rather than deficits in the ability to understand the other's thoughts and emotions. ToM impairments may be secondary to a range of cognitive deficits in determining social outcomes in this population.

Experiential avoidance mediates the link between maternal attachment style and theory of mind.

PubMed

Vanwoerden, Salome; Kalpakci, Allison H; Sharp, Carla

2015-02-01

Theoretical and empirical models suggest a relation between attachment style and theory of mind (ToM) in childhood and adulthood; however, this link has not been evaluated to the same extent in adolescence. Additionally, these models typically fail to consider mechanisms by which attachment style affects ToM abilities. The present study sought to test a mediational model in which experiential avoidance mediates the relation between maternal attachment style and ToM. A sample of 282 adolescents (Mage=15.42years, SD=1.44, 62.8% female) was recruited from an inpatient psychiatric hospital. Findings revealed that maternal attachment style in females was related to ToM, through experiential avoidance. Specifically, those with a disorganized maternal attachment were most likely to engage in experiential avoidant cognitive and emotional strategies, which in turn related to lower levels of ToM ability. Implications and areas for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Theory of Mind disruption and recruitment of the right hemisphere during narrative comprehension in autism

PubMed Central

Mason, Robert A.; Williams, Diane L.; Kana, Rajesh K.; Minshew, Nancy; Just, Marcel Adam

2008-01-01

The intersection of Theory of Mind (ToM) processing and complex narrative comprehension in high functioning autism was examined by comparing cortical activation during the reading of passages that required inferences based on either intentions, emotional states, or physical causality. Right hemisphere activation was substantially greater for all sentences in the autism group than in a matched control group suggesting decreased LH capacity in autism resulting in a spillover of processing to RH homologs. Moreover, the ToM network was disrupted. The autism group showed similar activation for all inference types in the right temporo-parietal component of the ToM network whereas the control participants selectively activated this network only when appropriate. The autism group had lower functional connectivity within the ToM network and also between the ToM and a left hemisphere language network. Furthermore, the within-network functional connectivity in autism was correlated with the size of the anterior portion of the corpus callosum. PMID:17869314

Challenging gender stereotypes: Theory of mind and peer group dynamics.

PubMed

Mulvey, Kelly Lynn; Rizzo, Michael T; Killen, Melanie

2016-11-01

To investigate the social cognitive skills related to challenging gender stereotypes, children (N = 61, 3-6 years) evaluated a peer who challenged gender stereotypic norms held by the peer's group. Participants with false belief theory of mind (FB ToM) competence were more likely than participants who did not have FB ToM to expect a peer to challenge the group's stereotypes and propose that the group engage in a non-stereotypic activity. Further, participants with FB ToM rated challenging the peer group more positively. Participants without FB ToM did not differentiate between their own and the group's evaluation of challenges to the group's stereotypic norms, but those with ToM competence asserted that they would be more supportive of challenging the group norm than would the peer group. Results reveal the importance of social-cognitive competencies for recognizing the legitimacy of challenging stereotypes, and for understanding one's own and other group perspectives. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Challenging Gender Stereotypes: Theory of Mind and Peer Group Dynamics

PubMed Central

Mulvey, Kelly Lynn; Rizzo, Michael T.; Killen, Melanie

2016-01-01

To investigate the social cognitive skills related to challenging gender stereotypes, children (N = 61, 3-6 years) evaluated a peer who challenged gender stereotypic norms held by the peer’s group. Participants with false belief theory of mind (FB ToM) competence were more likely than participants who did not have FB ToM to expect a peer to challenge the group’s stereotypes and propose that the group engage in a non-stereotypic activity. Further, participants with FB ToM rated challenging the peer group more positively. Participants without FB ToM did not differentiate between their own and the group’s evaluation of challenges to the group’s stereotypic norms, but those with ToM competence asserted that they would be more supportive of challenging the group norm than would the peer group. Results reveal the importance of social-cognitive competencies for recognizing the legitimacy of challenging stereotypes, and for understanding one’s own and other group perspectives. PMID:26395753

What's in a voice? Prosody as a test case for the Theory of Mind account of autism.

PubMed

Chevallier, Coralie; Noveck, Ira; Happé, Francesca; Wilson, Deirdre

2011-02-01

The human voice conveys a variety of information about people's feelings, emotions and mental states. Some of this information relies on sophisticated Theory of Mind (ToM) skills, whilst others are simpler and do not require ToM. This variety provides an interesting test case for the ToM account of autism, which would predict greater impairment as ToM requirements increase. In this paper, we draw on psychological and pragmatic theories to classify vocal cues according to the amount of mindreading required to identify them. Children with a high functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder and matched controls were tested in three experiments where the speakers' state had to be extracted from their vocalizations. Although our results confirm that people with autism have subtle difficulties dealing with vocal cues, they show a pattern of performance that is inconsistent with the view that atypical recognition of vocal cues is caused by impaired ToM. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory of Mind disruption and recruitment of the right hemisphere during narrative comprehension in autism.

PubMed

Mason, Robert A; Williams, Diane L; Kana, Rajesh K; Minshew, Nancy; Just, Marcel Adam

2008-01-15

The intersection of Theory of Mind (ToM) processing and complex narrative comprehension in high functioning autism was examined by comparing cortical activation during the reading of passages that required inferences based on either intentions, emotional states, or physical causality. Right hemisphere activation was substantially greater for all sentences in the autism group than in a matched control group suggesting decreased LH capacity in autism resulting in a spillover of processing to RH homologs. Moreover, the ToM network was disrupted. The autism group showed similar activation for all inference types in the right temporo-parietal component of the ToM network whereas the control participants selectively activated this network only when appropriate. The autism group had lower functional connectivity within the ToM network and also between the ToM and a left hemisphere language network. Furthermore, the within-network functional connectivity in autism was correlated with the size of the anterior portion of the corpus callosum.

Performances on a cognitive theory of mind task: specific decline or general cognitive deficits? Evidence from normal aging.

PubMed

Fliss, Rafika; Lemerre, Marion; Mollard, Audrey

2016-06-01

Compromised theory of mind (ToM) can be explained either by a failure to implement specific representational capacities (mental state representations) or by more general executive selection demands. In older adult populations, evidence supporting affected executive functioning and cognitive ToM in normal aging are reported. However, links between these two functions remain unclear. In the present paper, we address these shortcomings by using a specific task of ToM and classical executive tasks. We studied, using an original cognitive ToM task, the effect of age on ToM performances, in link with the progressive executive decline. 96 elderly participants were recruited. They were asked to perform a cognitive ToM task, and 5 executive tests (Stroop test and Hayling Sentence Completion Test to appreciate inhibitory process, Trail Making Test and Verbal Fluency for shifting assessment and backward span dedicated to estimate working memory capacity). The results show changes in cognitive ToM performance according to executive demands. Correlational studies indicate a significant relationship between ToM performance and the selected executive measures. Regression analyzes demonstrates that level of vocabulary and age as the best predictors of ToM performance. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that ToM deficits are related to age-related domain-general decline rather than as to a breakdown in specialized representational system. The implications of these findings for the nature of social cognition tests in normal aging are also discussed.

New evidence in theory of mind deficits in subjects with chronic schizophrenia and first episode: correlation with symptoms, neurocognition and social function.

PubMed

Mazza, Monica; Pollice, Rocco; Pacitti, Francesca; Pino, Maria Chiara; Mariano, Melania; Tripaldi, Simona; Casacchia, Massimo; Roncone, Rita

2012-01-01

Currently substantial evidence exists about Theory of Mind (ToM) impairment in subjects affected by chronic and first episode schizophrenia. In particular, in order to enhance the validity of our construct, we used in this study classical false beliefs tasks and advanced theory of mind tasks, together with the application of structural equation model, in order to ex-amine whether we are using ToM tasks with good psychometric properties. The main goal of the present study was to examine ToM deficits in a large sample including subjects suffering from chronic schizophrenia, first episode of schizophrenia and nor-mal controls, by observing in the same task the relationship with symptomatological gravity, neurocognition and social function.Materials and methods. A sample of 178 patients with chronic schizophrenia, a sample of 49 subjects with a first episode of psychosis and 484 healthy controls participated to this study. Measures of social cognition included task of false belief and advanced theory of mind task. No significant differences were found on ToM tasks between subjects affected by chronic and first episode schizophrenia. Social cognition showed in both groups a strong correlation with negative symptoms and social function, but did not evidence any relationship with neurocognition. CONCLUSION; ToM deficits exist in subjects suffering from chronic and first episode schizophrenia. These impairments do not seem to be a consequence of illness condition, they are likely to be state-independent and appear to be the most important cognitive mediator of social functioning in both groups.

Theory of mind in schizophrenia: error types and associations with symptoms.

PubMed

Fretland, Ragnhild A; Andersson, Stein; Sundet, Kjetil; Andreassen, Ole A; Melle, Ingrid; Vaskinn, Anja

2015-03-01

Social cognition is an important determinant of functioning in schizophrenia. However, how social cognition relates to the clinical symptoms of schizophrenia is still unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between a social cognition domain, Theory of Mind (ToM), and the clinical symptoms of schizophrenia. Specifically, we investigated the associations between three ToM error types; 1) "overmentalizing" 2) "reduced ToM and 3) "no ToM", and positive, negative and disorganized symptoms. Fifty-two participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were assessed with the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC), a video-based ToM measure. An empirically validated five-factor model of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to assess clinical symptoms. There was a significant, small-moderate association between overmentalizing and positive symptoms (rho=.28, p=.04). Disorganized symptoms correlated at a trend level with "reduced ToM" (rho=.27, p=.05). There were no other significant correlations between ToM impairments and symptom levels. Positive/disorganized symptoms did not contribute significantly in explaining total ToM performance, whereas IQ did (B=.37, p=.01). Within the undermentalizing domain, participants performed more "reduced ToM" errors than "no ToM" errors. Overmentalizing was associated with positive symptoms. The undermentalizing error types were unrelated to symptoms, but "reduced ToM" was somewhat associated to disorganization. The higher number of "reduced ToM" responses suggests that schizophrenia is characterized by accuracy problems rather than a fundamental lack of mental state concept. The findings call for the use of more sensitive measures when investigating ToM in schizophrenia to avoid the "right/wrong ToM"-dichotomy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Theory of mind in schizophrenia: the role of clinical symptomatology and neurocognition in understanding other people's thoughts and intentions.

PubMed

Abdel-Hamid, Mona; Lehmkämper, Caroline; Sonntag, Claudia; Juckel, Georg; Daum, Irene; Brüne, Martin

2009-01-30

A wealth of studies has demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia are impaired in "theory of mind" (ToM). Here, we used a novel five-factor model of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) to test the hypothesis that selectivity of ToM deficits in schizophrenia depends on the predominating symptoms. We predicted that ToM impairments would be non-selective in patients with pronounced negative (NF) or disorganized symptoms (DF), whereas selective ToM impairment would occur in patients with predominant positive symptoms (PF). We recruited 50 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and examined premorbid intelligence, executive functioning, ToM and psychopathology in comparison to a group of 29 healthy controls. Compared with healthy controls, patients performed more poorly on tasks involving executive functioning and ToM abilities. Using a novel PANSS five-factor model, we found a significant association of ToM deficits with the "disorganization" factor. Moreover, several individual PANSS items that were included within the disorganization factor correlated with impaired ToM, albeit the majority of correlations disappeared when controlled for executive functioning, and, to a lesser degree, when controlled for IQ. In addition, in the patient group we found interactions of poor ToM with symptoms belonging to the "emotional distress" factor of the PANSS. Contrary to expectations, associations of impaired ToM with positive symptoms were absent, and poor with regards to negative symptoms. This study lends further support to the assumption of differential associations of ToM deficits with individual symptoms and symptom clusters in schizophrenia.

Psychometric Properties of the Theory of Mind Assessment Scale in a Sample of Adolescents and Adults.

PubMed

Bosco, Francesca M; Gabbatore, Ilaria; Tirassa, Maurizio; Testa, Silvia

2016-01-01

This research aimed at the evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Theory of Mind Assessment Scale (Th.o.m.a.s.). Th.o.m.a.s. is a semi-structured interview meant to evaluate a person's Theory of Mind (ToM). It is composed of several questions organized in four scales, each focusing on one of the areas of knowledge in which such faculty may manifest itself: Scale A (I-Me) investigates first-order first-person ToM; Scale B (Other-Self) investigates third-person ToM from an allocentric perspective; Scale C (I-Other) again investigates third-person ToM, but from an egocentric perspective; and Scale D (Other-Me) investigates second-order ToM. The psychometric proprieties of Th.o.m.a.s. were evaluated in a sample of 156 healthy persons: 80 preadolescent and adolescent (aged 11-17 years, 42 females) and 76 adults (aged from 20 to 67 years, 35 females). Th.o.m.a.s. scores show good inter-rater agreement and internal consistency; the scores increase with age. Evidence of criterion validity was found as Scale B scores were correlated with those of an independent instrument for the evaluation of ToM, the Strange Stories task. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed good fit of the four-factors theoretical model to the data, although the four factors were highly correlated. For each of the four scales, Rasch analyses showed that, with few exceptions, items fitted the Partial credit model and their functioning was invariant for gender and age. The results of this study, along with those of previous researches with clinical samples, show that Th.o.m.a.s. is a promising instrument to assess ToM in different populations.

Psychometric Properties of the Theory of Mind Assessment Scale in a Sample of Adolescents and Adults

PubMed Central

Bosco, Francesca M.; Gabbatore, Ilaria; Tirassa, Maurizio; Testa, Silvia

2016-01-01

This research aimed at the evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Theory of Mind Assessment Scale (Th.o.m.a.s.). Th.o.m.a.s. is a semi-structured interview meant to evaluate a person's Theory of Mind (ToM). It is composed of several questions organized in four scales, each focusing on one of the areas of knowledge in which such faculty may manifest itself: Scale A (I-Me) investigates first-order first-person ToM; Scale B (Other-Self) investigates third-person ToM from an allocentric perspective; Scale C (I-Other) again investigates third-person ToM, but from an egocentric perspective; and Scale D (Other-Me) investigates second-order ToM. The psychometric proprieties of Th.o.m.a.s. were evaluated in a sample of 156 healthy persons: 80 preadolescent and adolescent (aged 11–17 years, 42 females) and 76 adults (aged from 20 to 67 years, 35 females). Th.o.m.a.s. scores show good inter-rater agreement and internal consistency; the scores increase with age. Evidence of criterion validity was found as Scale B scores were correlated with those of an independent instrument for the evaluation of ToM, the Strange Stories task. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed good fit of the four-factors theoretical model to the data, although the four factors were highly correlated. For each of the four scales, Rasch analyses showed that, with few exceptions, items fitted the Partial credit model and their functioning was invariant for gender and age. The results of this study, along with those of previous researches with clinical samples, show that Th.o.m.a.s. is a promising instrument to assess ToM in different populations. PMID:27242563

Impaired theory of mind and symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder in children with Prader-Willi syndrome.

PubMed

Lo, Sin Ting; Siemensma, Elbrich; Collin, Philippe; Hokken-Koelega, Anita

2013-09-01

In order to evaluate the social cognitive functioning in children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), Theory of Mind (ToM) and symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder were evaluated. Sixty-six children with PWS aged 7-17 years were tested using the Theory of Mind test-R and the Diagnostic Interview for Social Communication disorders. We tested the correlation between Total ToM Standard Deviation Score (Total ToM SDS) and genetic subtype of paternal deletion or maternal uniparental disomy, and total IQ, verbal IQ and performal IQ. Prevalence and symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder were assessed. Median (interquartile range) of total ToM SDS of those aged 7-17 years was -3.84 (-5.73, -1.57). Their Total ToM SDS correlated with total IQ (β=0.662, p<0.001, adj.R(2)=0.407), in particular with verbal IQ (β=0.502, p=0.001, adj.R(2)=0.409), but not with performal IQ (β=0.241, p>0.05, adj.R(2)=0.259). No difference in Total ToM SDS was found between children with deletion and maternal uniparental disomy (β=-0.143, p>0.05, adj.R(2)=-0.016). Compared to the reference group of healthy children aged 7-12 years, children with PWS in the same age group had a median ToM developmental delay of 4 (3-5) years. One third of children with PWS scored positive for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Most prominent aberrations in Autism Spectrum Disorder were focused on maladaptive behavior. Our findings demonstrate a markedly reduced level of social cognitive functioning, which has consequences for the approach of children with PWS, i.e. adjustment to the child's level of social cognitive functioning. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prenatal testosterone and theory of mind development: Findings from disorders of sex development.

PubMed

Khorashad, Behzad S; Khazai, Behnaz; Roshan, Ghasem M; Hiradfar, Mehran; Afkhamizadeh, Mozhgan; van de Grift, Tim C

2018-03-01

Women on average perform better than men on the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" test (RMET) which is a measure of Theory of Mind (ToM). The aim of this study was to assess whether these sex differences are influenced by differences in prenatal testosterone levels through a study on individuals with Disorders of Sex Development and matched controls. ToM performance was examined using the RMET in female-assigned-at-birth individuals with increased prenatal testosterone exposure (Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) and 5-alpha Reductase type-2 Deficiency (5α-RD-2)), female-assigned-at-birth individuals with testosterone insensitivity (Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS)), and their age-matched unaffected male and female relatives. A total number of 158 individuals participated in the study; 19 with 5α-RD-2, 17 with CAH, 18 women with CAIS, 52 matched unaffected men and 52 matched unaffected women. All subgroups were around 20 years of age. Women with CAH scored significantly lower on RMET than control women and CAIS individuals. CAIS individuals scored significantly higher than control men and participants with 5α-RD. Statistically, CAIS individuals' performance on RMET was similar to control women's, women with CAH did not differ significantly from control men and 5α-RD-2 individuals scored significantly lower than control men. These results, which are in line with previous theories, illustrate that performance on the RMET, as an index of ToM, may be influenced by variations in prenatal androgens levels. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory of mind, emotional and social functioning, and motor severity in children and adolescents with dystonic cerebral palsy.

PubMed

Adegboye, Dolapo; Sterr, Annette; Lin, Jean-Pierre; Owen, Tamsin J

2017-05-01

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate whether children and adolescents with dystonic cerebral palsy (CP) present with emotional and social difficulties along side motor limitations. Twenty-two verbal and nonverbal children and adolescents with dystonic CP were compared with a normative sample of twenty children and adolescents on measures of theory of mind (ToM), emotion regulation (ER), and social difficulties (SD). Higher social and emotional difficulties were found in the dystonic CP group compared to the control group. Nonverbal participants with dystonic CP were found to present with greater social impairment and lower ToM ability than their verbal counterparts. Emotional regulation and hyperactivity and attentional difficulties (HAD) significantly predicted ToM ability and social difficulties. Lower Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level and IQ also contributed to differences in ToM ability. Findings support the need for greater attention to the emotional health and social development of children/adolescents with dystonic CP, along with assessments of motor difficulties in the planning and implementation of interventions and individual care plans. Further research is needed to explore links between motor disorder and mental state understanding in this clinical group. Copyright © 2017 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Siblings, Theory of Mind, and Executive Functioning in Children Aged 3-6 Years: New Longitudinal Evidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAlister, Anna R.; Peterson, Candida C.

2013-01-01

Longitudinal data were obtained from 157 children aged 3 years 3 months to 5 years 6 months at Time 1. At Time 2 these children had aged an average of 12 months. Theory of mind (ToM) and executive functioning (EF) were measured at both time points. Results suggest that Time 1 ToM scores predict Time 2 EF scores. Detailed examination of sibling…

Emotion perception, non-social cognition and symptoms as predictors of theory of mind in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Vaskinn, Anja; Andersson, Stein; Østefjells, Tiril; Andreassen, Ole A; Sundet, Kjetil

2018-06-05

Theory of mind (ToM) can be divided into cognitive and affective ToM, and a distinction can be made between overmentalizing and undermentalizing errors. Research has shown that ToM in schizophrenia is associated with non-social and social cognition, and with clinical symptoms. In this study, we investigate cognitive and clinical predictors of different ToM processes. Ninety-one individuals with schizophrenia participated. ToM was measured with the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC) yielding six scores (total ToM, cognitive ToM, affective ToM, overmentalizing errors, undermentalizing errors and no mentalizing errors). Neurocognition was indexed by a composite score based on the non-social cognitive tests in the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). Emotion perception was measured with Emotion in Biological Motion (EmoBio), a point-light walker task. Clinical symptoms were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Seventy-one healthy control (HC) participants completed the MASC. Individuals with schizophrenia showed large impairments compared to HC for all MASC scores, except overmentalizing errors. Hierarchical regression analyses with the six different MASC scores as dependent variables revealed that MCCB was a significant predictor of all MASC scores, explaining 8-18% of the variance. EmoBio increased the explained variance significantly, to 17-28%, except for overmentalizing errors. PANSS excited symptoms increased explained variance for total ToM, affective ToM and no mentalizing errors. Both social and non-social cognition were significant predictors of ToM. Overmentalizing was only predicted by non-social cognition. Excited symptoms contributed to overall and affective ToM, and to no mentalizing errors. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Validity and Reliability of Published Comprehensive Theory of Mind Tests for Normal Preschool Children: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Ziatabar Ahmadi, Seyyede Zohreh; Jalaie, Shohreh; Ashayeri, Hassan

2015-01-01

Objective: Theory of mind (ToM) or mindreading is an aspect of social cognition that evaluates mental states and beliefs of oneself and others. Validity and reliability are very important criteria when evaluating standard tests; and without them, these tests are not usable. The aim of this study was to systematically review the validity and reliability of published English comprehensive ToM tests developed for normal preschool children. Method: We searched MEDLINE (PubMed interface), Web of Science, Science direct, PsycINFO, and also evidence base Medicine (The Cochrane Library) databases from 1990 to June 2015. Search strategy was Latin transcription of ‘Theory of Mind’ AND test AND children. Also, we manually studied the reference lists of all final searched articles and carried out a search of their references. Inclusion criteria were as follows: Valid and reliable diagnostic ToM tests published from 1990 to June 2015 for normal preschool children; and exclusion criteria were as follows: the studies that only used ToM tests and single tasks (false belief tasks) for ToM assessment and/or had no description about structure, validity or reliability of their tests. Methodological quality of the selected articles was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP). Result: In primary searching, we found 1237 articles in total databases. After removing duplicates and applying all inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected 11 tests for this systematic review. Conclusion: There were a few valid, reliable and comprehensive ToM tests for normal preschool children. However, we had limitations concerning the included articles. The defined ToM tests were different in populations, tasks, mode of presentations, scoring, mode of responses, times and other variables. Also, they had various validities and reliabilities. Therefore, it is recommended that the researchers and clinicians select the ToM tests according to their psychometric characteristics, validity and reliability. PMID:27006666

Theory of mind impairment: a distinct trait-marker for schizophrenia spectrum disorders and bipolar disorder?

PubMed

Bora, E; Yücel, M; Pantelis, C

2009-10-01

The aim of this study was to critically review the literature in order to determine if Theory of Mind (ToM) impairment can be considered a trait-marker for schizophrenia spectrum disorders and bipolar disorder (BD). After a thorough literature search, we reviewed the empirical studies investigating ToM impairments in remitted schizophrenia patients, first episode patients, subjects at high-risk (HR) for psychosis and first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients. Studies investigating ToM impairment in other schizophrenia spectrum conditions, affective psychosis and BD were also reviewed. ToM abnormalities exist at onset and continue throughout the course of schizophrenia, persist into remission, and while less severe, are apparent in HR populations. Mentalizing impairments are also observed in other forms of psychotic illness and BD. Mentalizing impairment in schizophrenia spectrum disorders and BD might reflect underlying general cognitive deficits and residual symptom expression, rather than representing a specific trait-marker.

Brief Report: Theory of Mind, Relational Reasoning, and Social Responsiveness in Children With and Without Autism: Demonstration of Feasibility for a Larger-Scale Study

PubMed Central

Kandala, Sridhar; Petersen, Steven E.; Povinelli, Daniel J.

2015-01-01

Understanding the underpinnings of social responsiveness and theory of mind (ToM) will enhance our knowledge of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We hypothesize that higher-order relational reasoning (higher-order RR: reasoning necessitating integration of relationships among multiple variables) is necessary but not sufficient for ToM, and that social responsiveness varies independently of higher-order RR. A pilot experiment tested these hypotheses in n = 17 children, 3–14, with and without ASD. No child failing 2nd-order RR passed a false belief ToM test. Contrary to prediction, Social Responsiveness Scale scores did correlate with 2nd-order RR performance, likely due to sample characteristics. It is feasible to translate this comparative cognition-inspired line of inquiry for full-scale studies of ToM, higher-order RR, and social responsiveness in ASD. PMID:25630898

Brief Report: Theory of Mind, Relational Reasoning, and Social Responsiveness in Children With and Without Autism: Demonstration of Feasibility for a Larger-Scale Study.

PubMed

Pruett, John R; Kandala, Sridhar; Petersen, Steven E; Povinelli, Daniel J

2015-07-01

Understanding the underpinnings of social responsiveness and theory of mind (ToM) will enhance our knowledge of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We hypothesize that higher-order relational reasoning (higher-order RR: reasoning necessitating integration of relationships among multiple variables) is necessary but not sufficient for ToM, and that social responsiveness varies independently of higher-order RR. A pilot experiment tested these hypotheses in n = 17 children, 3-14, with and without ASD. No child failing 2nd-order RR passed a false belief ToM test. Contrary to prediction, Social Responsiveness Scale scores did correlate with 2nd-order RR performance, likely due to sample characteristics. It is feasible to translate this comparative cognition-inspired line of inquiry for full-scale studies of ToM, higher-order RR, and social responsiveness in ASD.

Confronting the language barrier: Theory of mind in deaf children.

PubMed

Jones, Anna C; Gutierrez, Roberto; Ludlow, Amanda K

2015-01-01

The current study addressed deaf children's Theory of Mind (ToM) development as measured by a battery of first- and second-order belief tasks. Both a chronological age-matched control group and a younger group of pre-school aged hearing children were compared to a group of deaf children born to hearing parents. A hearing native signer enacted each of the tasks, which were pre-recorded in video clips in English (SSE), British Sign Language (BSL) and spoken English, in order to consider all communication preferences of the deaf children. Results revealed no differences in performance between the deaf and the young hearing children. However, despite the inclusion of ToM tasks based on their preferred mode of communication, the deaf children performed significantly worse at the unexpected-content and second-order belief task compared with their age-matched controls. These findings imply a delay rather than a deficit in ToM in deaf children that could be attributed to limited opportunities to converse and overhear conversations about mental states. None. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploring the Role of Theory of Mind in Moral Judgment: The Case of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

PubMed

Fadda, Roberta; Parisi, Marinella; Ferretti, Luca; Saba, Gessica; Foscoliano, Maria; Salvago, Azzurra; Doneddu, Giuseppe

2016-01-01

This paper adds to the growing research on moral judgment (MJ) by considering whether theory of mind (ToM) might foster children's autonomous MJ achievement. A group of 30 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was compared in MJ and ToM with 30 typically developing (TD) children. Participants were tested for MJ with a classical Piaget's task and for ToM with a second order False Belief task. In the moral task, children were told two versions of a story: in one version the protagonist acted according to a moral intention but the action resulted in a harmful consequence; in the other version the protagonist acted according to an immoral intention, but the action resulted in a harmless consequence. Children were asked which of the two protagonists was the "naughtier." In line with previous studies, the results indicated that, while the majority of TD participants succeeded in the second order False Belief task, only few individuals with ASD showed intact perspective taking abilities. The analysis of the MJ in relation to ToM showed that children with ASD lacking ToM abilities judged guilty the protagonists of the two versions of the story in the moral task because both of them violated a moral rule or because they considered the consequences of the actions, ignoring any psychological information. These results indicate a heteronomous morality in individuals with ASD, based on the respect of learned moral rules and outcomes rather than others' subjective states.

Progressive decline of cognition during the conversion from prodrome to psychosis with a characteristic pattern of the theory of mind compensated by neurocognition.

PubMed

Zhang, TianHong; Cui, HuiRu; Wei, YanYan; Tang, YingYing; Xu, LiHua; Tang, XiaoChen; Zhu, YiKang; Jiang, LiJuan; Zhang, Bin; Qian, ZhenYing; Chow, Annabelle; Liu, XiaoHua; Li, ChunBo; Xiao, ZePing; Wang, JiJun

2018-05-01

The association between neurocognition and the theory of mind (ToM) abilities during the progression of psychosis is unclear. This study included 83 individuals with attenuated psychosis syndrome (APS), from which 26 converted to psychosis (converters) after a follow up period of 18months. Comprehensive cognitive tests (including MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, Faux-Pas Task, and Reading-Mind-in-Eyes Tasks) were administered at baseline. A structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was conducted to estimate the effects of neurocognition on the ToM functioning in both APS and healthy controls (HC) datasets. At baseline, the converters and non-converters groups differed significantly on several domains of cognitive performance. The SEM analysis demonstrated that the path from neurocognition to ToM was statistically significant in the APS dataset (p<0.001). However, in the HC dataset, the result of the same analysis was not significant (p=0.117). Positive correlations between neurocognition and ToM were observed, and the most obvious correlations were found in the converters group compared with the non-converters group (p=0.064) and compared with the HC group (p=0.002). The correlation between ToM abilities and neurocognition may be increased during the progression of the condition, especially for individuals who convert to psychosis after a short period. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Beyond Conceptual Knowledge: The Impact of Children’s Theory-of-Mind on Dyadic Spatial Tasks

PubMed Central

Viana, Karine M. P.; Zambrana, Imac M.; Karevold, Evalill B.; Pons, Francisco

2016-01-01

Recent studies show that Theory of Mind (ToM) has implications for children’s social competences and psychological well-being. Nevertheless, although it is well documented that children overall take advantage when they have to resolve cognitive problems together with a partner, whether individual difference in ToM is one of the mechanisms that could explain cognitive performances produced in social interaction has received little attention. This study examines to what extent ToM explains children’s spatial performances in a dyadic situation. The sample includes 66 boys and girls between the ages of 5–9 years, who were tested for their ToM and for their competence to resolve a Spatial task involving mental rotation and spatial perspective taking, first individually and then in a dyadic condition. Results showed, in accordance with previous research, that children performed better on the Spatial task when they resolved it with a partner. Specifically, children’s ToM was a better predictor of their spatial performances in the dyadic condition than their age, gender, and spatial performances in the individual setting. The findings are discussed in terms of the relation between having a conceptual understanding of the mind and the practical implications of this knowledge for cognitive performances in social interaction regarding mental rotation and spatial perspective taking. PMID:27812344

Theory of mind and recognition of facial emotion in dementia: challenge to current concepts.

PubMed

Freedman, Morris; Binns, Malcolm A; Black, Sandra E; Murphy, Cara; Stuss, Donald T

2013-01-01

Current literature suggests that theory of mind (ToM) and recognition of facial emotion are impaired in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). In contrast, studies suggest that ToM is spared in Alzheimer disease (AD). However, there is controversy whether recognition of emotion in faces is impaired in AD. This study challenges the concepts that ToM is preserved in AD and that recognition of facial emotion is impaired in bvFTD. ToM, recognition of facial emotion, and identification of emotions associated with video vignettes were studied in bvFTD, AD, and normal controls. ToM was assessed using false-belief and visual perspective-taking tasks. Identification of facial emotion was tested using Ekman and Friesen's pictures of facial affect. After adjusting for relevant covariates, there were significant ToM deficits in bvFTD and AD compared with controls, whereas neither group was impaired in the identification of emotions associated with video vignettes. There was borderline impairment in recognizing angry faces in bvFTD. Patients with AD showed significant deficits on false belief and visual perspective taking, and bvFTD patients were impaired on second-order false belief. We report novel findings challenging the concepts that ToM is spared in AD and that recognition of facial emotion is impaired in bvFTD.

Seeing More Than Human: Autism and Anthropomorphic Theory of Mind.

PubMed

Atherton, Gray; Cross, Liam

2018-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) is defined as the process of taking another's perspective. Anthropomorphism can be seen as the extension of ToM to non-human entities. This review examines the literature concerning ToM and anthropomorphism in relation to individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), specifically addressing the questions of how and why those on the spectrum both show an increased interest for anthropomorphism and may even show improved ToM abilities when judging the mental states of anthropomorphic characters. This review highlights that while individuals with ASD traditionally show deficits on a wide range of ToM tests, such as recognizing facial emotions, such ToM deficits may be ameliorated if the stimuli presented is cartoon or animal-like rather than in human form. Individuals with ASD show a greater interest in anthropomorphic characters and process the features of these characters using methods typically reserved for human stimuli. Personal accounts of individuals with ASD also suggest they may identify more closely with animals than other humans. It is shown how the social motivations hypothesized to underlie the anthropomorphizing of non-human targets may lead those on the spectrum to seek social connections and therefore gain ToM experience and expertise amongst unlikely sources.

Seeing More Than Human: Autism and Anthropomorphic Theory of Mind

PubMed Central

Atherton, Gray; Cross, Liam

2018-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) is defined as the process of taking another’s perspective. Anthropomorphism can be seen as the extension of ToM to non-human entities. This review examines the literature concerning ToM and anthropomorphism in relation to individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), specifically addressing the questions of how and why those on the spectrum both show an increased interest for anthropomorphism and may even show improved ToM abilities when judging the mental states of anthropomorphic characters. This review highlights that while individuals with ASD traditionally show deficits on a wide range of ToM tests, such as recognizing facial emotions, such ToM deficits may be ameliorated if the stimuli presented is cartoon or animal-like rather than in human form. Individuals with ASD show a greater interest in anthropomorphic characters and process the features of these characters using methods typically reserved for human stimuli. Personal accounts of individuals with ASD also suggest they may identify more closely with animals than other humans. It is shown how the social motivations hypothesized to underlie the anthropomorphizing of non-human targets may lead those on the spectrum to seek social connections and therefore gain ToM experience and expertise amongst unlikely sources. PMID:29755383

Theory of mind performance using a story comprehension task in bipolar mania compared to schizophrenia and healthy controls.

PubMed

Rossell, Susan L; Van Rheenen, Tamsyn E

2013-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the ability to understand the mental state of self and others. There is limited research into this topic in bipolar disorder (BD), with no previous study examining ToM in a BD group within a psychotic manic phase. Twenty-eight psychotic manic BD patients were compared with 30 schizophrenia (SCZ) patients and 29 healthy controls (HC). Participants performed a ToM story comprehension task that compared ToM stories and non-ToM stories (which we relabelled non-ToM "semantic" stories). Performance was examined by answering comprehension questions. Both patient groups were equally impaired on their scores for ToM stories (scores BD = 10/24, SCZ = 9/24, HC = 14/24, p < .001). Interestingly, both patient groups showed reduced performance on non-ToM semantic stories (scores BD = 12/24, SCZ = 9/24, HC = 15/24, p < .001); SCZ showed a larger deficit. Reduced ToM performance was correlated with delusion severity in the BD group only. ToM performance was impaired in BD patients experiencing psychotic symptoms. Patient performance was also impaired on the control condition (i.e., non-ToM semantic stories) supporting an additional deficit in semantic processing.

Evidence for Trait Related Theory of Mind Impairment in First Episode Psychosis Patients and Its Relationship with Processing Speed: A 3 Year Follow-up Study.

PubMed

Ayesa-Arriola, Rosa; Setién-Suero, Esther; Neergaard, Karl D; Ferro, Adele; Fatjó-Vilas, Mar; Ríos-Lago, Marcos; Otero, Soraya; Rodríguez-Sánchez, Jose M; Crespo-Facorro, Benedicto

2016-01-01

This study aimed to confirm whether first-episode psychosis patients present a stable trait impairment in theory of mind (ToM) and to examine the potential relationship between ToM and clinical symptomatology and neurocognition. Patients with a first episode of psychosis (N = 160) and healthy controls (N = 159) were assessed with an extensive neuropsychological test battery, which included a mental state decoding task known as "The Reading the Mind in the Eyes" (Eyes test), at baseline and reassessed after 1 and 3 years. The clinical group performed below healthy controls on the Eyes test while not showing test-retest differences between baseline and follow-up administrations. Analyses revealed age, education and premorbid IQ as potential moderators. Poorer performance on the Eyes test was not linked to clinical symptomatology but was associated with greater neurocognitive deficit, particularly related to processing speed. The persistence of ToM deficits in patients suggests that there are trait related metalizing impairments in first episode psychosis. This study shows the influence of processing speed and moderator variables on efficient ToM.

Evidence for Trait Related Theory of Mind Impairment in First Episode Psychosis Patients and Its Relationship with Processing Speed: A 3 Year Follow-up Study

PubMed Central

Ayesa-Arriola, Rosa; Setién-Suero, Esther; Neergaard, Karl D.; Ferro, Adele; Fatjó-Vilas, Mar; Ríos-Lago, Marcos; Otero, Soraya; Rodríguez-Sánchez, Jose M.; Crespo-Facorro, Benedicto

2016-01-01

This study aimed to confirm whether first-episode psychosis patients present a stable trait impairment in theory of mind (ToM) and to examine the potential relationship between ToM and clinical symptomatology and neurocognition. Patients with a first episode of psychosis (N = 160) and healthy controls (N = 159) were assessed with an extensive neuropsychological test battery, which included a mental state decoding task known as “The Reading the Mind in the Eyes” (Eyes test), at baseline and reassessed after 1 and 3 years. The clinical group performed below healthy controls on the Eyes test while not showing test-retest differences between baseline and follow-up administrations. Analyses revealed age, education and premorbid IQ as potential moderators. Poorer performance on the Eyes test was not linked to clinical symptomatology but was associated with greater neurocognitive deficit, particularly related to processing speed. The persistence of ToM deficits in patients suggests that there are trait related metalizing impairments in first episode psychosis. This study shows the influence of processing speed and moderator variables on efficient ToM. PMID:27199826

Making sense of theory of mind and paranoia: the psychometric properties and reasoning requirements of a false belief sequencing task.

PubMed

Corcoran, Rhiannon; Bentall, Richard P; Rowse, Georgina; Moore, Rosanne; Cummins, Sinead; Blackwood, Nigel; Howard, Robert; Shryane, Nick M

2011-11-01

INTRODUCTION. This study used Item-Response Theory (IRT) to model the psychometric properties of a false belief picture sequencing task. Consistent with the mental time travel hypothesis of paranoia, we anticipated that performance on this deductive theory of mind (ToM) task would not be associated with the presence of persecutory delusions but would be related to other clinical, cognitive, and demographic factors. METHOD. A large (N=237) and diverse clinical and nonclinical sample differing in levels of depression and paranoid ideation performed 2 ToM tasks: the false belief sequencing task and a ToM stories task that was used to assess the validity of the false belief sequencing task as a measure of ToM. RESULTS. A unidimensional IRT model was found to fit the data well. Latent ToM ability as measured by the false belief sequencing task was negatively related with age and positively with IQ. In contrast to the ToM stories measure, there was no association between clinical diagnosis or symptoms and false belief picture sequencing after controlling for age and IQ. CONCLUSIONS. In line with mental time travel hypothesis of paranoia (Corcoran, 2010 ), performance on this deductive nonverbal ToM task is not related to the presence of paranoid symptoms. This measure is best suited for assessing ToM functioning where participants' performance falls just short of the average latent ToM ability. Furthermore, it is sensitive to the effects of increasing age and decreasing IQ.

Cognitive and affective associations with an ecologically valid test of theory of mind across the lifespan.

PubMed

Johansson Nolaker, Emilie; Murray, Kim; Happé, Francesca; Charlton, Rebecca A

2018-05-24

Many studies have demonstrated that theory of mind (ToM) ability declines with increasing age. Research has found that ToM-age associations are often mediated by other cognitive abilities particularly executive function. However, older adults rarely complain about real-world ToM difficulties. It has been suggested that older adults may perform better in real-world situations compared with experimental settings. We examined performance on the Strange Stories Film Task (SSFT) which has been designed to assess ToM using naturalistic, video scenarios. Sixty adults aged between 17- and 95-years-old completed the SSFT, inhibitory control (Stroop) and working memory (letter-number sequencing) measures, the basic empathy scale (cognitive and affective empathy), and the broad autism phenotype questionnaire. ToM performance correlated significantly with age, whereas performance on a control task did not. Partial correlations and stepwise regression analyses demonstrated that performance on the three SSFT ToM measures was explained by a combination of executive function and empathy measures, with age explaining none of the variance. Using a naturalistic test of ToM, performance was shown to decline with age for ToM but not control scenarios. Across the lifespan, the variance in ToM performance was explained by cognitive abilities and empathy but not age. Age alone may not influence ToM ability, but may be associated with age-related changes in cognition and social-cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

A Psychometric Evaluation of the Danish Version of the Theory of Mind Storybook for 8-14 Year-Old Children.

PubMed

Clemmensen, Lars; Bartels-Velthuis, Agna A; Jespersen, Rókur Av F; van Os, Jim; Blijd-Hoogewys, Els M A; Ankerstrøm, Lise; Væver, Mette; Daniel, Peter F; Drukker, Marjan; Jeppesen, Pia; Jepsen, Jens R M

2016-01-01

Theory-of-Mind (ToM) keeps on developing in late childhood and early adolescence, and the study of ToM development later in childhood had to await the development of sufficiently sensitive tests challenging more mature children. The current study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Danish version of the Theory-of-Mind Storybook Frederik (ToM-Frederik). We assessed whether ToM-Frederik scores differed between a group of 41 typically developing (TD) children and a group of 33 children with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (HFASD). A lower mean ToM-Frederik score was expected in the HFASD group. To determine the convergent validity of ToM-Frederik, potential associations with Strange Stories and Animated Triangles (AT) were analyzed. Furthermore, potential associations between ToM-Frederik and the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and between ToM-Frederik and the Social Emotional Evaluation (SEE) Total score were analyzed. A significantly higher ToM-Frederik score was observed in the TD group compared to the HFASD group. Furthermore, the convergent validity of ToM-Frederik as a measure of ToM was supported by significant and positive associations with the Strange Stories and the AT scores in the HFASD group, whereas ToM-Frederik was significantly correlated with Strange Stories, but not with AT in the TD group. ToM-Frederik was not significantly associated with SRS in neither the HFASD nor the TD group. The findings are supportive of ToM-Frederik as a valid indicator of deficits at the group level in children with HFASD between 7 and 14 years of age. Furthermore, the convergent validity is supported.

A Psychometric Evaluation of the Danish Version of the Theory of Mind Storybook for 8–14 Year-Old Children

PubMed Central

Clemmensen, Lars; Bartels-Velthuis, Agna A.; Jespersen, Rókur av F.; van Os, Jim; Blijd-Hoogewys, Els M. A.; Ankerstrøm, Lise; Væver, Mette; Daniel, Peter F.; Drukker, Marjan; Jeppesen, Pia; Jepsen, Jens R. M.

2016-01-01

Background: Theory-of-Mind (ToM) keeps on developing in late childhood and early adolescence, and the study of ToM development later in childhood had to await the development of sufficiently sensitive tests challenging more mature children. The current study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Danish version of the Theory-of-Mind Storybook Frederik (ToM-Frederik). Methods: We assessed whether ToM-Frederik scores differed between a group of 41 typically developing (TD) children and a group of 33 children with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (HFASD). A lower mean ToM-Frederik score was expected in the HFASD group. To determine the convergent validity of ToM-Frederik, potential associations with Strange Stories and Animated Triangles (AT) were analyzed. Furthermore, potential associations between ToM-Frederik and the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and between ToM-Frederik and the Social Emotional Evaluation (SEE) Total score were analyzed. Results: A significantly higher ToM-Frederik score was observed in the TD group compared to the HFASD group. Furthermore, the convergent validity of ToM-Frederik as a measure of ToM was supported by significant and positive associations with the Strange Stories and the AT scores in the HFASD group, whereas ToM-Frederik was significantly correlated with Strange Stories, but not with AT in the TD group. ToM-Frederik was not significantly associated with SRS in neither the HFASD nor the TD group. Conclusion: The findings are supportive of ToM-Frederik as a valid indicator of deficits at the group level in children with HFASD between 7 and 14 years of age. Furthermore, the convergent validity is supported. PMID:27014139

The Relation Between Emotion Understanding and Theory of Mind in Children Aged 3 to 8: The Key Role of Language

PubMed Central

Grazzani, Ilaria; Ornaghi, Veronica; Conte, Elisabetta; Pepe, Alessandro; Caprin, Claudia

2018-01-01

Although a significant body of research has investigated the relationships among children’s emotion understanding (EU), theory of mind (ToM), and language abilities. As far as we know, no study to date has been conducted with a sizeable sample of both preschool and school-age children exploring the direct effect of EU on ToM when the role of language was evaluated as a potential exogenous factor in a single comprehensive model. Participants in the current study were 389 children (age range: 37–97 months, M = 60.79 months; SD = 12.66), to whom a False-Belief understanding battery, the Test of Emotion Comprehension, and the Peabody Test were administered. Children’s EU, ToM, and language ability (receptive vocabulary) were positively correlated. Furthermore, EU scores explained variability in ToM scores independently of participants’ age and gender. Finally, language was found to play a crucial role in both explaining variance in ToM scores and in mediating the relationship between EU and ToM. We discuss the theoretical and educational implications of these outcomes, particularly in relation to offering social and emotional learning programs through schools.

Stimulants improve theory of mind in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Maoz, Hagai; Tsviban, Lior; Gvirts, Hila Z; Shamay-Tsoory, Simone G; Levkovitz, Yechiel; Watemberg, Nathan; Bloch, Yuval

2014-03-01

Impairments in 'theory of mind' (ToM) were linked to social cognition and reciprocal relationships deficits in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Twenty-four children with ADHD (13 with inattentive type and 11 with combined type, mean age 10.2 years) completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), a self-reported empathy questionnaire. All children performed the 'faux pas' task and a computerized ToM task in two different sessions either with or without administration of methylphenidate (MPH). Administration of MPH was associated with an improvement in cognitive and affective ToM. Children with ADHD-combined type had significantly lower scores in total IRI and the fantasy scale compared to children with ADHD-inattentive type. We conclude that deficits in empathy and ToM may play an important role in the impairments in social cognition and peer relationship in children with ADHD, especially children a hyperactive component. Stimulants may improve ToM and empathic functions. Future studies including larger samples and additional cognitive tasks are warranted in order to generalize these results and to identify possible underlying mechanisms for improvement in ToM following the administration of MPH.

The Relation Between Emotion Understanding and Theory of Mind in Children Aged 3 to 8: The Key Role of Language.

PubMed

Grazzani, Ilaria; Ornaghi, Veronica; Conte, Elisabetta; Pepe, Alessandro; Caprin, Claudia

2018-01-01

Although a significant body of research has investigated the relationships among children's emotion understanding (EU), theory of mind (ToM), and language abilities. As far as we know, no study to date has been conducted with a sizeable sample of both preschool and school-age children exploring the direct effect of EU on ToM when the role of language was evaluated as a potential exogenous factor in a single comprehensive model. Participants in the current study were 389 children (age range: 37-97 months, M = 60.79 months; SD = 12.66), to whom a False-Belief understanding battery, the Test of Emotion Comprehension, and the Peabody Test were administered. Children's EU, ToM, and language ability (receptive vocabulary) were positively correlated. Furthermore, EU scores explained variability in ToM scores independently of participants' age and gender. Finally, language was found to play a crucial role in both explaining variance in ToM scores and in mediating the relationship between EU and ToM. We discuss the theoretical and educational implications of these outcomes, particularly in relation to offering social and emotional learning programs through schools.

Theory of mind and frontal lobe pathology in schizophrenia: a voxel-based morphometry study.

PubMed

Hirao, Kazuyuki; Miyata, Jun; Fujiwara, Hironobu; Yamada, Makiko; Namiki, Chihiro; Shimizu, Mitsuaki; Sawamoto, Nobukatsu; Fukuyama, Hidenao; Hayashi, Takuji; Murai, Toshiya

2008-10-01

Impaired ability to infer the mental states of others (theory of mind; ToM) is considered to be a key contributor to the poor social functioning of patients with schizophrenia. Although neuroimaging and lesion studies have provided empirical evidence for the neural basis of ToM ability, including the involvement of several prefrontal and temporal structures, the association between pathology of these structures and ToM impairment in schizophrenia patients is less well understood. To address this issue, we investigated structural brain abnormalities and ToM impairment in patients with schizophrenia, and examined the relationship between them. Twenty schizophrenia patients and 20 age-, sex- and education-matched healthy participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and were examined for ToM ability based on the revised version of the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" (or Eyes) test [Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Hill, J., Raste, Y., Plumb, I., 2001. The 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes' test revised version: A study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 42, 241-251]. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was performed to investigate regional brain alterations. Relative to normal controls, schizophrenia patients exhibited gray matter reductions in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), right superior temporal gyrus (STG) and right insula. The patients performed poorly on the Eyes test. Importantly, poor performance on the Eyes test was found to be associated with gray matter reduction in the left VLPFC in the patient group. These results suggest that prefrontal cortical reduction, especially in the left VLPFC, is a key pathology underlying the difficulties faced by schizophrenia patients in inferring the mental states of others.

Theory of Mind in Depressive Disorders: A Review of the Literature.

PubMed

Berecz, Hajnalka; Tényi, Tamás; Herold, Róbert

Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to infer the mental states of others in order to understand and predict their behaviour. This ability is thought to be essential to social functioning and interpersonal relationships. As major depression is characterized by considerable social and interpersonal difficulties, exploration of the quality of ToM functioning can be particularly relevant in this and in related disorders. We aim to review the current state of research on ToM in depressive disorders in order to find out the extent to which ToM impairment is associated with these illnesses. An internet database search was carried out to collect all publications on the subject. A total of 32 publications in English met our inclusion criteria: (a) 17 studies on ToM in major depression, (b) 4 studies on ToM in psychotic depression, (c) 3 studies on ToM in dysphoria or mild depression, (d) 4 studies on ToM in euthymic major depression, (e) 2 studies on ToM in chronic versus episodic depression, and (f) 2 studies on ToM in another psychiatric disorder with comorbid major depression. Despite an increased interest in the research of the topic in recent years, no firm conclusions can be drawn, as the reviewed articles present some conflicting results. Acutely depressed patients have been found to be impaired on tasks involving both ToM social-perceptual and social-cognitive components. On the other hand, a number of studies have not reported significant between-group differences between depressed patients and healthy controls or have found minimal differences. Further research is needed in order to confirm and extend these results. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Theory of Mind: Did Evolution Fool Us?

PubMed Central

Devaine, Marie; Hollard, Guillaume; Daunizeau, Jean

2014-01-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to attribute mental states (e.g., beliefs and desires) to other people in order to understand and predict their behaviour. If others are rewarded to compete or cooperate with you, then what they will do depends upon what they believe about you. This is the reason why social interaction induces recursive ToM, of the sort “I think that you think that I think, etc.”. Critically, recursion is the common notion behind the definition of sophistication of human language, strategic thinking in games, and, arguably, ToM. Although sophisticated ToM is believed to have high adaptive fitness, broad experimental evidence from behavioural economics, experimental psychology and linguistics point towards limited recursivity in representing other’s beliefs. In this work, we test whether such apparent limitation may not in fact be proven to be adaptive, i.e. optimal in an evolutionary sense. First, we propose a meta-Bayesian approach that can predict the behaviour of ToM sophistication phenotypes who engage in social interactions. Second, we measure their adaptive fitness using evolutionary game theory. Our main contribution is to show that one does not have to appeal to biological costs to explain our limited ToM sophistication. In fact, the evolutionary cost/benefit ratio of ToM sophistication is non trivial. This is partly because an informational cost prevents highly sophisticated ToM phenotypes to fully exploit less sophisticated ones (in a competitive context). In addition, cooperation surprisingly favours lower levels of ToM sophistication. Taken together, these quantitative corollaries of the “social Bayesian brain” hypothesis provide an evolutionary account for both the limitation of ToM sophistication in humans as well as the persistence of low ToM sophistication levels. PMID:24505296

Theory of mind: did evolution fool us?

PubMed

Devaine, Marie; Hollard, Guillaume; Daunizeau, Jean

2014-01-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to attribute mental states (e.g., beliefs and desires) to other people in order to understand and predict their behaviour. If others are rewarded to compete or cooperate with you, then what they will do depends upon what they believe about you. This is the reason why social interaction induces recursive ToM, of the sort "I think that you think that I think, etc.". Critically, recursion is the common notion behind the definition of sophistication of human language, strategic thinking in games, and, arguably, ToM. Although sophisticated ToM is believed to have high adaptive fitness, broad experimental evidence from behavioural economics, experimental psychology and linguistics point towards limited recursivity in representing other's beliefs. In this work, we test whether such apparent limitation may not in fact be proven to be adaptive, i.e. optimal in an evolutionary sense. First, we propose a meta-Bayesian approach that can predict the behaviour of ToM sophistication phenotypes who engage in social interactions. Second, we measure their adaptive fitness using evolutionary game theory. Our main contribution is to show that one does not have to appeal to biological costs to explain our limited ToM sophistication. In fact, the evolutionary cost/benefit ratio of ToM sophistication is non trivial. This is partly because an informational cost prevents highly sophisticated ToM phenotypes to fully exploit less sophisticated ones (in a competitive context). In addition, cooperation surprisingly favours lower levels of ToM sophistication. Taken together, these quantitative corollaries of the "social Bayesian brain" hypothesis provide an evolutionary account for both the limitation of ToM sophistication in humans as well as the persistence of low ToM sophistication levels.

Theory of mind impairments in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and their unaffected siblings.

PubMed

Ho, Karen K Y; Lui, Simon S Y; Hung, Karen S Y; Wang, Yi; Li, Zhi; Cheung, Eric F C; Chan, Raymond C K

2015-08-01

Theory of mind (ToM) impairment has been consistently demonstrated in patients with schizophrenia, but whether ToM impairments exist in unaffected siblings of patients with schizophrenia remains unclear. Few studies have examined the affective and cognitive components of ToM in schizophrenia. This study aimed to examine whether ToM impairments exist in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and their unaffected siblings, and whether there is any dissociation between the affective and cognitive components of ToM. We adopted a family-based case-control design. Participants were 41 patients with first-episode schizophrenia, 43 unaffected siblings, and 42 healthy controls. The Yoni Task which measures the participants' ability to understand first- and second-order affective versus cognitive ToM and the Faux Pas Task which taps into integration of the affective and cognitive components of ToM were administered. Multivariate and univariate ANCOVAs were used to examine the group differences in ToM, while controlling for other neurocognitive functions. Compared with controls, patients with schizophrenia and their unaffected siblings performed poorer on the Faux Pas Task (p<0.001), with siblings having intermediate performance between patients and controls. Patients with schizophrenia performed worse than controls on second-order affective condition of the Yoni Task (p=0.004), but their unaffected siblings did not (p=0.063). We did not find any significant Group-by-Condition interaction in the Yoni Task (p=0.358). Patients with first-episode schizophrenia and their unaffected siblings exhibit ToM impairments, but no dissociation between affective and cognitive component of ToM was found. Our findings support the notion that ToM deficit may be a trait marker of schizophrenia. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Relations between temperament and theory of mind development in the United States and China: biological and behavioral correlates of preschoolers' false-belief understanding.

PubMed

Lane, Jonathan D; Wellman, Henry M; Olson, Sheryl L; Miller, Alison L; Wang, Li; Tardif, Twila

2013-05-01

The emotional reactivity hypothesis holds that, over the course of phylogeny, the selection of animals with less reactive temperaments supported the development of sophisticated social-cognitive skills in several species, including humans (Hare, 2007). In the ontogenetic human case, an emotional reactivity hypothesis predicts that children with less reactive temperaments will reach certain milestones in theory-of-mind (ToM) development more quickly. We examined relations between temperament and false-belief understanding in 102 preschool-age children from China and the United States. Temperament was measured via parental ratings of behavior as well as with physiological measures of children's reactivity (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis reactivity gauged via salivary cortisol). In accord with an emotional reactivity hypothesis, children with certain reactive temperaments--specifically, those who were more aggressive and those who were both socially withdrawn and physiologically reactive--evidenced poorer social-cognition. However, our findings also force amendment to the ontogenetic emotional reactivity hypothesis. For the majority of children in both countries, physiological reactivity predicted more advanced ToM, perhaps by facilitating social engagement and attention to social stimuli. Moreover, children who were withdrawn from social interaction yet nonreactive, especially Chinese children of this temperament, evidenced advanced ToM. Thus, some forms of social disengagement may foster social-cognitive development in certain sociocultural contexts.

Hyper-theory-of-mind in children with Psychotic Experiences.

PubMed

Clemmensen, Lars; van Os, Jim; Skovgaard, Anne Mette; Væver, Mette; Blijd-Hoogewys, Els M A; Bartels-Velthuis, Agna A; Jeppesen, Pia

2014-01-01

Alterations in Theory-of-Mind (ToM) are associated with psychotic disorder. In addition, studies in children have documented that alterations in ToM are associated with Psychotic Experiences (PE). Our aim was to examine associations between an exaggerated type of ToM (HyperToM) and PE in children. Children with this type of alteration in ToM infer mental states when none are obviously suggested, and predict behaviour on the basis of these erroneous beliefs. Individuals with HyperToM do not appear to have a conceptual deficit (i.e. lack of representational abilities), but rather they apply their theory of the minds of others in an incorrect or biased way. Hypotheses were tested in two studies with two independent samples: (i) a general population sample of 1630 Danish children aged 11-12 years, (ii) a population-based sample of 259 Dutch children aged 12-13 years, pertaining to a case-control sampling frame of children with auditory verbal hallucinations. Multinomial regression analyses were carried out to investigate the associations between PE and ToM and HyperToM respectively. Analyses were adjusted for gender and proxy measures of general intelligence. Low ToM score was significantly associated with PE in sample I (OR = 1.6 95%CI 1.1-2.3 χ2(4) = 12.42 p = 0.010), but not in sample II (OR = 0.9 95%CI 0.5-1.8 χ2(3) = 7.13 p = 0.816). HyperToM was significantly associated with PE both in sample I (OR = 1.8, 95%CI 1.2-2.7 χ2(3) = 10.11 p = 0.006) and II (OR = 4.6, 95%CI 1.3-16.2 χ2(2) = 7.56 p = 0.018). HyperToM was associated particularly with paranoid delusions in both sample I (OR = 2.0, 95%CI: 1.1-3.7% χ2(4) = 9.93 p = 0.021) and II (OR = 6.2 95%CI: 1.7-23.6% χ2(4) = 9.90 p = 0.044). Specific alterations in ToM may be associated with specific types of psychotic experiences. HyperToM may index risk for developing psychosis and paranoid delusions in particular.

Further evidence for the impact of a genome-wide-supported psychosis risk variant in ZNF804A on the Theory of Mind Network.

PubMed

Mohnke, Sebastian; Erk, Susanne; Schnell, Knut; Schütz, Claudia; Romanczuk-Seiferth, Nina; Grimm, Oliver; Haddad, Leila; Pöhland, Lydia; Garbusow, Maria; Schmitgen, Mike M; Kirsch, Peter; Esslinger, Christine; Rietschel, Marcella; Witt, Stephanie H; Nöthen, Markus M; Cichon, Sven; Mattheisen, Manuel; Mühleisen, Thomas; Jensen, Jimmy; Schott, Björn H; Maier, Wolfgang; Heinz, Andreas; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Walter, Henrik

2014-04-01

The single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1344706 in ZNF804A is one of the best-supported risk variants for psychosis. We hypothesized that this SNP contributes to the development of schizophrenia by affecting the ability to understand other people's mental states. This skill, commonly referred to as Theory of Mind (ToM), has consistently been found to be impaired in schizophrenia. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we previously showed that in healthy individuals rs1344706 impacted on activity and connectivity of key areas of the ToM network, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, temporo-parietal junction, and the posterior cingulate cortex, which show aberrant activity in schizophrenia patients, too. We aimed to replicate these results in an independent sample of 188 healthy German volunteers. In order to assess the reliability of brain activity elicited by the ToM task, 25 participants performed the task twice with an interval of 14 days showing excellent accordance in recruitment of key ToM areas. Confirming our previous results, we observed decreasing activity of the left temporo-parietal junction, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and the posterior cingulate cortex with increasing number of risk alleles during ToM. Complementing our replication sample with the discovery sample, analyzed in a previous report (total N=297), further revealed negative genotype effects in the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex as well as in the temporal and parietal regions. In addition, as shown previously, rs1344706 risk allele dose positively predicted increased frontal-temporo-parietal connectivity. These findings confirm the effects of the psychosis risk variant in ZNF804A on the dysfunction of the ToM network.

Further Evidence for the Impact of a Genome-Wide-Supported Psychosis Risk Variant in ZNF804A on the Theory of Mind Network

PubMed Central

Mohnke, Sebastian; Erk, Susanne; Schnell, Knut; Schütz, Claudia; Romanczuk-Seiferth, Nina; Grimm, Oliver; Haddad, Leila; Pöhland, Lydia; Garbusow, Maria; Schmitgen, Mike M; Kirsch, Peter; Esslinger, Christine; Rietschel, Marcella; Witt, Stephanie H; Nöthen, Markus M; Cichon, Sven; Mattheisen, Manuel; Mühleisen, Thomas; Jensen, Jimmy; Schott, Björn H; Maier, Wolfgang; Heinz, Andreas; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Walter, Henrik

2014-01-01

The single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1344706 in ZNF804A is one of the best-supported risk variants for psychosis. We hypothesized that this SNP contributes to the development of schizophrenia by affecting the ability to understand other people's mental states. This skill, commonly referred to as Theory of Mind (ToM), has consistently been found to be impaired in schizophrenia. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we previously showed that in healthy individuals rs1344706 impacted on activity and connectivity of key areas of the ToM network, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, temporo-parietal junction, and the posterior cingulate cortex, which show aberrant activity in schizophrenia patients, too. We aimed to replicate these results in an independent sample of 188 healthy German volunteers. In order to assess the reliability of brain activity elicited by the ToM task, 25 participants performed the task twice with an interval of 14 days showing excellent accordance in recruitment of key ToM areas. Confirming our previous results, we observed decreasing activity of the left temporo-parietal junction, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and the posterior cingulate cortex with increasing number of risk alleles during ToM. Complementing our replication sample with the discovery sample, analyzed in a previous report (total N=297), further revealed negative genotype effects in the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex as well as in the temporal and parietal regions. In addition, as shown previously, rs1344706 risk allele dose positively predicted increased frontal–temporo-parietal connectivity. These findings confirm the effects of the psychosis risk variant in ZNF804A on the dysfunction of the ToM network. PMID:24247043

5-7 Year Old Children's Conceptions of Behaving Artifacts and the Influence of Constructing Their Behavior on the Development of Theory of Mind (ToM) and Theory of Artificial Mind (ToAM)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spektor-Precel, Karen; Mioduser, David

2015-01-01

Nowadays, we are surrounded by artifacts that are capable of adaptive behavior, such as electric pots, boiler timers, automatic doors, and robots. The literature concerning human beings' conceptions of "traditional" artifacts is vast, however, little is known about our conceptions of behaving artifacts, nor of the influence of the…

Deconstructing and Reconstructing Theory of Mind

PubMed Central

Schaafsma, Sara M.; Pfaff, Donald W.; Spunt, Robert P.; Adolphs, Ralph

2014-01-01

Usage of the term Theory of Mind (ToM) has exploded across fields ranging from developmental psychology to social neuroscience and psychiatry research. Yet its meaning is often vague and inconsistent, its biological bases are a subject of debate, and the methods used to study it are highly heterogeneous. Most critically, its original definition does not permit easy downward translation to more basic processes such as those studied by behavioral neuroscience, leaving the interpretation of neuroimaging results opaque. We argue for a reformulation of ToM through a systematic two-stage approach, beginning with a deconstruction of the construct into a comprehensive set of basic component processes, followed by a complementary reconstruction from which a scientifically tractable concept of ToM could be recovered. PMID:25496670

Gender and theory of mind in preschoolers' group effort: evidence for timing differences behind children's earliest social loafing.

PubMed

Thompson, R Bruce; Thornton, Bill

2014-01-01

This study explored mental state reasoning within the context of group effort and possible differences in development between boys and girls. Preschool children (59 girls, 47 boys) were assessed for theory of mind (ToM) ability using classic false belief tests. Children participated in group effort conditions that alternated from one condition, where individual effort was transparent and obvious, to one where individual effort remained anonymous. The aim was to investigate if emergent mental state reasoning, after controlling for age, was associated with the well-known phenomenon of reduced effort in group tasks ("social loafing"). Girls had slightly higher ToM scores and social loafing than boys. Hierarchical regression, controlling for age, indicated that understanding of others' false beliefs uniquely predicted social loafing and interacted weakly with gender status.

Communicative-pragmatic disorders in traumatic brain injury: The role of theory of mind and executive functions.

PubMed

Bosco, Francesca M; Parola, Alberto; Sacco, Katiuscia; Zettin, Marina; Angeleri, Romina

2017-05-01

Previous research has shown that communicative-pragmatic ability, as well as executive functions (EF) and Theory of Mind (ToM), may be impaired in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the role of such cognitive deficits in explaining communicative-pragmatic difficulty in TBI has still not been fully investigated. The study examined the relationship between EF (working memory, planning and flexibility) and ToM and communicative-pragmatic impairment in patients with TBI. 30 individuals with TBI and 30 healthy controls were assessed using the Assessment Battery of Communication (ABaCo), and a set of cognitive, EF and ToM, tasks. The results showed that TBI participants performed poorly in comprehension and production tasks in the ABaCo, using both linguistic and extralinguistic means of expression, and that they were impaired in EF and ToM abilities. Cognitive difficulties were able to predict the pragmatic performance of TBI individuals, with both executive functions and ToM contributing to explaining patients' scores on the ABaCo. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"Theory of mind" in schizophrenia: a review of the literature.

PubMed

Brüne, Martin

2005-01-01

The term theory of mind (ToM) refers to the capacity to infer one's own and other persons' mental states. A substantial body of research has highlighted the evolution of ToM in nonhuman primates, its emergence during human ontogeny, and impaired ToM in a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. There is good empirical evidence that ToM is specifically impaired in schizophrenia and that many psychotic symptoms-for instance, delusions of alien control and persecution, the presence of thought and language disorganization, and other behavioral symptoms-may best be understood in light of a disturbed capacity in patients to relate their own intentions to executing behavior, and to monitor others' intentions. However, it is still under debate how an impaired ToM in schizophrenia is associated with other aspects of cognition, how the impairment fluctuates with acuity or chronicity of the schizophrenic disorder, and how this affects the patients' use of language and social behavior. In addition to these potential research areas, future studies may also address whether patients could benefit from cognitive training in this domain.

A neuropsychological investigation into 'Theory of Mind' and enhanced risk of schizophrenia.

PubMed

Marjoram, Dominic; Miller, Patrick; McIntosh, Andrew M; Cunningham Owens, David G; Johnstone, Eve C; Lawrie, Stephen

2006-09-30

Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to correctly determine the intentions and behaviours of others. It is known that this capability is compromised in individuals with schizophrenia. It is has not been fully elucidated whether this observed phenomenon is of a state or trait nature. This study investigated whether ToM impairments could be linked to schizophrenia liability. A battery of ToM tests (the Hinting Task, a Self-Monitoring drawing task and cartoon picture stories) were used to compare healthy controls (n=13) with relatives of individuals with schizophrenia who had experienced psychotic symptoms (HR+, n=12) and those relatives who had not (HR-, n=13). All participants belonged to the Edinburgh High Risk Study. Significant group differences were seen on the Self-Monitoring and cartoon tasks for the HR+ group, particularly those who had experienced symptoms at or around the time of testing. The observed ToM deficits measured by this battery of ToM tasks appeared to be related to state effects rather than enhanced risk of schizophrenia.

Theory of mind ability predicts prognosis of outpatients with major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Yamada, Kazuo; Inoue, Yumiko; Kanba, Shigenobu

2015-12-15

A theory of mind (ToM) deficit in patients with major depressive episodes is associated with difficulty in social adjustment, and thus may indicate a poorer prognosis. We investigated the association between ToM deficits and the outcome in patients who had recovered from major depressive episodes. We evaluated ToM abilities of 100 patients with major depressive disorder during a period of remission. The patients were followed up for one year and their outcomes observed. After one year, patients who had a ToM deficit according to a second-order false belief question relapsed significantly more frequently than did patients who did not have a deficit (Fisher's exact test P<0.0001; relative risk (RR)=8.286; CI 2.608, 26.324). Significant differences between these two groups were shown in scores of the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (P<0.0001). Our results suggest that a ToM deficit after symptom remission in patients with major depressive disorder predicts a higher relapse rate and lower social function one year after recovering from a major depressive episode. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A preliminary investigation into theory of mind and attributional style in adults with grandiose delusions.

PubMed

Boyden, Paul; Knowles, Rebecca; Corcoran, Rhiannon; Hamilton, Simon; Rowse, Georgina

2015-01-01

A preliminary cognitive model of grandiose delusions has been put forward suggesting that persecutory and grandiose delusions shared distinct, yet overlapping psychological processes. This study aims to test this model and hypothesises that participants experiencing grandiose delusions may demonstrate a theory of mind (ToM) impairment and differences in attributional style compared to a control group. A cross-sectional design compared the performance of 18 individuals with grandiose delusions to a control group of 14 participants with depression. ToM was measured using a non-verbal joke appreciation task and a verbal stories task. Attributional style was measured using the internal, personal and situational attributions questionnaire. Participants experiencing grandiose delusions performed significantly worse on both ToM tasks compared to controls. Furthermore, these participants provided significantly more atypical answers when explaining the joke behind the ToM cartoons. No differences for subjective funniness ratings or attributional style were found. This preliminary study indicated participants experiencing grandiose delusions have ToM impairments which may contribute to the maintenance of this symptom.

Factorial structure of the 'ToM Storybooks': A test evaluating multiple components of Theory of Mind.

PubMed

Bulgarelli, Daniela; Testa, Silvia; Molina, Paola

2015-06-01

This study examined the factorial structure of the Theory of Mind (ToM) Storybooks, a comprehensive 93-item instrument tapping the five components in Wellman's model of ToM (emotion recognition, understanding of desire and beliefs, ability to distinguish between physical and mental entities, and awareness of the link between perception and knowledge). A sample of 681 three- to eight-year-old Italian children was divided into three age groups to assess whether factorial structure varied across different age ranges. Partial credit model analysis was applied to the data, leading to the empirical identification of 23 composite variables aggregating the ToM Storybooks items. Confirmatory factor analysis was then conducted on the composite variables, providing support for the theoretical model. There were partial differences in the specific composite variables making up the dimensions for each of the three age groups. A single test evaluating distinct dimensions of ToM is a valuable resource for clinical practice which may be used to define differential profiles for specific populations. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Atypical frontal-posterior synchronization of Theory of Mind regions in autism during mental state attribution.

PubMed

Kana, Rajesh K; Keller, Timothy A; Cherkassky, Vladimir L; Minshew, Nancy J; Just, Marcel Adam

2009-01-01

This study used fMRI to investigate the functioning of the Theory of Mind (ToM) cortical network in autism during the viewing of animations that in some conditions entailed the attribution of a mental state to animated geometric figures. At the cortical level, mentalizing (attribution of metal states) is underpinned by the coordination and integration of the components of the ToM network, which include the medial frontal gyrus, the anterior paracingulate, and the right temporoparietal junction. The pivotal new finding was a functional underconnectivity (a lower degree of synchronization) in autism, especially in the connections between frontal and posterior areas during the attribution of mental states. In addition, the frontal ToM regions activated less in participants with autism relative to control participants. In the autism group, an independent psychometric assessment of ToM ability and the activation in the right temporoparietal junction were reliably correlated. The results together provide new evidence for the biological basis of atypical processing of ToM in autism, implicating the underconnectivity between frontal regions and more posterior areas.

Mind-Mindedness and Theory of Mind: Mediating Roles of Language and Perspectival Symbolic Play

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meins, Elizabeth; Fernyhough, Charles; Arnott, Bronia; Leekam, Susan R.; de Rosnay, Marc

2013-01-01

Relations among indices of maternal mind-mindedness (appropriate and nonattuned mind-related comments) and children's: (a) internal state vocabulary and perspectival symbolic play at 26 months ("N" = 206), and (b) theory of mind (ToM) at 51 months ("n" = 161) were investigated. Appropriate comments were positively…

Impaired theory of mind in Chinese children and adolescents with idiopathic generalized epilepsy: Association with behavioral manifestations of executive dysfunction.

PubMed

Zhang, Ting; Chen, Lingyan; Wang, Yu; Zhang, Mengmeng; Wang, Lanlan; Xu, Xiangjun; Xiao, Gairong; Chen, Jing; Shen, Yeru; Zhou, Nong

2018-02-01

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder with a core feature of cognitive impairments. Previous studies showed that patients with focal epilepsy have deficits in both theory of mind (ToM) and executive function (EF). However, there are few studies of ToM in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE), especially in populations with pediatric epilepsy. The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of ToM and EF, including some of their subcomponents, and explore the relationship between them in Chinese children with IGE. We recruited 54 children and adolescents with IGE as the experimental subjects and 37 typically developing children and adolescents as control subjects. Both groups completed ToM tests, namely, second-order false belief tasks (FBTs) and faux pas tasks (FPTs). Their caregivers completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) at the same time. Children and adolescents with IGE displayed worse performance on some of the FBTs and FPTs than healthy controls (p<0.01). They also exhibited widespread EF deficits, comprising eight subcomponents (p<0.05). Pearson's correlation analysis revealed that several subcomponents of EF (inhibition, emotional control, initiation, working memory, and monitoring) were unequally correlated with FBT and FPT. Regression analysis showed that ToM had associations with inhibition, working memory, and duration of seizures. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that children with newly diagnosed epilepsy displayed significant deficits in FBT, FPT, and distinct subscales of EF. Our results revealed significant impairments in ToM and EF in children and adolescents with IGE compared with healthy controls. We found significant correlations between ToM and two subcomponents of EF (inhibition and working memory) in children with IGE. Additionally, the duration of seizures affected ToM in patients but was a less powerful predictor than the two subcomponents of EF. Even for children with new-onset seizures and without medication, the deficits in ToM and some distinct subscales of EF were apparent. This result has clinical implications for both nonpharmaceutical therapies and cognitive rehabilitation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Training Preschoolers on First-Order False Belief Understanding: Transfer on Advanced ToM Skills and Metamemory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lecce, Serena; Bianco, Federica; Demicheli, Patrizia; Cavallini, Elena

2014-01-01

This study investigated the relation between theory of mind (ToM) and metamemory knowledge using a training methodology. Sixty-two 4- to 5-year-old children were recruited and randomly assigned to one of two training conditions: A first-order false belief (ToM) and a control condition. Intervention and control groups were equivalent at pretest for…

Theory of Mind in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.

PubMed

Lindinger, Nadine M; Malcolm-Smith, Susan; Dodge, Neil C; Molteno, Christopher D; Thomas, Kevin G F; Meintjes, Ernesta M; Jacobson, Joseph L; Jacobson, Sandra W

2016-02-01

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the ability to understand and make inferences about other people's intentions, feelings, and beliefs. Although children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are known to have deficits in social-cognitive function, little is known about ToM in FASD. ToM ability was assessed using a developmentally sensitive ToM battery, including the reading the mind in the eyes (RME) test, a measure of mental inferential ability that has been found to be impaired in other clinical populations. IQ and executive function (EF) were assessed as potential mediating variables. The battery was administered to 63 children (aged 9 to 11 years) from Cape Town, South Africa, whose mothers had been prospectively recruited during pregnancy. Children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS; n = 8) and partial FAS (PFAS; n = 19), as well as nonsyndromal heavily exposed children (n = 17), were compared to children born to abstaining or light drinkers (n = 19) from the same community. No FASD group differences were found on the less challenging ToM tasks. By contrast, children with FAS and PFAS performed more poorly than controls on a more challenging ToM task, the RME test. A continuous measure of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) was more sensitive than FASD diagnosis in that it was related to 4 higher-order ToM measures, particularly the ability to attribute mental states assessed on RME. IQ only partially mediated the effect of exposure on RME performance, and these effects were not mediated by EF. Hence, the data suggest that these ToM measures tap into a specific alcohol-related social-cognitive deficit that does not merely reflect poorer EF. FASD diagnosis and PAE were each also related to RME after control for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. These findings suggest that deficits in higher-order ToM function may play a significant role in the social-cognitive behavioral impairment in FASD. Copyright © 2016 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Language and cognitive predictors of text comprehension: evidence from multivariate analysis.

PubMed

Kim, Young-Suk

2015-01-01

Using data from children in South Korea (N = 145, Mage = 6.08), it was determined how low-level language and cognitive skills (vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, and working memory) and high-level cognitive skills (comprehension monitoring and theory of mind [ToM]) are related to listening comprehension and whether listening comprehension and word reading mediate the relations of language and cognitive skills to reading comprehension. Low-level skills predicted comprehension monitoring and ToM, which in turn predicted listening comprehension. Vocabulary and syntactic knowledge were also directly related to listening comprehension, whereas working memory was indirectly related via comprehension monitoring and ToM. Listening comprehension and word reading completely mediated the relations of language and cognitive skills to reading comprehension. © 2014 The Author. Child Development © 2014 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

fMRI BOLD response to the eyes task in offspring from multiplex alcohol dependence families.

PubMed

Hill, Shirley Y; Kostelnik, Bryan; Holmes, Brian; Goradia, Dhruman; McDermott, Michael; Diwadkar, Vaibhav; Keshavan, Matcheri

2007-12-01

Increased susceptibility for developing alcohol dependence (AD) may be related to structural and functional differences in brain circuits that influence social cognition and more specifically, theory of mind (ToM). Alcohol dependent individuals have a greater likelihood of having deficits in social skills and greater social alienation. These characteristics may be related to inherited differences in the neuroanatomical network that comprises the social brain. Adolescent/young adult participants from multiplex AD families and controls (n = 16) were matched for gender, age, IQ, education, and handedness and administered the Eyes Task of Baron-Cohen during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). High-risk (HR) subjects showed significantly diminished blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response in comparison with low-risk control young adults in the right middle temporal gyrus (RMTG) and the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG), areas that have previously been implicated in ToM tasks. Offspring from multiplex families for AD may manifest one aspect of their genetic susceptibility by having a diminished BOLD response in brain regions associated with performance of ToM tasks. These results suggest that those at risk for developing AD may have reduced ability to empathize with others' state of mind, possibly resulting in diminished social skill.

[Impaired theory of mind in anorexia nervosa].

PubMed

Gál, Zita; Egyed, Katalin; Pászthy, Bea; Németh, Dezsö

2011-01-01

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe mental illness, which is characterized by a continuously growing occurrence in the population and by the shift of the onset for earlier ages. The understanding of factors playing role in AN and the importance of effective prevention is an essential issue in science as well as in the society. AN also affects the social domain of life, patients with AN may exhibit impaired social interaction, social isolation, difficulties in emotion recognition and egocentric thinking in cognitive processing. Therefore, the aim of present study was to investigate the theory of mind (ToM) deficits is anorexia nervosa. Although previous studies have reported ToM deficits in autism and in schizophrenia, the number of studies investigating ToM functioning in eating disorders are particularly low. Even though ToM difficulties, such as the affective ToM impairments were found in AN, however, the evidence of cognitive ToM deficits in anorexia patients is still lacking. Twenty anorexia nervosa patients and 20 healthy control adolescent girls participated in the experiment. EDI, BAT, Fallon-Rozin Test and Anamoprhic Micro Body Image Assesment Programme questionnaires and body-image tests were applied to discriminate anorexia nervosa group from healthy control group. The Hungarian version of Faux Pas Recognition Test was applied to evaluate ToM functioning. Compared to healthy control group, impairment in ToM functioning was found in AN group, especially in affective mental state attribution. Our results can raise new aspects for research, therapy and prevention of anorexia nervosa.

Theory of mind and its relation to schizotypy.

PubMed

Pickup, Graham J

2006-03-01

Frith (1992) suggested that many psychotic symptoms are associated with impaired theory of mind (ToM), the ability to represent the mental states of others. Langdon and Coltheart (1999) found an association in a nonclinical adult population between schizotypal traits and poorer ToM on a picture-sequencing task. The present study attempted to replicate and extend this finding using a ToM story task. A total of 62 nonclinical individuals completed a schizotypy questionnaire (the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences; O-LIFE) and a set of ToM stories. Matched "physical" control stories were administered to control for general reasoning ability. Executive function and current verbal IQ were assessed using the Cognitive Estimates Test and the Quick Test, respectively. Schizotypal traits analogous to positive symptoms of schizophrenia (UE scale of the O-LIFE) predicted poorer scores on the ToM task, but were unrelated to scores on physical stories. Individuals with high scores for total schizotypy on the O-LIFE did not differ in ToM from those with low total scores. There was no association between poorer ToM and schizotypal traits analogous to the "behavioural signs" of schizophrenia. Executive function and verbal IQ did not significantly predict story scores. Positive schizotypal traits in the normal population are associated with subtle impairments in ToM, independent of reasoning ability, executive function, or verbal IQ. A strong association between poor ToM and "behavioural signs" may only appear in studies of schizophrenic patients, and not in studies of nonclinical individuals. The findings are discussed in relation to Frith's (1992) cognitive neuropsychological model of schizophrenia.

High-functioning autism patients share similar but more severe impairments in verbal theory of mind than schizophrenia patients.

PubMed

Tin, L N W; Lui, S S Y; Ho, K K Y; Hung, K S Y; Wang, Y; Yeung, H K H; Wong, T Y; Lam, S M; Chan, R C K; Cheung, E F C

2018-06-01

Evidence suggests that autism and schizophrenia share similarities in genetic, neuropsychological and behavioural aspects. Although both disorders are associated with theory of mind (ToM) impairments, a few studies have directly compared ToM between autism patients and schizophrenia patients. This study aimed to investigate to what extent high-functioning autism patients and schizophrenia patients share and differ in ToM performance. Thirty high-functioning autism patients, 30 schizophrenia patients and 30 healthy individuals were recruited. Participants were matched in age, gender and estimated intelligence quotient. The verbal-based Faux Pas Task and the visual-based Yoni Task were utilised to examine first- and higher-order, affective and cognitive ToM. The task/item difficulty of two paradigms was examined using mixed model analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Multiple ANOVAs and mixed model ANOVAs were used to examine group differences in ToM. The Faux Pas Task was more difficult than the Yoni Task. High-functioning autism patients showed more severely impaired verbal-based ToM in the Faux Pas Task, but shared similar visual-based ToM impairments in the Yoni Task with schizophrenia patients. The findings that individuals with high-functioning autism shared similar but more severe impairments in verbal ToM than individuals with schizophrenia support the autism-schizophrenia continuum. The finding that verbal-based but not visual-based ToM was more impaired in high-functioning autism patients than schizophrenia patients could be attributable to the varied task/item difficulty between the two paradigms.

Are “Theory of Mind” Skills in People with Epilepsy Related to How Stigmatised They Feel? An Exploratory Study

PubMed Central

Robinson, A.

2016-01-01

Feelings of stigma are one of the main burdens reported by people with epilepsy (PWE). Adults with temporal or frontal lobe epilepsy and children with idiopathic generalised epilepsy are at risk of Theory of Mind (ToM) deficits. ToM refers to social cognitive skills, including the ability to understand the thoughts, intentions, beliefs, and emotions of others. It has been proffered that ToM deficits may contribute to the feelings of stigma experienced by PWE. In this study we tested this for the first time. We also determined the association between clinical and demographic factors and ToM performance. Five hundred and three PWE were recruited via epilepsy organisations and completed measures online. Feelings of stigma were measured using Jacoby's Stigma Scale, whilst the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test and the Faux Pas Test measured ToM. The median age of participants was 37 years, their median years living with epilepsy were 15, and 70% had experienced seizures in the prior 12 months. Feelings of stigma held a negligible, negative, and nonsignificant association with ToM performance (r s  −0.02 and −0.05). Our results indicate that the ToM model for understanding epilepsy stigma has limited utility and alternative approaches to understanding and addressing epilepsy-related stigma are required. PMID:27635114

Attachment and thought problems in an adolescent inpatient sample: The mediational role of theory of mind.

PubMed

Hart, Jessica R; Venta, Amanda; Sharp, Carla

2017-10-01

Previous research has documented increased incidence of insecure attachment and theory of mind (ToM) deficits in individuals experiencing psychotic disorders. ToM has been theorized as a possible mediator of the relation between attachment and psychosis (Korver-Nieberg et al., 2014). The current study sought to extend this area of research to adolescents for the first time by examining adolescent-parent attachment and ToM in inpatient adolescents. Participants were 362 inpatient adolescents and their parents; participants completed the Child Attachment Interview, Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition, Youth Self Report, and Child Behavior Checklist. Bivariate correlations indicated that attachment coherence (a marker of security) was significantly and positively correlated with ToM abilities, and that low attachment coherence and poor ToM performance were each associated with increased youth- and parent-reported thought problems. Mediational models indicated that ToM mediated the relation between insecure attachment and thought problems according to both parent- and self-report. The results of the current study provide support for a model in which impairments in ToM contribute to the frequently documented association between insecure attachment and emerging psychotic symptoms. Theoretical and clinical implications of these results are discussed, including the potential support for ToM-based interventions for early psychotic symptoms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Theory of mind in Asperger's syndrome, schizophrenia and personality disordered forensic patients.

PubMed

Murphy, David

2006-03-01

The ability to conceptualise other individuals' mental states is dependent on having a 'theory of mind' (ToM). Individuals with Asperger's syndrome typically display ToM impairments, as do some individuals with schizophrenia, notably those with paranoid delusions. The presenting features of these and other individuals, such as those with some personality disorders, particularly in forensic patients, are often unclear. ToM performance was examined to see whether it could distinguish forensic patients with Asperger's syndrome from other patient groups. The performance of three male patient groups (N = 39) detained in high security psychiatric care, including those with Asperger's syndrome, schizophrenia (with paranoid delusions and/or auditory hallucinations as their predominant symptoms), or a dissocial and/or borderline personality disorder were compared using the revised eyes task and the modified advanced ToM test. The Asperger's syndrome and schizophrenia groups performed significantly worse than the personality disorder group on both ToM measures. However, the Asperger's syndrome and the personality disorder groups had significantly higher levels of general intellectual functioning than the schizophrenia group. Whilst ToM performance may help to discriminate patients with Asperger's syndrome or schizophrenia from personality disorder ed patients, a wide range in performance made it difficult to specify a patient to a particular group. Theoretical and methodological issues are discussed along with the usefulness of ToM assessments with forensic patients.

Executive function predicts theory of mind but not social verbal communication in school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Kouklari, Evangelia-Chrysanthi; Tsermentseli, Stella; Auyeung, Bonnie

2018-05-01

The association between Executive Function (EF) and Theory of Mind (ToM) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been mainly investigated using false belief tasks, whilst less is known about the EF effect on other ToM facets. Furthermore, the role EF plays in social communication in ASD is mainly assessed using parent-report EF ratings rather than direct assessment. The aim of this study was to shed more light on the effect of performance-based EF measures on ToM and social communication in middle childhood in ASD relative to neurotypical controls. Cross-sectional data were collected from 64 matched, school-aged children with and without ASD (8-12 years old), tested on measures of EF (inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility), ToM mental state/emotion recognition and social verbal communication. Significant group differences were observed only in selective EF skills (inhibition &cognitive flexibility) and social verbal communication. EF working memory contributed to the explained variance of ToM but not social verbal communication in middle childhood. These findings suggest that EF and ToM are still associated in middle childhood and EF may be a crucial predictor of ToM across childhood in ASD. Implications are discussed regarding the social-cognitive impairment relationship in ASD. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory of mind impairment and its clinical correlates in patients with schizophrenia, major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Wang, Yan-Yu; Wang, Yi; Zou, Ying-Min; Ni, Ke; Tian, Xue; Sun, Hong-Wei; Lui, Simon S Y; Cheung, Eric F C; Suckling, John; Chan, Raymond C K

2017-11-06

Although Theory of Mind (ToM) impairment has been observed in patients with a wide range of mental disorders, the similarity and uniqueness of these deficits across diagnostic groups has not been thoroughly investigated. We recruited 35 participants with schizophrenia (SCZ), 35 with bipolar disorder (BD), 35 with major depressive disorder (MDD), and 35 healthy controls in this study. All participants were matched in age, gender proportion and IQ estimates. The Yoni task, capturing both the cognitive and affective components of ToM at the first- and second-order level was administered. Repeated-measure ANOVA and MANOVA were conducted to compare the group differences in ToM performance. A network was then constructed with ToM performances, psychotic and depressive symptoms, and executive function as nodes exploring the clinical correlates of ToM. Overall, ToM impairments were observed in all patient groups compared with healthy controls, with patients with SCZ performing worse than those with BD. In second-order conditions, patients with SCZ and MDD showed deficits in both cognitive and affective conditions, while patients with BD performed significantly poorer in cognitive conditions. Network analysis showed that second-order affective ToM performance was associated with psychotic and depressive symptoms as well as executive dysfunction, while second-order affective ToM performance and negative symptoms showed relatively high centrality in the network. Patients with SCZ, MDD and BD exhibited different types and severity of impairments in ToM sub-components. Impairment in higher-order affective ToM appears to be closely related to clinical symptoms in both psychotic and affective disorders. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Theory of mind and language development in Japanese children with hearing loss.

PubMed

Fujino, Hiroshi; Fukushima, Kunihiro; Fujiyoshi, Akie

2017-05-01

This study investigates the development of theory of mind (ToM) in Japanese children with hearing loss (HL) and its relationship with language abilities using the data of a large sample size. Participants were 369 children with HL, ranging from 4 to 12 years of age. The mean hearing level of the better ear was 100.7 dB. A "change in location"-type false belief task similar to the "Sally-Anne test" was given to the participants. The pass rates for the false belief task were in the 20% range for 4 to 6-year-olds, 35.6% for 7-year-olds, 47.6% for 8-year-olds, and 63.6% for 9-year-olds. However, no children, even 12-year-olds, achieved a pass rate of 70%. A logistic regression analysis showed that the significant independent predictors of the false belief task performance were vocabulary age and syntactic comprehension level, and chronological age, hearing level, syntactic production level, and nonverbal intelligence were excluded. The results demonstrate that there is a delay in the development of ToM in Japanese children with HL. This finding is consistent with findings in English-speaking countries. Additionally, it is suggested that language abilities play an important role in the acquisition of ToM for children with HL. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Children with Autism can Track Others' Beliefs in a Competitive Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Candida C.; Slaughter, Virginia; Peterson, James; Premack, David

2013-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) development, assessed via "litmus" false belief tests, is severely delayed in autism, but the standard testing procedure may underestimate these children's genuine understanding. To explore this, we developed a novel test involving competition to win a reward as the motive for tracking other players' beliefs (the…

Exploring the Role of Theory of Mind in Moral Judgment: The Case of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

PubMed Central

Fadda, Roberta; Parisi, Marinella; Ferretti, Luca; Saba, Gessica; Foscoliano, Maria; Salvago, Azzurra; Doneddu, Giuseppe

2016-01-01

This paper adds to the growing research on moral judgment (MJ) by considering whether theory of mind (ToM) might foster children’s autonomous MJ achievement. A group of 30 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was compared in MJ and ToM with 30 typically developing (TD) children. Participants were tested for MJ with a classical Piaget’s task and for ToM with a second order False Belief task. In the moral task, children were told two versions of a story: in one version the protagonist acted according to a moral intention but the action resulted in a harmful consequence; in the other version the protagonist acted according to an immoral intention, but the action resulted in a harmless consequence. Children were asked which of the two protagonists was the “naughtier.” In line with previous studies, the results indicated that, while the majority of TD participants succeeded in the second order False Belief task, only few individuals with ASD showed intact perspective taking abilities. The analysis of the MJ in relation to ToM showed that children with ASD lacking ToM abilities judged guilty the protagonists of the two versions of the story in the moral task because both of them violated a moral rule or because they considered the consequences of the actions, ignoring any psychological information. These results indicate a heteronomous morality in individuals with ASD, based on the respect of learned moral rules and outcomes rather than others’ subjective states. PMID:27148131

An Investigation of Emotion Recognition and Theory of Mind in People with Chronic Heart Failure

PubMed Central

Habota, Tina; McLennan, Skye N.; Cameron, Jan; Ski, Chantal F.; Thompson, David R.; Rendell, Peter G.

2015-01-01

Objectives Cognitive deficits are common in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), but no study has investigated whether these deficits extend to social cognition. The present study provided the first empirical assessment of emotion recognition and theory of mind (ToM) in patients with CHF. In addition, it assessed whether each of these social cognitive constructs was associated with more general cognitive impairment. Methods A group comparison design was used, with 31 CHF patients compared to 38 demographically matched controls. The Ekman Faces test was used to assess emotion recognition, and the Mind in the Eyes test to measure ToM. Measures assessing global cognition, executive functions, and verbal memory were also administered. Results There were no differences between groups on emotion recognition or ToM. The CHF group’s performance was poorer on some executive measures, but memory was relatively preserved. In the CHF group, both emotion recognition performance and ToM ability correlated moderately with global cognition (r = .38, p = .034; r = .49, p = .005, respectively), but not with executive function or verbal memory. Conclusion CHF patients with lower cognitive ability were more likely to have difficulty recognizing emotions and inferring the mental states of others. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed. PMID:26529409

Impaired Theory of Mind and psychosocial functioning among pediatric patients with Type I versus Type II bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Schenkel, Lindsay S; Chamberlain, Todd F; Towne, Terra L

2014-03-30

Deficits in Theory of Mind (ToM) have been documented among pediatric patients with Bipolar Disorder (BD). However, fewer studies have directly examined differences between type I and type II patients and whether or not ToM deficits are related to psychosocial difficulties. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare type I versus type II pediatric bipolar patients and matched Healthy Controls (HC) on ToM and interpersonal functioning tasks. All participants completed the Revised Mind in the Eyes Task (MET), the Cognitive and Emotional Perspective Taking Task (CEPTT), and the Index of Peer Relations (IPR). Type I BD patients reported greater peer difficulties on the IPR compared to HC, and also performed more poorly on the MET and the cognitive condition of the CEPTT, but did not differ significantly on the emotional condition. There were no significant group differences between type II BD patients and HC. More impaired ToM performance was associated with poorer interpersonal functioning. Type I BD patients show deficits in the ability to understand another's mental state, irrespective of emotional valence. Deficits in understanding others' mental states could be an important treatment target for type I pediatric patients with BD. © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring Theory of Mind in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

PubMed

Brewer, Neil; Young, Robyn L; Barnett, Emily

2017-07-01

Deficits in Theory of Mind (ToM)-the ability to interpret others' beliefs, intentions and emotions-undermine the ability of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to interact in socially normative ways. This study provides psychometric data for the Adult-Theory of Mind (A-ToM) measure using video-scenarios based in part on Happé's (Instructions for theory of mind story task, 1999) Strange Stories test. The final items discriminated IQ-matched adults with ASD from controls on the social but not the physical items. Additional validity data included a two-component principal components solution, correlations with existing ToM scales, and the absence of correlations with self-report measures of empathy and social anxiety (not requiring inferences about the intent of others). The expected group differences in ToM were accompanied by marked variability in the ASD sample.

In your eyes: does theory of mind predict impaired life functioning in bipolar disorder?

PubMed

Purcell, Amanda L; Phillips, Mary; Gruber, June

2013-12-01

Deficits in emotion perception and social functioning are strongly implicated in bipolar disorder (BD). Examining theory of mind (ToM) may provide one potential mechanism to explain observed socio-emotional impairments in this disorder. The present study prospectively investigated the relationship between theory of mind performance and life functioning in individuals diagnosed with BD compared to unipolar depression and healthy control groups. Theory of mind (ToM) performance was examined in 26 individuals with remitted bipolar I disorder (BD), 29 individuals with remitted unipolar depression (UD), and 28 healthy controls (CTL) using a well-validated advanced theory of mind task. Accuracy and response latency scores were calculated from the task. Life functioning was measured during a 12 month follow-up session. No group differences for ToM accuracy emerged. However, the BD group exhibited significantly shorter response times than the UD and CTL groups. Importantly, quicker response times in the BD group predicted greater life functioning impairment at a 12-month follow-up, even after controlling for baseline symptoms. The stimuli were static representations of emotional states and do not allow for evaluating the appropriateness of context during emotional communication; due to sample size, neither specific comorbidities nor medication effects were analyzed for the BD and UD groups; preliminary status of theory of mind as a construct. Results suggest that quickened socio-emotional decision making may represent a risk factor for future functional impairment in BD. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Friends, friendlessness, and the social consequences of gaining a theory of mind.

PubMed

Fink, Elian; Begeer, Sander; Peterson, Candida C; Slaughter, Virginia; de Rosnay, Marc

2015-03-01

Fink, Begeer, Peterson, Slaughter, and de Rosnay (2014) conducted a prospective longitudinal study showing that theory-of-mind (ToM) development at school entry (mean age 5.61 years) significantly predicted friendlessness both concurrently and 2 years later. Friendlessness (defined as lacking any friendship that is mutually reciprocated) is conceptually and empirically distinct from group popularity and independently predicts adverse mental health outcomes throughout life. Here, we respond to the thoughtful commentaries by Wellman (Brit. J. Dev. Psychol, 2015; 33, 24-26), Mizokawa and Koyasu (Brit. J. Dev. Psychol, 2015; 33, 21-23), and Lerner and Lillard (Brit. J. Dev. Psychol, 2015; 33, 18-20) with a focus on three key issues, namely (a) the definition and measurement of friendship, (b) the measurement of advanced ToM development beyond the preschool years, and (c) the exciting future potential for ToM-based training and intervention studies to combat chronic friendlessness. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Cognitive and affective theory of mind in dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Heitz, Camille; Noblet, Vincent; Phillipps, Clélie; Cretin, Benjamin; Vogt, Natacha; Philippi, Nathalie; Kemp, Jennifer; de Petigny, Xavier; Bilger, Mathias; Demuynck, Catherine; Martin-Hunyadi, Catherine; Armspach, Jean-Paul; Blanc, Frédéric

2016-03-16

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the ability to attribute mental states, thoughts (cognitive component) or feelings (affective component) to others. This function has been studied in many neurodegenerative diseases; however, to our knowledge, no studies investigating ToM in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) have been published. The aim of our study was to assess ToM in patients with DLB and to search for neural correlates of potential deficits. Thirty-three patients with DLB (DLB group) and 15 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD group), all in the early stage of the disease, as well as 16 healthy elderly control subjects (HC group), were included in the study. After a global cognitive assessment, we used the Faux Pas Recognition (FPR) test, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME) test and Ekman's Facial Emotion Recognition test to assess cognitive and affective components of ToM. Patients underwent cerebral 3-T magnetic resonance imaging, and atrophy of grey matter was analysed using voxel-based morphometry. We performed a one-sample t test to investigate the correlation between each ToM score and grey matter volume and a two-sample t test to compare patients with DLB impaired with those non-impaired for each test. The DLB group performed significantly worse than the HC group on the FPR test (P = 0.033) and the RME test (P = 0.015). There was no significant difference between the AD group and the HC group or between the DLB group and the AD group. Some brain regions were associated with ToM impairments. The prefrontal cortex, with the inferior frontal cortex and the orbitofrontal cortex, was the main region, but we also found correlations with the temporoparietal junction, the precuneus, the fusiform gyrus and the insula. This study is the first one to show early impairments of ToM in DLB. The two cognitive and affective components both appear to be affected in this disease. Among patients with ToM difficulties, we found atrophy in brain regions classically involved in ToM, which reinforces the neuronal network of ToM. Further studies are now needed to better understand the neural basis of such impairment.

Theory of Mind and social relationships in older adults: the role of social motivation.

PubMed

Lecce, Serena; Ceccato, Irene; Bianco, Federica; Rosi, Alessia; Bottiroli, Sara; Cavallini, Elena

2017-03-01

Previous research has shown that individual differences in Theory of Mind (ToM) are crucial for people's social relationships. However, very few studies have investigated this issue in ageing. The present study was designed to fill this gap and examine the associations between ToM and social relationships in elderly adults. In doing so, this study considered people's relationships with their relatives and friends, and examined the possible moderating role of social motivation. The study involved 53 healthy older adults (age: M = 67.91; SD = 6.93; range: 60--85 years). All participants were tested collectively during a 2-hr session and completed a demographic questionnaire as well as a battery of tests assessing verbal ability (vocabulary and word fluency), ToM and social relationships. They also answered a social motivation question. Results showed that individual differences in older people's ToM were overall significantly associated with those in relationships with friends, but not relatives. In addition, the Hayes moderating procedure showed that individual differences in ToM were related to those in friendships only for those people who had a high or medium level of social motivation. These findings underline the importance of motivation in guiding the use of ToM in everyday social interactions.

Uncovering the neuroanatomical correlates of cognitive, affective and conative theory of mind in paediatric traumatic brain injury: a neural systems perspective

PubMed Central

Catroppa, Cathy; Beare, Richard; Silk, Timothy J.; Hearps, Stephen J.; Beauchamp, Miriam H.; Yeates, Keith O.; Anderson, Vicki A.

2017-01-01

Abstract Deficits in theory of mind (ToM) are common after neurological insult acquired in the first and second decade of life, however the contribution of large-scale neural networks to ToM deficits in children with brain injury is unclear. Using paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a model, this study investigated the sub-acute effect of paediatric traumatic brain injury on grey-matter volume of three large-scale, domain-general brain networks (the Default Mode Network, DMN; the Central Executive Network, CEN; and the Salience Network, SN), as well as two domain-specific neural networks implicated in social-affective processes (the Cerebro-Cerebellar Mentalizing Network, CCMN and the Mirror Neuron/Empathy Network, MNEN). We also evaluated prospective structure–function relationships between these large-scale neural networks and cognitive, affective and conative ToM. 3D T1- weighted magnetic resonance imaging sequences were acquired sub-acutely in 137 children [TBI: n = 103; typically developing (TD) children: n = 34]. All children were assessed on measures of ToM at 24-months post-injury. Children with severe TBI showed sub-acute volumetric reductions in the CCMN, SN, MNEN, CEN and DMN, as well as reduced grey-matter volumes of several hub regions of these neural networks. Volumetric reductions in the CCMN and several of its hub regions, including the cerebellum, predicted poorer cognitive ToM. In contrast, poorer affective and conative ToM were predicted by volumetric reductions in the SN and MNEN, respectively. Overall, results suggest that cognitive, affective and conative ToM may be prospectively predicted by individual differences in structure of different neural systems—the CCMN, SN and MNEN, respectively. The prospective relationship between cerebellar volume and cognitive ToM outcomes is a novel finding in our paediatric brain injury sample and suggests that the cerebellum may play a role in the neural networks important for ToM. These findings are discussed in relation to neurocognitive models of ToM. We conclude that detection of sub-acute volumetric abnormalities of large-scale neural networks and their hub regions may aid in the early identification of children at risk for chronic social-cognitive impairment. PMID:28505355

Uncovering the neuroanatomical correlates of cognitive, affective and conative theory of mind in paediatric traumatic brain injury: a neural systems perspective.

PubMed

Ryan, Nicholas P; Catroppa, Cathy; Beare, Richard; Silk, Timothy J; Hearps, Stephen J; Beauchamp, Miriam H; Yeates, Keith O; Anderson, Vicki A

2017-09-01

Deficits in theory of mind (ToM) are common after neurological insult acquired in the first and second decade of life, however the contribution of large-scale neural networks to ToM deficits in children with brain injury is unclear. Using paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a model, this study investigated the sub-acute effect of paediatric traumatic brain injury on grey-matter volume of three large-scale, domain-general brain networks (the Default Mode Network, DMN; the Central Executive Network, CEN; and the Salience Network, SN), as well as two domain-specific neural networks implicated in social-affective processes (the Cerebro-Cerebellar Mentalizing Network, CCMN and the Mirror Neuron/Empathy Network, MNEN). We also evaluated prospective structure-function relationships between these large-scale neural networks and cognitive, affective and conative ToM. 3D T1- weighted magnetic resonance imaging sequences were acquired sub-acutely in 137 children [TBI: n = 103; typically developing (TD) children: n = 34]. All children were assessed on measures of ToM at 24-months post-injury. Children with severe TBI showed sub-acute volumetric reductions in the CCMN, SN, MNEN, CEN and DMN, as well as reduced grey-matter volumes of several hub regions of these neural networks. Volumetric reductions in the CCMN and several of its hub regions, including the cerebellum, predicted poorer cognitive ToM. In contrast, poorer affective and conative ToM were predicted by volumetric reductions in the SN and MNEN, respectively. Overall, results suggest that cognitive, affective and conative ToM may be prospectively predicted by individual differences in structure of different neural systems-the CCMN, SN and MNEN, respectively. The prospective relationship between cerebellar volume and cognitive ToM outcomes is a novel finding in our paediatric brain injury sample and suggests that the cerebellum may play a role in the neural networks important for ToM. These findings are discussed in relation to neurocognitive models of ToM. We conclude that detection of sub-acute volumetric abnormalities of large-scale neural networks and their hub regions may aid in the early identification of children at risk for chronic social-cognitive impairment. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

The Development of Theory of Mind and Positive and Negative Reciprocity in Preschool Children

PubMed Central

Schug, Joanna; Takagishi, Haruto; Benech, Catalina; Okada, Hiroyuki

2016-01-01

This study examined the relation between the acquisition of false-beliefs theory of mind (ToM) and reciprocity in preschoolers. Preschool-aged children completed a task assessing the understanding of false beliefs, and played an Ultimatum Game (UG) with another child in a face-to-face setting. Negative reciprocity was assessed by examining the rejection of unfair offers made by another child in the UG, while positive reciprocity was assessed by examining allocations made by participants in a Dictator Game (DG) following the UG. The results indicated that children who had passed a task assessing first-order false beliefs were more likely to make generous offers in a DG following a fair offer made by their partner in a proceeding UG, but that false beliefs ToM was unrelated to the rejection of unfair offers in the UG. PMID:27445881

The Development of Theory of Mind and Positive and Negative Reciprocity in Preschool Children.

PubMed

Schug, Joanna; Takagishi, Haruto; Benech, Catalina; Okada, Hiroyuki

2016-01-01

This study examined the relation between the acquisition of false-beliefs theory of mind (ToM) and reciprocity in preschoolers. Preschool-aged children completed a task assessing the understanding of false beliefs, and played an Ultimatum Game (UG) with another child in a face-to-face setting. Negative reciprocity was assessed by examining the rejection of unfair offers made by another child in the UG, while positive reciprocity was assessed by examining allocations made by participants in a Dictator Game (DG) following the UG. The results indicated that children who had passed a task assessing first-order false beliefs were more likely to make generous offers in a DG following a fair offer made by their partner in a proceeding UG, but that false beliefs ToM was unrelated to the rejection of unfair offers in the UG.

Psychosis-proneness and neural correlates of self-inhibition in theory of mind.

PubMed

van der Meer, Lisette; Groenewold, Nynke A; Pijnenborg, Marieke; Aleman, André

2013-01-01

Impaired Theory of Mind (ToM) has been repeatedly reported as a feature of psychotic disorders. ToM is crucial in social interactions and for the development of social behavior. It has been suggested that reasoning about the belief of others, requires inhibition of the self-perspective. We investigated the neural correlates of self-inhibition in nineteen low psychosis prone (PP) and eighteen high PP subjects presenting with subclinical features. High PP subjects have a more than tenfold increased risk of developing a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder. Brain activation was measured with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging during a ToM task differentiating between self-perspective inhibition and belief reasoning. Furthermore, to test underlying inhibitory mechanisms, we included a stop-signal task. We predicted worse behavioral performance for high compared to low PP subjects on both tasks. Moreover, based on previous neuroimaging results, different activation patterns were expected in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in high versus low PP subjects in self-perspective inhibition and simple response inhibition. Results showed increased activation in left IFG during self-perspective inhibition, but not during simple response inhibition, for high PP subjects as compared to low PP subjects. High and low PP subjects showed equal behavioral performance. The results suggest that at a neural level, high PP subjects need more resources for inhibiting the self-perspective, but not for simple motor response inhibition, to equal the performance of low PP subjects. This may reflect a compensatory mechanism, which may no longer be available for patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders resulting in ToM impairments.

Psychosis-Proneness and Neural Correlates of Self-Inhibition in Theory of Mind

PubMed Central

van der Meer, Lisette; Groenewold, Nynke A.; Pijnenborg, Marieke; Aleman, André

2013-01-01

Impaired Theory of Mind (ToM) has been repeatedly reported as a feature of psychotic disorders. ToM is crucial in social interactions and for the development of social behavior. It has been suggested that reasoning about the belief of others, requires inhibition of the self-perspective. We investigated the neural correlates of self-inhibition in nineteen low psychosis prone (PP) and eighteen high PP subjects presenting with subclinical features. High PP subjects have a more than tenfold increased risk of developing a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder. Brain activation was measured with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging during a ToM task differentiating between self-perspective inhibition and belief reasoning. Furthermore, to test underlying inhibitory mechanisms, we included a stop-signal task. We predicted worse behavioral performance for high compared to low PP subjects on both tasks. Moreover, based on previous neuroimaging results, different activation patterns were expected in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in high versus low PP subjects in self-perspective inhibition and simple response inhibition. Results showed increased activation in left IFG during self-perspective inhibition, but not during simple response inhibition, for high PP subjects as compared to low PP subjects. High and low PP subjects showed equal behavioral performance. The results suggest that at a neural level, high PP subjects need more resources for inhibiting the self-perspective, but not for simple motor response inhibition, to equal the performance of low PP subjects. This may reflect a compensatory mechanism, which may no longer be available for patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders resulting in ToM impairments. PMID:23874445

Theory of mind in children with autism spectrum disorder: do siblings matter?

PubMed

Matthews, Nicole L; Goldberg, Wendy A; Lukowski, Angela F

2013-10-01

Research indicates a positive relation between the sibling constellation and theory of mind (ToM) development in typically developing (TD) children. Less is known about this association in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study examined the association among the presence and number of siblings, birth order, and false belief (FB) understanding in children with ASD and a TD comparison group. Two FB tasks (change of contents and change of location) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test were administered to 57 children with ASD and 28 TD children during a home visit. One parent of each child reported on demographics and the sibling constellation. Separate hierarchical regressions controlled for age, receptive language ability, and scores on the Social Communication Questionnaire. In children with ASD, no association was observed between presence or number of siblings and ToM. However, the presence of older (but not younger) siblings was found to be positively associated with ToM. Children with ASD who had at least one older sibling performed similarly to the TD group, whereas children with ASD who had no older siblings performed significantly worse than the TD group. These findings indicate an advantage for FB performance in children with ASD who have an older sibling. They may bear on decisions to include older siblings or peers in intervention programs and may also contribute to a more complete understanding of the origins of individual differences in ToM ability in children with ASD. © 2013 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Watching More Closely: Shot Scale Affects Film Viewers’ Theory of Mind Tendency But Not Ability

PubMed Central

Rooney, Brendan; Bálint, Katalin E.

2018-01-01

Recent research debates the effects of exposure to narrative fiction on recognition of mental states in others and self, referred to as Theory of Mind. The current study explores the mechanisms by which such effects could occur in fictional film. Using manipulated film scenes, we conducted a between subject experiment (N = 136) exploring how film shot-scale affects viewers’ Theory of Mind. Specifically, in our methods we distinguish between the trait Theory of Mind abilities (ToM ability), and the state-like tendency to recognize mental states in others and self (ToM tendency). Results showed that close-up shots (compared to long shots) of a character was associated with higher levels of Theory of Mind tendency, when the facial expression was sad but not when it was neutral. And this effect did not transfer to other characters in the film. There was also no observable effect of character depiction on viewers’ general Theory of Mind ability. Together the findings suggest that formal and content features of shot scale can elicit Theory of Mind responses by directing attention toward character mental states rather than improving viewers’ general Theory of Mind ability. PMID:29387032

Watching More Closely: Shot Scale Affects Film Viewers' Theory of Mind Tendency But Not Ability.

PubMed

Rooney, Brendan; Bálint, Katalin E

2017-01-01

Recent research debates the effects of exposure to narrative fiction on recognition of mental states in others and self, referred to as Theory of Mind. The current study explores the mechanisms by which such effects could occur in fictional film. Using manipulated film scenes, we conducted a between subject experiment ( N = 136) exploring how film shot-scale affects viewers' Theory of Mind. Specifically, in our methods we distinguish between the trait Theory of Mind abilities (ToM ability), and the state-like tendency to recognize mental states in others and self (ToM tendency). Results showed that close-up shots (compared to long shots) of a character was associated with higher levels of Theory of Mind tendency, when the facial expression was sad but not when it was neutral. And this effect did not transfer to other characters in the film. There was also no observable effect of character depiction on viewers' general Theory of Mind ability. Together the findings suggest that formal and content features of shot scale can elicit Theory of Mind responses by directing attention toward character mental states rather than improving viewers' general Theory of Mind ability.

Training for generalization in Theory of Mind: a study with older adults

PubMed Central

Cavallini, Elena; Bianco, Federica; Bottiroli, Sara; Rosi, Alessia; Vecchi, Tomaso; Lecce, Serena

2015-01-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the ability to attribute independent mental states to self and others in order to explain and predict social behavior. Recent research in this area has shown a decline in ToM abilities associated with normal aging that is of a moderate magnitude or greater. Very few studies have investigated whether it is possible to improve older adults’ ToM abilities. The present study was designed to address this gap in the literature by evaluating the impact of a ToM training on practiced and transfer tasks. We provided older adults with a variety of activities designed to facilitate the generalization of benefits to other ToM-demanding tasks. Participants were 63 healthy older adults, native Italian speakers (Mage = 71.44, SD = 5.24, age range: 63–81 years). Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the ToM training (age range: 63–81 years) and the physical-conversation training (age range: 64–81 years). Training effects were measured using the strange stories (practiced task) and the animation task (transfer task). Results revealed the efficacy of the training in producing improvements on practiced but also on transfer tasks. PMID:26300818

Social cognition in pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (MS)

PubMed Central

Charvet, LE; Cleary, RE; Vazquez, K; Belman, A; Krupp, LB

2014-01-01

Background Pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (MS) patients represent a subpopulation who are diagnosed during the course of development. Social cognitive deficits have recently been recognized in adults with MS. It is critical to identify if these youngest patients with the disorder are also at risk. Objective To determine whether pediatric-onset MS is associated with social cognitive deficits. Methods Consecutively-recruited participants with pediatric-onset MS were compared to a group of age- and gender-matched healthy controls on Theory of Mind (ToM) task performance. Tasks measured facial affect recognition (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test), understanding social faux pas (Faux Pas Test), and understanding the perspective of another (False Beliefs Task). Results Twenty-eight (28) pediatric-onset MS participants (median age 17 years) and 32 healthy controls (median age 16 years) completed the study. The MS participants performed worse than controls on all three ToM tasks: Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (p=0.008), the Faux-Pas Test (p=0.009), and the False Beliefs Task (p=0.06). While more MS than control participants were impaired on a measure of information processing speed (the Symbol Digit Modalities Test; 38% versus 6%), it did not account for the differences in ToM performance. Conclusions Social cognition may represent an area of cognitive functioning affected by MS in the pediatric-onset population. These processes are especially important to study in younger patients as these deficits could have long range implications on social adjustment, employment, and well-being. PMID:24647558

Social cognition in pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (MS).

PubMed

Charvet, L E; Cleary, R E; Vazquez, K; Belman, A L; Krupp, L B

2014-10-01

Pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (MS) patients represent a subpopulation who are diagnosed during the course of development. Social cognitive deficits have recently been recognized in adults with MS. It is critical to identify whether these youngest patients with the disorder are also at risk. To determine whether pediatric-onset MS is associated with social cognitive deficits. Consecutively-recruited participants with pediatric-onset MS were compared to a group of age- and gender-matched healthy controls on Theory of Mind (ToM) task performance. Tasks measured facial affect recognition (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test), detecting social faux pas (Faux Pas Test), and understanding the perspective of another (False Beliefs Task). Twenty-eight (28) pediatric-onset MS participants (median age 17 years) and 32 healthy controls (median age 16 years) completed the study. The MS participants performed worse than controls on all three ToM tasks: Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (p = 0.008), the Faux Pas Test (p = 0.009), and the False Beliefs Task (p = 0.06). While more MS than control participants were impaired on a measure of information processing speed (the Symbol Digit Modalities Test; 38% versus 6%), it did not account for the differences in ToM performance. Social cognition may represent an area of cognitive functioning affected by MS in the pediatric-onset population. These processes are especially important to study in younger patients as they may have long range implications for social adjustment, employment, and well-being. © The Author(s) 2014.

Not just a sum of its parts: How tasks of the theory of mind scale relate to executive function across time.

PubMed

Doenyas, Ceymi; Yavuz, H Melis; Selcuk, Bilge

2018-02-01

There is a well-established relationship between theory of mind (ToM) and executive function (EF) during the preschool years. However, less is known about the concurrent and longitudinal relations between EF and specific tasks tapping different aspects of ToM. The current study investigated the ToM-EF relationship across 1 year in 3- to 5-year-old Turkish children using the ToM battery of Wellman and Liu (2004), which measures understanding of diverse desires (DD), diverse beliefs (DB), knowledge access (KA), contents false belief (CFB), explicit false belief (EFB), and hidden emotion (HE). This battery has not yet been used in its entirety to test the predictive relations between ToM and EF. We used peg-tapping and day-night tasks to measure EF. Our sample comprised 150 Turkish preschool children (69 girls) aged 36-60 months at Time 1 (T1) and 49-73 months at Time 2 (T2). Using the ToM composite with all six tasks, when child's age, receptive language, and T1 ability level (EF or ToM) were controlled, T1 EF significantly predicted T2 ToM, whereas T1 ToM did not predict T2 EF. Among DD, DB, KA, false belief understanding (FBU: the composite score of CFB and EFB), and HE, only KA and FBU were significantly associated with EF at T1 and T2. Further regression analyses showed that KA did not have a predictive relationship with EF. Instead, FBU drove the predictive EF-ToM relationship across time. Thus, in Turkish children, earlier EF predicts later ToM, but especially the FBU component, in this well-validated battery. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The association between theory of mind, executive function, and the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Jones, Catherine R G; Simonoff, Emily; Baird, Gillian; Pickles, Andrew; Marsden, Anita J S; Tregay, Jenifer; Happé, Francesca; Charman, Tony

2018-01-01

It has been strongly argued that atypical cognitive processes in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) contribute to the expression of behavioural symptoms. Comprehensive investigation of these claims has been limited by small and unrepresentative sample sizes and the absence of wide-ranging task batteries. The current study investigated the cognitive abilities of 100 adolescents with ASD (mean age = 15 years 6 months), using 10 tasks to measure the domains of theory of mind (ToM) and executive function (EF). We used structural equation modelling as a statistically robust way of exploring the associations between cognition and parent-reported measures of social communication and restricted and repetitive behaviours (RRBs). We found that ToM ability was associated with both social communication symptoms and RRBs. EF was a correlate of ToM but had no direct association with parent-reported symptom expression. Our data suggest that in adolescence ToM ability, but not EF, is directly related to autistic symptom expression. Autism Res 2018, 11: 95-109. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The behaviours that are common to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been linked to differences in thinking ability. We assessed autistic adolescents and found that social communication difficulties and the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviours related to difficulties in understanding other peoples' minds (theory of mind). In contrast, these behaviours were not associated with the general thinking abilities involved in planning and executing tasks (executive function). © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Referential communication abilities and Theory of Mind development in preschool children.

PubMed

Resches, Mariela; Pérez Pereira, Miguel

2007-02-01

This work aims to analyse the specific contribution of social abilities (here considered as the capacity for attributing knowledge to others) in a particular communicative context. 74 normally developing children (aged 3;4 to 5;9, M = 4.6) were given two Theory of Mind (ToM) tasks, which are considered to assess increasing complexity levels of epistemic state attribution: Attribution of knowledge-ignorance (Pillow, 1989; adapted by Welch-Ross, 1997) and Understanding of False-belief (Baron Cohen, Leslie & Frith, 1985). Subjects were paired according to their age and level of performance in ToM tasks. These dyads participated in a referential communication task specially designed for this research. The resulting communicative interchanges were analysed using a three-level category system (pragmatic functions, descriptive accuracy, and ambiguity of messages). The results showed significant differences among subjects with different levels of social comprehension regarding the type of communicative resources used by them in every category level. In particular, understanding of false belief seems to be the most powerful predictor of changes in the children's development of communicative competence.

Theory of Mind and attachment styles in people with psychotic disorders, their siblings, and controls.

PubMed

Pos, Karin; Bartels-Velthuis, Agna A; Simons, Claudia J P; Korver-Nieberg, Nikie; Meijer, Carin J; de Haan, Lieuwe

2015-02-01

Impaired Theory of Mind (ToM) and insecure (adult) attachment styles have been found in persons with schizophrenia as well as in their healthy siblings. ToM refers to the ability to infer mental states of self and others including beliefs and emotions. Insecure attachment is proposed to underlie impaired ToM, and comprises avoidant (discomfort with close relationships, high value of autonomy) and anxious (separation anxiety, dependency on others) attachment. Insight into the association between attachment style and ToM is clinically relevant, as it enhances our understanding and clinical approach to social dysfunction in schizophrenia. Therefore, we studied the association between insecure attachment styles and ToM in patients with schizophrenia, their siblings, and healthy controls. A total of 111 patients with a diagnosis in the schizophrenia spectrum, 106 non-affected siblings and 63 controls completed the Psychosis Attachment Measure, the Conflicting Beliefs and Emotions, a subsection of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form. Severity of symptoms was assessed with the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. After controlling for sex, intelligence, history of trauma and symptom severity, avoidant attachment was significantly associated with cognitive as well as with affective ToM, showing U-shaped associations, indicating better ToM performance for patients with lower or higher levels of avoidant attachment compared to medium levels. Anxious attachment in patients was associated with more problems in cognitive ToM. The results from this study support the idea that an anxious attachment style is associated with worse ToM performance in patients. Results also suggested a potential protective role of higher levels of avoidant attachment on ToM. These findings bear clinical relevance, as activation of (insecure) attachment mechanisms may affect interpersonal relations, as well as therapeutic working alliance. Further clarification is needed, especially on associations between ToM and avoidant attachment. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2014.

Using Fiction to Assess Mental State Understanding: A New Task for Assessing Theory of Mind in Adults

PubMed Central

Dodell-Feder, David; Lincoln, Sarah Hope; Coulson, Joseph P.; Hooker, Christine I.

2013-01-01

Social functioning depends on the ability to attribute and reason about the mental states of others – an ability known as theory of mind (ToM). Research in this field is limited by the use of tasks in which ceiling effects are ubiquitous, rendering them insensitive to individual differences in ToM ability and instances of subtle ToM impairment. Here, we present data from a new ToM task – the Short Story Task (SST) - intended to improve upon many aspects of existing ToM measures. More specifically, the SST was designed to: (a) assess the full range of individual differences in ToM ability without suffering from ceiling effects; (b) incorporate a range of mental states of differing complexity, including epistemic states, affective states, and intentions to be inferred from a first- and second-order level; (c) use ToM stimuli representative of real-world social interactions; (d) require participants to utilize social context when making mental state inferences; (e) exhibit adequate psychometric properties; and (f) be quick and easy to administer and score. In the task, participants read a short story and were asked questions that assessed explicit mental state reasoning, spontaneous mental state inference, and comprehension of the non-mental aspects of the story. Responses were scored according to a rubric that assigned greater points for accurate mental state attributions that included multiple characters’ mental states. Results demonstrate that the SST is sensitive to variation in ToM ability, can be accurately scored by multiple raters, and exhibits concurrent validity with other social cognitive tasks. The results support the effectiveness of this new measure of ToM in the study of social cognition. The findings are also consistent with studies demonstrating significant relationships among narrative transportation, ToM, and the reading of fiction. Together, the data indicate that reading fiction may be an avenue for improving ToM ability. PMID:24244736

Language, Cognitive Flexibility, and Explicit False Belief Understanding: Longitudinal Analysis in Typical Development and Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrant, Brad M.; Maybery, Murray T.; Fletcher, Janet

2012-01-01

The hypothesis that language plays a role in theory-of-mind (ToM) development is supported by a number of lines of evidence (e.g., H. Lohmann & M. Tomasello, 2003). The current study sought to further investigate the relations between maternal language input, memory for false sentential complements, cognitive flexibility, and the development of…

Theory of mind as a predictor of maternal sensitivity in women with severe mental illness.

PubMed

Rigby, J; Conroy, S; Miele-Norton, M; Pawlby, S; Happé, F

2016-07-01

Research has shown that maternal mental illness can affect mother-infant interactions with implications for infant outcomes. Severe and chronic mental illness (SMI), particularly schizophrenia, is associated with the greatest risk. Schizophrenia is also associated with impairments in attribution of mental states, 'theory of mind' (ToM). Recent attachment research has suggested that maternal mentalizing skills are strongly associated with attachment outcome in infants. To date, no research has explored the relationship between ToM and maternal sensitivity in mothers with SMI using standard tests of ToM. The present study was designed as an exploratory study in order to investigate this. A total of 40 women with SMI in the postpartum period were administered a battery of ToM tasks and general neuropsychological tasks. The women were also filmed in an unstructured play session with their infants, which was coded for maternal sensitivity using the Crittenden CARE-Index. One ToM task, the Frith-Happé Animations, predicted maternal sensitivity across all diagnoses. There was also an effect of diagnosis, with lower sensitivity observed in women with schizophrenia. ToM impairments did not fully explain the effect of diagnosis on sensitivity. Mothers of girls were rated as being more sensitive than mothers of boys. The results suggest that ToM is a significant predictor of maternal sensitivity across all mental health diagnoses, extending the results of studies focusing on healthy populations. Clinical interventions emphasizing the importance of understanding the perspective of the infant may enhance maternal sensitivity.

Theory of Mind and social functioning in schizophrenia: correlation with figurative language abnormalities, clinical symptoms and general intelligence.

PubMed

Piovan, Cristiano; Gava, Laura; Campeol, Mara

2016-01-01

Over past few decades, studies displayed Theory of Mind (ToM) as a system, including cognitive and affective features, rather than an unitary process. Within domains defining social cognition, ToM stands for the best predictor of poor social functioning in schizophrenia. The current study aimed to explore competence in ToM tasks, in metaphorical and idiomatic language identification tasks and in a conversational rules observance test, as well as relationship with social functioning, in a group of outpatients suffering from schizophrenia. METHODS.: 30 outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 24 healthy subjects have been recruited. Both groups underwent TIB as premorbid IQ evaluation, PANSS, Theory of Mind Picture Sequencing Task, a metaphors and idiomatic expressions comprehension test and a conversational test. Social functioning was assessed with PSP. Results.Mean values of premorbid IQ showed no significant difference between patients and control group. In ToM and pragmatic competence tasks, differences between groups resulted in high significance, due to patients' lower performance. A correlation between metaphors and idiomatic expressions comprehension and second order false beliefs was detected. PSP showed a correlation with PANSS and cognitive-ToM, whereas leaving aside affective-ToM. Results showed how people affected with schizophrenia, in stable clinical condition, do have clear impairments in ToM and figurative language comprehension assignments. In our theoretical framework, correlation arisen between cognitive-ToM, pragmatic deficits, clinical status and social functioning level suggests usefulness of rehabilitative interventions to recover metacognitive functions and pragmatic abilities, in order to reduce social disability in schizophrenia.

Theory of Mind in Schizophrenia and Asperger’s Syndrome: Relationship with Negative Symptoms

PubMed Central

Ozguven, Halise Devrimci; Oner, Ozgur; Baskak, Bora; Oktem, Ferhunde; Olmez, Senay; Munir, Kerim

2014-01-01

Objective Although previous studies have shown that the theory of mind (ToM) ability is impaired in Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) and in schizophrenia, few controlled studies compared the ToM performance between the two disorders. Besides, the relationship between the degree of ToM impairment and symptom dimensions is unclear, and presence of ToM impairment in remitted patients with schizophrenia is controversial. Here, we tested the hypothesis that schizophrenia patients with prominent negative symptoms were closer to AS patients and different than schizophrenia patients without prominent negative symptoms and healthy controls in terms of ToM functioning. Method Fourteen patients with AS, 20 with schizophrenia and 20 healthy controls, matched by age, educational level and IQ scores were enrolled. AS was diagnosed according to the DSM-IV criteria and independently confirmed by two psychiatrists. Schizophrenia patients were diagnosed by the Turkish version of Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Diagnosis (SCID-I) and symptom severity was evaluated with the Scale for the Assessment of Negative and Positive Symptoms. Schizophrenia group consisted of clinically stable patients. The ToM battery included stories to assess first and second order false belief tasks (ToM1 and ToM2). The full-scale IQ, Verbal Comprehension, Freedom from Distractibility and Perceptual Organization scores were assessed by Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale–Revised (WAIS-R). Non-parametric tests were used to compare the neuropsychological performances of the three groups. In order to investigate whether schizophrenia patients with prominent negative symptoms were similar to AS patients, schizophrenia patients were divided into high (Sch-HN) and low (Sch-LN) negative-symptom subgroups by median split. For these four groups (AS, Sch-HN, Sch-LN, and controls) between group comparisons were performed. Correlations between the clinical measures and ToM performance were assessed by Spearman correlation test. Results AS and schizophrenia patients performed significantly worse than controls in the ToM2 task, while the AS group had worse ToM1 performance than both schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. The Sch-HN subgroup had significantly lower ToM2 scores than the Sch-LN patients, and worse ToM1 functioning than the controls. Conclusions These results suggest that clinically stable schizophrenia patients have ToM impairments. Sch-HN group performed comparably poorly as the AS group, while the Sch-LN group was relatively spared. The most profoundly impaired patients with schizophrenia in terms of ToM functioning were represented by those with high negative symptoms (Sch-HN). Similar to AS, as a neurodevelopmental impairment, these patients may not have developed ToM ability, or they may have lost their ToM capacity as a result of a neurodegenerative process during the illness. Supplementary studies using other methods (e.g., neuroimaging, neurophysiology) may highlight the brain regions that are affected differentially in AS and schizophrenia, the relationship of ToM impairments and negative symptoms, and the role of ToM impairments in the neurodevelopmental or neurodegenerative hypothesis of schizophrenia. PMID:25584026

Hyper-Theory-of-Mind in Children with Psychotic Experiences

PubMed Central

Clemmensen, Lars; van Os, Jim; Skovgaard, Anne Mette; Væver, Mette; Blijd-Hoogewys, Els M. A.; Bartels-Velthuis, Agna A.; Jeppesen, Pia

2014-01-01

Background Alterations in Theory-of-Mind (ToM) are associated with psychotic disorder. In addition, studies in children have documented that alterations in ToM are associated with Psychotic Experiences (PE). Our aim was to examine associations between an exaggerated type of ToM (HyperToM) and PE in children. Children with this type of alteration in ToM infer mental states when none are obviously suggested, and predict behaviour on the basis of these erroneous beliefs. Individuals with HyperToM do not appear to have a conceptual deficit (i.e. lack of representational abilities), but rather they apply their theory of the minds of others in an incorrect or biased way. Method Hypotheses were tested in two studies with two independent samples: (i) a general population sample of 1630 Danish children aged 11–12 years, (ii) a population-based sample of 259 Dutch children aged 12–13 years, pertaining to a case-control sampling frame of children with auditory verbal hallucinations. Multinomial regression analyses were carried out to investigate the associations between PE and ToM and HyperToM respectively. Analyses were adjusted for gender and proxy measures of general intelligence. Results Low ToM score was significantly associated with PE in sample I (OR = 1.6 95%CI 1.1–2.3 χ2(4) = 12.42 p = 0.010), but not in sample II (OR = 0.9 95%CI 0.5–1.8 χ2(3) = 7.13 p = 0.816). HyperToM was significantly associated with PE both in sample I (OR = 1.8, 95%CI 1.2–2.7 χ2(3) = 10.11 p = 0.006) and II (OR = 4.6, 95%CI 1.3–16.2 χ2(2) = 7.56 p = 0.018). HyperToM was associated particularly with paranoid delusions in both sample I (OR = 2.0, 95%CI: 1.1–3.7% χ2(4) = 9.93 p = 0.021) and II (OR = 6.2 95%CI: 1.7–23.6% χ2(4) = 9.90 p = 0.044). Conclusion Specific alterations in ToM may be associated with specific types of psychotic experiences. HyperToM may index risk for developing psychosis and paranoid delusions in particular. PMID:25397582

Social Understanding of High-Ability Children in Middle and Late Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boor-Klip, Henrike J.; Cillessen, Antonius H. N.; van Hell, Janet G.

2014-01-01

Despite its importance in social development, social understanding has hardly been studied in high-ability children. This study explores differences in social understanding between children in high-ability and regular classrooms, specifically theory of mind (ToM) and perception accuracy, as well as associations between individual characteristics…

Reclaiming Senior Year

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

D'Andrea, Kathleen

2005-01-01

The new learning opportunities that feed mind, body and soul helps the senior students develop the resiliency and intellectual qualities they need to make a healthy transition to post-high school life. The Monsignor Donovan High School in Toms River, New Jersey, has provided creative learning opportunities to seniors, which has planted in them the…

Understanding advanced theory of mind and empathy in high-functioning adults with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Mathersul, Danielle; McDonald, Skye; Rushby, Jacqueline A

2013-01-01

It has been argued that higher functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have specific deficits in advanced but not simple theory of mind (ToM), yet the questionable ecological validity of some tasks reduces the strength of this assumption. The present study employed The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT), which uses video vignettes to assess comprehension of subtle conversational inferences (sarcasm, lies/deception). Given the proposed relationships between advanced ToM and cognitive and affective empathy, these associations were also investigated. As expected, the high-functioning adults with ASDs demonstrated specific deficits in comprehending the beliefs, intentions, and meaning of nonliteral expressions. They also had significantly lower cognitive and affective empathy. Cognitive empathy was related to ToM and group membership whereas affective empathy was only related to group membership.

Recognition memory, self-other source memory, and theory-of-mind in children with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Lind, Sophie E; Bowler, Dermot M

2009-09-01

This study investigated semantic and episodic memory in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), using a task which assessed recognition and self-other source memory. Children with ASD showed undiminished recognition memory but significantly diminished source memory, relative to age- and verbal ability-matched comparison children. Both children with and without ASD showed an "enactment effect", demonstrating significantly better recognition and source memory for self-performed actions than other-person-performed actions. Within the comparison group, theory-of-mind (ToM) task performance was significantly correlated with source memory, specifically for other-person-performed actions (after statistically controlling for verbal ability). Within the ASD group, ToM task performance was not significantly correlated with source memory (after controlling for verbal ability). Possible explanations for these relations between source memory and ToM are considered.

Theory of Mind as a mediator variable between neurocognition and functioning in young individuals in treatment with secondary services for non-psychotic disorders.

PubMed

Francesconi, Marta; Minichino, Amedeo; Carrión, Ricardo E; Chiaie, Roberto Delle; Bevilacqua, Arturo; Parisi, Maurizio; Rullo, Santo; Bersani, Francesco Saverio; Biondi, Massimo; Cadenhead, Kristin

2016-12-30

A large body of studies provides evidence for a link between neurocognition, theory of mind (ToM) and functioning in psychotic spectrum disorders (PSDs), with ToM mediating the effect that neurocognition has on functioning. These three constructs and the related mediation effect may characterize different psychiatric syndromes other than PSDs. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied to baseline data from a longitudinal study of 138 young individuals with a recent-onset psychiatric disorder. Using SEM, we tested the hypothesis that ToM mediates the effect of neurocognition on functioning independent of the level of psychosis risk and the diagnostic category. In the mediation model the bootstrapping estimate revealed a significant indirect effect that was the association of social cognition with neurocognition and with functional outcome. ToM was significantly associated with neurocognition and the path from neurocognition to functioning was no longer significant as soon as the mediator (ToM) was entered into the mediation model consistent with a complete mediation effect through ToM. This mediation was independent of the psychosis-risk status and the psychiatric diagnoses. Our results provide useful information on a young psychiatric sample, in which specific therapeutic interventions have the potential to significantly limit functional disability. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory of mind and prosocial behavior in childhood: A meta-analytic review.

PubMed

Imuta, Kana; Henry, Julie D; Slaughter, Virginia; Selcuk, Bilge; Ruffman, Ted

2016-08-01

It has been argued that children who possess an advanced theory of mind (ToM) are more likely to act prosocially, yet the empirical findings are mixed. To address this issue definitively, a meta-analytic integration of all prior literature that met appropriate inclusion criteria was conducted. In total, 76 studies including 6,432 children between 2 and 12 years of age contributed to these analyses. Collapsed across all studies, a significant association emerged (r = .19), indicating that children with higher ToM scores also received higher scores on concurrent measures of prosocial behavior. The magnitude of this effect was similar across ToM assessments requiring identification of others' cognitions versus emotions, and it existed irrespective of whether the ToM measure imposed demands on false belief reasoning or not. The association with ToM was also evident for different subtypes of prosocial behavior (helping, cooperating, comforting). ToM had a similar effect for boys and girls, but was slightly stronger in children aged 6 years or older, relative to their younger peers. Taken together, these findings provide the strongest evidence to date that being able to explicitly consider what other people are thinking and feeling is related to children's tendencies to act prosocially, although the magnitude of the association is relatively weak. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Theory of mind in a first-episode psychosis population using the Hinting Task.

PubMed

Lindgren, Maija; Torniainen-Holm, Minna; Heiskanen, Inkeri; Voutilainen, Greta; Pulkkinen, Ulla; Mehtälä, Tuukka; Jokela, Markus; Kieseppä, Tuula; Suvisaari, Jaana; Therman, Sebastian

2018-05-01

Deficiencies in theory of mind (ToM) are common in psychosis and may largely explain impaired social functioning. Currently, it is unclear whether impairments in ToM are explained by the more general cognitive deficits related to psychosis or whether ToM is impaired in psychosis independently of other cognitive deficits. This study examined ToM using the Hinting Task in young adults (n = 66) with first-episode psychosis and matched controls (n = 62). The participants were administered a broad neuropsychological assessment. Participants with psychosis performed worse than controls on the Hinting Task. However, 75% of the variance between the groups was explained by general cognitive deficits, especially impaired processing speed and episodic memory. Hinting Task performance of the best functioning patient group did not differ from that of the control group. When the psychosis group was divided according to diagnosis, the Hinting Task difference between individuals with schizophrenia and controls remained significant even when general cognitive performance was controlled for, suggesting specific verbal ToM deficits in schizophrenia. In contrast, those with other psychotic disorders did not differ from controls. Our results suggest that ToM deficits can be seen in early phases of psychotic disorders, schizophrenia in particular, and are partly independent of other cognitive functions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Emotional perception and theory of mind in first episode psychosis: the role of obsessive-compulsive symptomatology.

PubMed

Ntouros, Evangelos; Bozikas, Vasilios P; Andreou, Christina; Kourbetis, Dimitris; Lavrentiadis, Grigoris; Garyfallos, George

2014-12-15

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of comorbid obsessive-compulsive symptoms on emotional perception and theory of mind (ToM) in patients with first-episode psychosis. Participants were 65 patients with non-affective first episode psychosis (FEP) and 47 healthy controls. The patient group was divided into two subgroups, those with (FEP+; n=38) and those without obsessive-compulsive symptomatology (FEP-; n=27). Emotion perception and ToM were assessed with the Perception of Social Inference Test. Severity of psychotic and obsessive-compulsive symptoms was assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), respectively. Deficits in emotion recognition and theory of mind were confirmed in patients with non-affective first-episode psychosis compared to healthy controls. In patients, comorbidity with obsessive-compulsive symptoms was associated with worse performance on certain aspects of social cognition (ToM 2nd order) compared to FEP- patients. Our findings of impaired emotion perception and ToM in patients with first-episode psychosis support the hypothesis that deficits are already present at illness onset. Presence of OCS appears to have further deleterious effects on social cognition, suggesting that these patients may belong to a schizo-obsessive subtype of schizophrenia characterized by more extensive neurobiological impairment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory-of-mind in individuals with Alström syndrome is related to executive functions, and verbal ability.

PubMed

Frölander, Hans-Erik; Möller, Claes; Rudner, Mary; Mishra, Sushmit; Marshall, Jan D; Piacentini, Heather; Lyxell, Björn

2015-01-01

This study focuses on cognitive prerequisites for the development of theory-of-mind (ToM), the ability to impute mental states to self and others in young adults with Alström syndrome (AS). AS is a rare and quite recently described recessively inherited ciliopathic disorder which causes progressive sensorineural hearing loss and juvenile blindness, as well as many other organ dysfunctions. Two cognitive abilities were considered; Phonological working memory (WM) and executive functions (EF), both of importance in speech development. Ten individuals (18-37 years) diagnosed with AS, and 20 individuals with no known impairment matched for age, gender, and educational level participated. Sensory functions were measured. Information about motor functions and communicative skills was obtained from responses to a questionnaire. ToM was assessed using Happés strange stories, verbal ability by a vocabulary test, phonological WM by means of an auditory presented non-word serial recall task and EF by tests of updating and inhibition. The AS group performed at a significantly lower level than the control group in both the ToM task and the EF tasks. A significant correlation was observed between recall of non-words and EF in the AS group. Updating, but not inhibition, correlated significantly with verbal ability, whereas both updating and inhibition were significantly related to the ability to initiate and sustain communication. Poorer performance in the ToM and EF tasks were related to language perseverance and motor mannerisms. The AS group displayed a delayed ToM as well as reduced phonological WM, EF, and verbal ability. A significant association between ToM and EF, suggests a compensatory role of EF. This association may reflect the importance of EF to perceive and process input from the social environment when the social interaction is challenged by dual sensory loss. We argue that limitations in EF capacity in individuals with AS, to some extent, may be related to early blindness and progressive hearing loss, but maybe also to gene specific abnormalities.

Theory-of-mind in individuals with Alström syndrome is related to executive functions, and verbal ability

PubMed Central

Frölander, Hans-Erik; Möller, Claes; Rudner, Mary; Mishra, Sushmit; Marshall, Jan D.; Piacentini, Heather; Lyxell, Björn

2015-01-01

Objective: This study focuses on cognitive prerequisites for the development of theory-of-mind (ToM), the ability to impute mental states to self and others in young adults with Alström syndrome (AS). AS is a rare and quite recently described recessively inherited ciliopathic disorder which causes progressive sensorineural hearing loss and juvenile blindness, as well as many other organ dysfunctions. Two cognitive abilities were considered; Phonological working memory (WM) and executive functions (EF), both of importance in speech development. Methods: Ten individuals (18–37 years) diagnosed with AS, and 20 individuals with no known impairment matched for age, gender, and educational level participated. Sensory functions were measured. Information about motor functions and communicative skills was obtained from responses to a questionnaire. ToM was assessed using Happés strange stories, verbal ability by a vocabulary test, phonological WM by means of an auditory presented non-word serial recall task and EF by tests of updating and inhibition. Results: The AS group performed at a significantly lower level than the control group in both the ToM task and the EF tasks. A significant correlation was observed between recall of non-words and EF in the AS group. Updating, but not inhibition, correlated significantly with verbal ability, whereas both updating and inhibition were significantly related to the ability to initiate and sustain communication. Poorer performance in the ToM and EF tasks were related to language perseverance and motor mannerisms. Conclusion: The AS group displayed a delayed ToM as well as reduced phonological WM, EF, and verbal ability. A significant association between ToM and EF, suggests a compensatory role of EF. This association may reflect the importance of EF to perceive and process input from the social environment when the social interaction is challenged by dual sensory loss. We argue that limitations in EF capacity in individuals with AS, to some extent, may be related to early blindness and progressive hearing loss, but maybe also to gene specific abnormalities. PMID:26441796

Theory of Mind and the Whole Brain Functional Connectivity: Behavioral and Neural Evidences with the Amsterdam Resting State Questionnaire

PubMed Central

Marchetti, Antonella; Baglio, Francesca; Costantini, Isa; Dipasquale, Ottavia; Savazzi, Federica; Nemni, Raffaello; Sangiuliano Intra, Francesca; Tagliabue, Semira; Valle, Annalisa; Massaro, Davide; Castelli, Ilaria

2015-01-01

A topic of common interest to psychologists and philosophers is the spontaneous flow of thoughts when the individual is awake but not involved in cognitive demands. This argument, classically referred to as the “stream of consciousness” of James, is now known in the psychological literature as “Mind-Wandering.” Although of great interest, this construct has been scarcely investigated so far. Diaz et al. (2013) created the Amsterdam Resting State Questionnaire (ARSQ), composed of 27 items, distributed in seven factors: discontinuity of mind, theory of mind (ToM), self, planning, sleepiness, comfort, and somatic awareness. The present study aims at: testing psychometric properties of the ARSQ in a sample of 670 Italian subjects; exploring the neural correlates of a subsample of participants (N = 28) divided into two groups on the basis of the scores obtained in the ToM factor. Results show a satisfactory reliability of the original factional structure in the Italian sample. In the subjects with a high mean in the ToM factor compared to low mean subjects, functional MRI revealed: a network (48 nodes) with higher functional connectivity (FC) with a dominance of the left hemisphere; an increased within-lobe FC in frontal and insular lobes. In both neural and behavioral terms, our results support the idea that the mind, which does not rest even when explicitly asked to do so, has various and interesting mentalistic-like contents. PMID:26696924

Theory of Mind and the Whole Brain Functional Connectivity: Behavioral and Neural Evidences with the Amsterdam Resting State Questionnaire.

PubMed

Marchetti, Antonella; Baglio, Francesca; Costantini, Isa; Dipasquale, Ottavia; Savazzi, Federica; Nemni, Raffaello; Sangiuliano Intra, Francesca; Tagliabue, Semira; Valle, Annalisa; Massaro, Davide; Castelli, Ilaria

2015-01-01

A topic of common interest to psychologists and philosophers is the spontaneous flow of thoughts when the individual is awake but not involved in cognitive demands. This argument, classically referred to as the "stream of consciousness" of James, is now known in the psychological literature as "Mind-Wandering." Although of great interest, this construct has been scarcely investigated so far. Diaz et al. (2013) created the Amsterdam Resting State Questionnaire (ARSQ), composed of 27 items, distributed in seven factors: discontinuity of mind, theory of mind (ToM), self, planning, sleepiness, comfort, and somatic awareness. The present study aims at: testing psychometric properties of the ARSQ in a sample of 670 Italian subjects; exploring the neural correlates of a subsample of participants (N = 28) divided into two groups on the basis of the scores obtained in the ToM factor. Results show a satisfactory reliability of the original factional structure in the Italian sample. In the subjects with a high mean in the ToM factor compared to low mean subjects, functional MRI revealed: a network (48 nodes) with higher functional connectivity (FC) with a dominance of the left hemisphere; an increased within-lobe FC in frontal and insular lobes. In both neural and behavioral terms, our results support the idea that the mind, which does not rest even when explicitly asked to do so, has various and interesting mentalistic-like contents.

Theory of mind broad and narrow: reasoning about social exchange engages ToM areas, precautionary reasoning does not.

PubMed

Ermer, Elsa; Guerin, Scott A; Cosmides, Leda; Tooby, John; Miller, Michael B

2006-01-01

Baron-Cohen (1995) proposed that the theory of mind (ToM) inference system evolved to promote strategic social interaction. Social exchange--a form of co-operation for mutual benefit--involves strategic social interaction and requires ToM inferences about the contents of other individuals' mental states, especially their desires, goals, and intentions. There are behavioral and neuropsychological dissociations between reasoning about social exchange and reasoning about equivalent problems tapping other, more general content domains. It has therefore been proposed that social exchange behavior is regulated by social contract algorithms: a domain-specific inference system that is functionally specialized for reasoning about social exchange. We report an fMRI study using the Wason selection task that provides further support for this hypothesis. Precautionary rules share so many properties with social exchange rules--they are conditional, deontic, and involve subjective utilities--that most reasoning theories claim they are processed by the same neurocomputational machinery. Nevertheless, neuroimaging shows that reasoning about social exchange activates brain areas not activated by reasoning about precautionary rules, and vice versa. As predicted, neural correlates of ToM (anterior and posterior temporal cortex) were activated when subjects interpreted social exchange rules, but not precautionary rules (where ToM inferences are unnecessary). We argue that the interaction between ToM and social contract algorithms can be reciprocal: social contract algorithms requires ToM inferences, but their functional logic also allows ToM inferences to be made. By considering interactions between ToM in the narrower sense (belief-desire reasoning) and all the social inference systems that create the logic of human social interaction--ones that enable as well as use inferences about the content of mental states--a broader conception of ToM may emerge: a computational model embodying a Theory of Human Nature (ToHN).

Social representations and contextual adjustments as two distinct components of the Theory of Mind brain network: Evidence from the REMICS task.

PubMed

Lavoie, Marie-Audrey; Vistoli, Damien; Sutliff, Stephanie; Jackson, Philip L; Achim, Amélie M

2016-08-01

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the ability to infer the mental states of others. Behavioral measures of ToM usually present information about both a character and the context in which this character is placed, and these different pieces of information can be used to infer the character's mental states. A set of brain regions designated as the ToM brain network is recognized to support (ToM) inferences. Different brain regions within that network could however support different ToM processes. This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study aimed to distinguish the brain regions supporting two aspects inherent to many ToM tasks, i.e., the ability to infer or represent mental states and the ability to use the context to adjust these inferences. Nineteen healthy subjects were scanned during the REMICS task, a novel task designed to orthogonally manipulate mental state inferences (as opposed to physical inferences) and contextual adjustments of inferences (as opposed to inferences that do not require contextual adjustments). We observed that mental state inferences and contextual adjustments, which are important aspects of most behavioral ToM tasks, rely on distinct brain regions or subregions within the classical brain network activated in previous ToM research. Notably, an interesting dissociation emerged within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and temporo-parietal junctions (TPJ) such that the inferior part of these brain regions responded to mental state inferences while the superior part of these brain regions responded to the requirement for contextual adjustments. This study provides evidence that the overall set of brain regions activated during ToM tasks supports different processes, and highlights that cognitive processes related to contextual adjustments have an important role in ToM and should be further studied. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Autistic adolescents show atypical activation of the brain's mentalizing system even without a prior history of mentalizing problems.

PubMed

White, Sarah J; Frith, Uta; Rellecke, Julian; Al-Noor, Zainab; Gilbert, Sam J

2014-04-01

Some autistic children pass classic Theory of Mind (ToM) tasks that others fail, but the significance of this finding is at present unclear. We identified two such groups of primary school age (labelled ToM+ and ToM-) and a matched comparison group of typically developing children (TD). Five years later we tested these participants again on a ToM test battery appropriate for adolescents and conducted an fMRI study with a story based ToM task. We also assessed autistic core symptoms at these two time points. At both times the ToM- group showed more severe social communication impairments than the ToM+ group, and while showing an improvement in mentalizing performance, they continued to show a significant impairment compared to the NT group. Two independent ROI analyses of the BOLD signal showed activation of the mentalizing network including medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate and lateral temporal cortices. Strikingly, both ToM+ and ToM- groups showed very similar patterns of heightened activation in comparison with the NT group. No differences in other brain regions were apparent. Thus, autistic adolescents who do not have a history of mentalizing problems according to our ToM battery showed the same atypical neurophysiological response during mentalizing as children who did have such a history. This finding indicates that heterogeneity at the behavioural level may nevertheless map onto a similar phenotype at the neuro-cognitive level. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Does Executive Function Matter for Preschoolers' Problem Behaviors?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Claire; Ensor, Rosie

2008-01-01

Early problem behaviors are associated with a variety of cognitive deficits: in verbal ability, executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM). Previous studies with different age-groups yield contrasting results: for 2-year-olds, ToM skills appear particularly salient (Hughes & Ensor, 2006), but for 4-year-olds EF appears more important…

Neural correlates of three cognitive processes involved in theory of mind and discourse comprehension.

PubMed

Lin, Nan; Yang, Xiaohong; Li, Jing; Wang, Shaonan; Hua, Huimin; Ma, Yujun; Li, Xingshan

2018-04-01

Neuroimaging studies have found that theory of mind (ToM) and discourse comprehension involve similar brain regions. These brain regions may be associated with three cognitive components that are necessarily or frequently involved in ToM and discourse comprehension, including social concept representation and retrieval, domain-general semantic integration, and domain-specific integration of social semantic contents. Using fMRI, we investigated the neural correlates of these three cognitive components by exploring how discourse topic (social/nonsocial) and discourse processing period (ending/beginning) modulate brain activation in a discourse comprehension (and also ToM) task. Different sets of brain areas showed sensitivity to discourse topic, discourse processing period, and the interaction between them, respectively. The most novel finding was that the right temporoparietal junction and middle temporal gyrus showed sensitivity to discourse processing period only during social discourse comprehension, indicating that they selectively contribute to domain-specific semantic integration. Our finding indicates how different domains of semantic information are processed and integrated in the brain and provides new insights into the neural correlates of ToM and discourse comprehension.

Deficits in comprehension of speech acts after TBI: The role of theory of mind and executive function.

PubMed

Honan, Cynthia A; McDonald, Skye; Gowland, Alison; Fisher, Alana; Randall, Rebekah K

2015-11-01

Theory of mind (ToM) is critical to effective communication following traumatic brain injury (TBI) however, whether impairments are specific to social cognition, or reflective of executive demands is unclear. This study examined whether ToM impairments are predicted by executive function difficulties using everyday conversation tasks. Twenty-five individuals with severe-TBI were compared to 25 healthy controls on low- and high-ToM tasks across four conditions: (1) low cognitive load, (2) high flexibility, (3) high working memory (WM) and (4) high inhibition. TBI individuals were impaired on high-ToM tasks in the WM condition. When the WM demands of the task were controlled, the impairments were no longer apparent. TBI individuals were not impaired on high-ToM tasks in the inhibition and flexibility conditions, suggesting these tasks may not have been sufficiently demanding of ToM abilities. The results suggest that ToM impairments in everyday communication may arise due to WM demands, in individuals with TBI. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Accidental Transgressor: Morally-Relevant Theory of Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Killen, Melanie; Mulvey, Kelly Lynn; Richardson, Cameron; Jampol, Noah; Woodward, Amanda

2011-01-01

To test young children's false belief theory of mind in a morally relevant context, two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, children (N=162) at 3.5, 5.5, and 7.5 years of age were administered three tasks: prototypic moral transgression task, false belief theory of mind task (ToM), and an "accidental transgressor" task, which measured a…

General intellectual functioning as a buffer against theory-of-mind deficits in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis.

PubMed

Hur, Ji-Won; Byun, Min Soo; Shin, Na Young; Shin, Ye Seul; Kim, Sung Nyun; Jang, Joon Hwan; Kwon, Jun Soo

2013-09-01

The influence of neurocognition, including general intelligence, on theory of mind (ToM) among patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder is controversial. The purpose of the present study was to identify the influences of the non-ToM cognition and general intelligence on ToM performance in individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis. Fifty-five UHR subjects and 58 healthy controls (HCs) completed neurocognitive, verbal, and nonverbal ToM tasks. UHR individuals showed poorer performance in the two verbal ToM tasks, the false-belief task and the strange-story tasks. Moreover, the UHR subjects displayed poorer recall on the interference list of the verbal learning test. Linear regression analysis revealed that neurocognitive functioning, including executive functioning, working memory, and general intelligence, accounted for significant amounts of the variance in the results for UHR individuals: 20.4% in the false-belief task, 44.0% in the strange-story task, and 49.0% in the nonverbal cartoon task. Neurocognition, including general intelligence, was not a significant contributor to performance on ToM tasks in HCs. ToM deficits were not noted in UHR individuals with above-average IQ scores (≥ 110) compared with UHR subjects with IQ scores less than 110, who displayed significant differences on all ToM tasks compared with HCs. The present results suggest that ToM deficits in UHR individuals are complex and may be influenced by non-ToM cognition. Our findings are discussed in relation to the role of neurocognitive abilities in ToM-related impairments in UHR individuals. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Developing Communicative Competence: A Longitudinal Study of the Acquisition of Mental State Terms and Indirect Requests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Mulder, Hannah

2015-01-01

This longitudinal study involving 101 Dutch four- and five-year-olds charts indirect request (IR) and mental state term (MST) understanding and investigates the role that Theory of Mind (ToM) and general linguistic ability (vocabulary, syntax, and spatial language) play in this development. The results showed basic understanding of IR and MST in…

Developing Preschoolers' Social Skills: The Effectiveness of Two Educational Methods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smogorzewska, Joanna; Szumski, Grzegorz

2018-01-01

This study tested whether and how methods called 'Play Time/Social Time' and 'I Can Problem Solve' contribute to the improvement of social skills and the development of theory of mind (ToM) in children. The participants in the experiment were nearly 200 (N = 196) preschool children with low social functioning, with and without disabilities. The…

Talking Theory of Mind Talk: Young School-Aged Children's Everyday Conversation and Understanding of Mind and Emotion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Rosnay, Marc; Fink, Elian; Begeer, Sander; Slaughter, Virginia; Peterson, Candida

2014-01-01

Links between young children's everyday use of mindful conversational skills and their success on laboratory tests of theory of mind understanding (ToM) were evaluated. Using published scales, teachers rated the conversational behavior and shyness of 129 children aged 60 to 101 months (M = 78·8 months) who were in their first years of primary…

Brief Report: Preliminary Evaluation of the Theory of Mind Inventory and Its Relationship to Measures of Social Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lerner, Matthew D.; Hutchins, Tiffany L.; Prelock, Patricia A.

2011-01-01

This study presents updated information on a parent-report measure of Theory of Mind (ToM), formerly called the Perception of Children's Theory of Mind Measure (Hutchins et al., "J Autism Dev Disord" 38:143-155, 2008), renamed the Theory of Mind Inventory (ToMI), for use with parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study…

Regional gray matter reduction and theory of mind deficit in the early phase of schizophrenia: a voxel-based morphometric study.

PubMed

Herold, R; Feldmann, A; Simon, M; Tényi, T; Kövér, F; Nagy, F; Varga, E; Fekete, S

2009-03-01

We tested the association between theory of mind (ToM) performance and structural changes in the brains of patients in the early course of schizophrenia. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) data of 18 patients with schizophrenia were compared with those of 21 controls. ToM skills were assessed by computerized faux pas (FP) tasks. Patients with schizophrenia performed significantly worse in FP tasks than healthy subjects. VBM revealed significantly reduced gray matter density in certain frontal, temporal and subcortical regions in patients with schizophrenia. Poor FP performance of schizophrenics correlated with gray matter reduction in the left orbitofrontal cortex and right temporal pole. Our data indicate an association between poor ToM performance and regional gray matter reduction in the left orbitofrontal cortex and right temporal pole shortly after the onset of schizophrenia.

Theory of mind and the Ultimatum Game in healthy adult aging.

PubMed

Girardi, Alessandra; Sala, Sergio Della; MacPherson, Sarah E

2018-01-01

The Ultimatum Game assesses decision-making involved in cooperative interactions with others. However, little is known about the role that the ability to understand other people's intentions plays in these interactions. This study examined performance on the Ultimatum Game and theory of mind (ToM) tasks in younger and older adults. Age differences were not found on the ToM tasks, and a lack of variability in performance prevented analyses of the relationships between performance on the Ultimatum Game and ToM. However, age differences were found on the Ultimatum Game, with older adults accepting more unfair offers. Yet, the two age groups did not differ in their appreciation of fairness, as assessed using subjective fairness ratings. These findings suggest that older adults are more rational in their behavior, accepting unfair offers even when they know they are unfair, as it is in their self-interest to accept small monetary values rather than nothing at all.

Contribution of Theory of Mind, Executive Functioning, and Pragmatics to Socialization Behaviors of Children with High-Functioning Autism.

PubMed

Berenguer, Carmen; Miranda, Ana; Colomer, Carla; Baixauli, Inmaculada; Roselló, Belén

2018-02-01

Social difficulties are a key aspect of autism, but the intervening factors are still poorly understood. This study had two objectives: to compare the profile of ToM skills, executive functioning (EF), and pragmatic competence (PC) of children with high-functioning autism (HFA) and children with typical development (TD), and analyze their mediator role in social functioning. The participants were 52 children with HFA and 37 children with TD matched on age, intelligence quotient, and expressive vocabulary. Significant differences were found on measures of ToM, both explicit and applied, EF, and PC between children with HFA and TD. Multiple mediation analysis revealed that applied ToM skills and PC mediated the relations between autism symptoms and social functioning. Implications for social cognitive interventions to address these findings are discussed.

Is Social Categorization the Missing Link Between Weak Central Coherence and Mental State Inference Abilities in Autism? Preliminary Evidence from a General Population Sample.

PubMed

Skorich, Daniel P; May, Adrienne R; Talipski, Louisa A; Hall, Marnie H; Dolstra, Anita J; Gash, Tahlia B; Gunningham, Beth H

2016-03-01

We explore the relationship between the 'theory of mind' (ToM) and 'central coherence' difficulties of autism. We introduce covariation between hierarchically-embedded categories and social information--at the local level, the global level, or at both levels simultaneously--within a category confusion task. We then ask participants to infer the mental state of novel category members, and measure participants' autism-spectrum quotient (AQ). Results reveal a positive relationship between AQ and the degree of local/global social categorization, which in turn predicts the pattern of mental state inferences. These results provide preliminary evidence for a causal relationship between central coherence and ToM abilities. Implications with regard to ToM processes, social categorization, intervention, and the development of a unified account of autism are discussed.

A transdiagnostic investigation of 'theory of mind' and 'jumping to conclusions' in patients with persecutory delusions.

PubMed

Corcoran, R; Rowse, G; Moore, R; Blackwood, N; Kinderman, P; Howard, R; Cummins, S; Bentall, R P

2008-11-01

A tendency to make hasty decisions on probabilistic reasoning tasks and a difficulty attributing mental states to others are key cognitive features of persecutory delusions (PDs) in the context of schizophrenia. This study examines whether these same psychological anomalies characterize PDs when they present in the context of psychotic depression. Performance on measures of probabilistic reasoning and theory of mind (ToM) was examined in five subgroups differing in diagnostic category and current illness status. The tendency to draw hasty decisions in probabilistic settings and poor ToM tested using story format feature in PDs irrespective of diagnosis. Furthermore, performance on the ToM story task correlated with the degree of distress caused by and preoccupation with the current PDs in the currently deluded groups. By contrast, performance on the non-verbal ToM task appears to be more sensitive to diagnosis, as patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders perform worse on this task than those with depression irrespective of the presence of PDs. The psychological anomalies associated with PDs examined here are transdiagnostic but different measures of ToM may be more or less sensitive to indices of severity of the PDs, diagnosis and trait- or state-related cognitive effects.

Theory of mind in children with traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Dennis, Maureen; Simic, Nevena; Gerry Taylor, H; Bigler, Erin D; Rubin, Kenneth; Vannatta, Kathryn; Gerhardt, Cynthia A; Stancin, Terry; Roncadin, Caroline; Yeates, Keith Owen

2012-09-01

Theory of mind (ToM) involves thinking about mental states and intentions to understand what other people know and to predict how they will act. We studied ToM in children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and age- and gender-matched children with orthopedic injuries (OI), using a new three-frame Jack and Jill cartoon task that measures intentional thinking separate from contingent task demands. In the key ToM trials, which required intentional thinking, Jack switched a black ball from one hat to another of a different color, but Jill did not witness the switch; in the otherwise identical non-ToM trials, the switch was witnessed. Overall accuracy was higher in children with OI than in those with TBI. Children with severe TBI showed a larger decline in accuracy on ToM trials, suggesting a specific deficit in ToM among children with severe TBI. Accuracy was significantly higher on trials following errors than on trials following correct responses, suggesting that all groups monitored performance and responded to errors with increased vigilance. TBI is associated with poorer intentional processing in school-age children and adolescents relative to peers with OI; furthermore, children with TBI are challenged specifically by intentional demands, especially when their injury is severe. (JINS, 2012, 19, 1-9).

Theory of Mind Indexes the Broader Autism Phenotype in Siblings of Children with Autism at School Age.

PubMed

Tsang, Tawny; Gillespie-Lynch, Kristen; Hutman, Ted

2016-01-01

Subclinical variants of the social-communicative challenges and rigidity that define autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are known as the broader autism phenotype (BAP). The BAP has been conceptualized categorically (as specific to a subset of relatives of individuals with ASD) and dimensionally (as continuously distributed within the general population). The current study examined the compatibility of these two approaches by assessing associations among autism symptoms and social-communicative skills in young school-age children with ASD, children who have a sibling with ASD, and children without a sibling with ASD. Autism symptoms were associated with reduced Theory of Mind (ToM), adaptive skills, cognitive empathy, and language skills across the full sample. Reduced ToM was a core aspect of the BAP in the current sample regardless of whether the BAP was defined categorically (in terms of siblings of children with ASD who exhibited atypical developmental) or dimensionally (in terms of associations with autism symptoms across the entire sample). Early language skills predicted school-age ToM. Findings support the compatibility of categorical and dimensional approaches to the BAP, highlight reduced ToM as a core aspect of the school-age BAP, and suggest that narrative-based approaches to promoting ToM may be beneficial for siblings of children with ASD.

Theory of mind in children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1.

PubMed

Payne, Jonathan M; Porter, Melanie; Pride, Natalie A; North, Kathryn N

2016-05-01

Neurofibromatosis Type I (NF1) is a single gene disorder associated with cognitive and behavioral deficits. While there is clear evidence for poorer social outcomes in NF1, the factors underlying reduced social function are not well understood. This study examined theory of mind (ToM) in children with NF1 and unaffected controls. ToM was assessed in children with NF1 (n = 26) and unaffected controls (n = 36) aged 4-12 years using a nonverbal picture sequencing task. The task assessed understanding of ToM (unrealized goals, false belief, pretence, intention), while controlling for social script knowledge and physical cause-and-effect reasoning. Children with NF1 made significantly more errors than unaffected controls on most ToM stories while demonstrating no difficulty sequencing physical cause-and-effect stories. Performance on the picture sequencing task was not related to lower intellectual function, symptoms of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or parent ratings of executive function. Results suggest a generalized ToM deficit in children with NF1 that appears to be independent of general cognitive abilities and ADHD symptoms. The study refines understanding of the clinical presentation of NF1 and identifies psychological constructs that may contribute to the higher prevalence of social dysfunction in children with NF1. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects and Moderators of a Short Theory of Mind Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Begeer, Sander; Howlin, Patricia; Hoddenbach, Elske; Clauser, Cassandra; Lindauer, Ramon; Clifford, Pamela; Gevers, Carolien; Boer, Frits; Koot, Hans M

2015-12-01

Limited perspective taking or "Theory of Mind" (ToM) abilities are a core deficit of autism, and many interventions are aimed to improve ToM abilities. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of a ToM treatment for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and, for the first time, the moderating roles of social interaction style (SIS) and disruptive behavior (DB), to determine which children are most likely to respond to this intervention. The trial protocol is registered at www.trialregister.nl, trial number 2327 and published before the data collection was finished (www.trialsjournal.com). Children with autism aged 7-12 years (n = 97) were randomized over a waitlist control or a treatment condition. Outcome measures included ToM and emotion understanding, parent and teacher questionnaires on children's social skills, ToM-related social behavior, and autistic traits. Six-month follow-up parent reported data were collected for the treatment group. The treatment had a positive effect on ToM understanding, parent-reported ToM behavior, and autistic traits, but not on parent or teacher-reported social behavior. Passive SIS was associated with diminished treatment effects on autistic traits, but DB was unrelated to outcomes. The ToM intervention improved conceptual social understanding and ToM-related behavior of children with ASD. However, broader application of learned skills to other domains of functioning was limited. Individual differences with regard to treatment response are discussed. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Theory of mind understanding and conversational patterns in middle childhood.

PubMed

Bosacki, Sandra Leanne

2013-01-01

The author investigated the longitudinal relations between theory of mind (ToM) understanding and perceptions of self and social conversations in 17 school-aged children (12 girls, 5 boys, age 8-12 years). ToM was assessed at Time 1 (T1; M age = 8 years 5 months, SD = 8.7 months, and perceptions of self and conversational experiences assessed two years later at Time 2 (T2; M age = 10 years 4 months, SD = 7.9 months. Most importantly, longitudinal findings showed that children who scored relatively high on ToM at T1 reported relatively lower perceptions of self-worth and higher number of mental states verbs in their perceptions of peer and family conversations at T2. Significant negative longitudinal associations were found between children's number of siblings and their perceptions of self-worth (T1) and number of cognitive terms in their perceptions of peer and family conversations (T2). Frequency analysis suggested that girls' perceptions of conversations referred to more social and psychological aspects of self and relationships, whereas boys focused mainly on physical activities. Most children were more likely to prefer listening to talking during social conversations. The majority of children reported feelings of mixed or ambiguous emotions during experiences of silence. Implications for socioemotional and cognitive development in early adolescents are discussed.

The economic approach to ‘theory of mind’

PubMed Central

Robalino, Nikolaus; Robson, Arthur

2012-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) is a great evolutionary achievement. It is a special intelligence that can assess not only one's own desires and beliefs, but also those of others. Whether it is uniquely human or not is controversial, but it is clear that humans are, at least, significantly better at ToM than any other animal. Economists and game theorists have developed sophisticated and powerful models of ToM and we provide a detailed summary of this here. This economic ToM entails a hierarchy of beliefs. I know my preferences, and I have beliefs (a probabilistic distribution) about your preferences, beliefs about your beliefs about my preferences, and so on. We then contrast this economic ToM with the theoretical approaches of neuroscience and with empirical data in general. Although this economic view provides a benchmark and makes useful suggestions about empirical tendencies, it does not always generate a close fit with the data. This provides an opportunity for a synergistic interdisciplinary production of a falsifiable theory of bounded rationality. In particular, a ToM that is founded on evolutionary biology might well be sufficiently structured to have predictive power, while remaining quite general. We sketch two papers that represent preliminary steps in this direction. PMID:22734065

Atypical frontal-posterior synchronization of Theory of Mind regions in autism during mental state attribution

PubMed Central

Kana, Rajesh K.; Keller, Timothy A.; Cherkassky, Vladimir L.; Minshew, Nancy J.; Just, Marcel Adam

2011-01-01

This study used fMRI to investigate the functioning of the Theory of Mind (ToM) cortical network in autism during the viewing of animations that in some conditions entailed the attribution of a mental state to animated geometric figures. At the cortical level, mentalizing (attribution of metal states) is underpinned by the coordination and integration of the components of the ToM network, which include the medial frontal gyrus, the anterior paracingulate, and the right temporoparietal junction. The pivotal new finding was a functional underconnectivity (a lower degree of synchronization) in autism, especially in the connections between frontal and posterior areas during the attribution of mental states. In addition, the frontal Theory of Mind regions activated less in participants with autism relative to control participants. In the autism group, an independent psychometric assessment of Theory of Mind ability and the activation in the right temporoparietal junction were reliably correlated. The results together provide new evidence for the biological basis of atypical processing of Theory of Mind in autism, implicating the underconnectivity between frontal regions and more posterior areas. PMID:18633829

Neural Bases of Theory of Mind in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Children with Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Nions, Elizabeth; Sebastian, Catherine L.; McCrory, Eamon; Chantiluke, Kaylita; Happé, Francesca; Viding, Essi

2014-01-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulty understanding other minds (Theory of Mind; ToM), with atypical processing evident at both behavioural and neural levels. Individuals with conduct problems and high levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (CP/HCU) exhibit reduced responsiveness to others' emotions and difficulties…

Facial Expression Recognition: Can Preschoolers with Cochlear Implants and Hearing Aids Catch It?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Yifang; Su, Yanjie; Fang, Ping; Zhou, Qingxia

2011-01-01

Tager-Flusberg and Sullivan (2000) presented a cognitive model of theory of mind (ToM), in which they thought ToM included two components--a social-perceptual component and a social-cognitive component. Facial expression recognition (FER) is an ability tapping the social-perceptual component. Previous findings suggested that normal hearing…

An fMRI Study of the Social Competition in Healthy Subjects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Polosan, M.; Baciu, M.; Cousin, E.; Perrone, M.; Pichat, C.; Bougerol, T.

2011-01-01

Social interaction requires the ability to infer another person's mental state (Theory of Mind, ToM) and also executive functions. This fMRI study aimed to identify the cerebral correlates activated by ToM during a specific social interaction, the human-human competition. In this framework, we tested a conflict resolution task (Stroop) adapted to…

Experimental Study of Short-Term Training in Social Cognition in Pre-Schoolers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Houssa, Marine; Nader-Grosbois, Nathalie; Jacobs, Emilie

2014-01-01

Using an experimental approach, our study examined the differentiated effects on pre-schoolers' social cognition of two short-term social information processing (SIP) and Theory of Mind (ToM) training sessions dealing with emotions and beliefs. The links between ToM, SIP, and social adjustment or externalizing behavior were examined. 47…

The Two-Systems Account of Theory of Mind: Testing the Links to Social- Perceptual and Cognitive Abilities

PubMed Central

Meinhardt-Injac, Bozana; Daum, Moritz M.; Meinhardt, Günter; Persike, Malte

2018-01-01

According to the two-systems account of theory of mind (ToM), understanding mental states of others involves both fast social-perceptual processes, as well as slower, reflexive cognitive operations (Frith and Frith, 2008; Apperly and Butterfill, 2009). To test the respective roles of specific abilities in either of these processes we administered 15 experimental procedures to a large sample of 343 participants, testing ability in face recognition and holistic perception, language, and reasoning. ToM was measured by a set of tasks requiring ability to track and to infer complex emotional and mental states of others from faces, eyes, spoken language, and prosody. We used structural equation modeling to test the relative strengths of a social-perceptual (face processing related) and reflexive-cognitive (language and reasoning related) path in predicting ToM ability. The two paths accounted for 58% of ToM variance, thus validating a general two-systems framework. Testing specific predictor paths revealed language and face recognition as strong and significant predictors of ToM. For reasoning, there were neither direct nor mediated effects, albeit reasoning was strongly associated with language. Holistic face perception also failed to show a direct link with ToM ability, while there was a mediated effect via face recognition. These results highlight the respective roles of face recognition and language for the social brain, and contribute closer empirical specification of the general two-systems account. PMID:29445336

Maternal Emotional Availability and Its Association with Maternal Psychopathology, Attachment Style Insecurity and Theory of Mind.

PubMed

Licata, Maria; Zietlow, Anna-Lena; Träuble, Birgit; Sodian, Beate; Reck, Corinna

High maternal emotional availability (EA) positively affects various domains of child development. However, the question of which factors promote or hinder maternal EA has not been investigated systematically. The present study investigated several maternal characteristics, namely maternal psychopathology, maternal attachment style insecurity, and theory of mind (ToM) as possible factors that influence maternal EA. The sample was comprised of 56 mothers and their preschool-aged children. Half of the mothers were diagnosed with postpartum depression and or anxiety disorders according to DSM-IV, and the other half were healthy controls. The results showed that both low maternal attachment style insecurity and high ToM skills significantly predicted maternal EA sensitivity, independently from maternal postpartum and concurrent psychopathology and education. Moreover, maternal attachment style insecurity fully mediated the link between maternal postpartum psychopathology and sensitivity. The findings suggest that maternal attachment style security can buffer negative effects of maternal psychopathology on maternal sensitivity in the mother-child interaction. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Impaired affective and cognitive theory of mind and behavioural change in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PubMed

van der Hulst, Egberdina-Józefa; Bak, Thomas H; Abrahams, Sharon

2015-11-01

Executive and behavioural changes are well-recognised in classical amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), indicating a subclinical behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) in some patients. Social cognitive deficits in ALS have been recently described and an impairment was identified on a simple Theory of Mind (ToM) test, which assesses the judgement of the preference of another through direction of eye gaze. The present study further delineated this deficit, by distinguishing between Affective and Cognitive subcomponents, and determining the relationship to behavioural change, levels of empathy and self-awareness. The Cognitive-Affective Judgement of Preference Test was administered to 33 patients with ALS and 26 controls. Furthermore, a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and detailed behavioural assessment, with measures of empathy and awareness, were included. Patients with ALS showed a significant impairment in Affective ToM only when compared with healthy controls, with a deficit in 36% of patients; 12% showed an isolated Affective ToM deficit while 24% showed more generic ToM dysfunction. A Cognitive ToM deficit was found in 27% of patients, with 3% showing an isolated Cognitive ToM deficit. The patients with ALS showed reduced empathy (Fantasy scale) and increased behavioural dysfunction with high levels of apathy. In addition, patients with either an Affective and/or Cognitive ToM deficit exhibited poor self-awareness of their performance and abnormalities on verbal fluency, while those with an Affective ToM deficit also displayed higher levels of apathy and a naming deficit. Dysfunctional ToM is a prominent feature of the cognitive profile of ALS. This specific difficulty in identifying and distinguishing the feelings and thoughts of another from a self-perspective may underpin the social behavioural abnormalities present in some patients with ALS, manifest as apathy and loss of awareness. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Attention Orienting by Gaze and Facial Expressions Across Development

PubMed Central

Neath, Karly; Nilsen, Elizabeth S.; Gittsovich, Katarzyna; Itier, Roxane J.

2014-01-01

Processing of facial expressions has been shown to potentiate orienting of attention toward the direction signaled by gaze in adults, an important social–cognitive function. However, little is known about how this social attention skill develops. This study is the first to examine the developmental trajectory of the gaze orienting effect (GOE), its modulations by facial expressions, and its links with theory of mind (ToM) abilities. Dynamic emotional stimuli were presented to 222 participants (7–25 years old) with normal trait anxiety using a gaze-cuing paradigm. The GOE was found as early as 7 years of age and decreased linearly until 12–13 years, at which point adult levels were reached. Both fearful and surprised expressions enhanced the GOE compared with neutral expressions. The GOE for fearful faces was also larger than for joyful and angry expressions. These effects did not interact with age and were not driven by intertrial variance. Importantly, the GOE did not correlate with ToM abilities as assessed by the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” test. The implication of these findings for clinical and typically developing populations is discussed. PMID:23356559

[Eyes test performance among unaffected mothers of patients with schizophrenia].

PubMed

Birdal, Seval; Yıldırım, Ejder Akgün; Arslan Delice, Mehtap; Yavuz, Kasım Fatih; Kurt, Erhan

2015-01-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) deficit is a widely accepted feature of schizophrenia. A number of studies have examined ToM deficits of first degree relatives of schizophrenic patients as genetic markers of schizophrenia. Examination of mentalization capacity among mothers of schizophrenia patients may improve our understanding of theory of mind impairments in schizophrenia. The aim of this study is to use Reading Mind in the Eyes test to examine theory of mind capacity among mothers of schizophrenic patients. Performance during the test "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" (Eyes Test) was compared between the mothers of schizophrenic patients (n=47) and mothers whose children have no psychotic mental illness (n=47). Test results were analyzed based on the categorization of test items as positive, negative, and neutral. Mothers of schizophrenic patients displayed poorer performance during the Eyes Test compare to mothers in the control group, particularly in the recognition of positive and neutral mental representations. There was no statistically significant difference in the recognition of negative mental representations between mothers of patients and the control groups. The results of this study indicate that mothers of schizophrenic patients differ in some theory of mind patterns. Theory of mind may be an important developmental or endophenotipic factor in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and should be further evaluated using other biological markers.

Theory of Mind (ToM) and counterfactuality deficits in schizophrenia: misperception or misinterpretation?

PubMed

Leitman, David I; Ziwich, Rachel; Pasternak, Roey; Javitt, Daniel C

2006-08-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the ability to infer another person's mental state based upon interactional information. ToM deficits have been suggested to underlie crucial aspects of social interaction failure in disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, although the development of paradigms for demonstrating such deficits remains an ongoing area of research. Recent studies have explored the use of sarcasm perception, in which subjects must infer an individual's sincerity or lack thereof, as a 'real-life' index of ToM ability, and as an index of functioning of specific right hemispheric structures. Sarcastic detection ability has not previously been studied in schizophrenia, although patients have been shown to have deficits in ability to decode emotional information from speech ('affective prosody'). Twenty-two schizophrenia patients and 17 control subjects were tested on their ability to detect sarcasm from spoken speech as well as measures of affective prosody and basic pitch perception. Despite normal overall intelligence, patients performed substantially worse than controls in ability to detect sarcasm (d=2.2), showing both decreased sensitivity (A') in detection of sincerity versus sarcasm and an increased bias (B'') toward sincerity. Correlations across groups revealed significant relationships between impairments in sarcasm recognition, affective prosody and basic pitch perception. These findings demonstrate substantial deficits in ability to infer an internal subjective state based upon vocal modulation among subjects with schizophrenia. Deficits were related to, but were significantly more severe than, more general forms of prosodic and sensorial misperception, and are consistent with both right hemispheric and 'bottom-up' theories of the disorder.

Impact of Short-Term Training in Social Cognition in Preschoolers with Externalizing Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Houssa, Marine; Jacobs, Emilie; Nader-Grosbois, Nathalie

2017-01-01

In two experimental and exploratory studies, we wanted to test the differentiated effects on preschoolers with externalizing behavior (EB) of two short-term social information processing (SIP) and Theory of Mind (ToM) training sessions, in comparison with typically developing (TD) preschoolers or with preschoolers with EB whom didn't receive…

What do we know about implicit false-belief tracking?

PubMed

Schneider, Dana; Slaughter, Virginia P; Dux, Paul E

2015-02-01

There is now considerable evidence that neurotypical individuals track the internal cognitions of others, even in the absence of instructions to do so. This finding has prompted the suggestion that humans possess an implicit mental state tracking system (implicit Theory of Mind, ToM) that exists alongside a system that allows the deliberate and explicit analysis of the mental states of others (explicit ToM). Here we evaluate the evidence for this hypothesis and assess the extent to which implicit and explicit ToM operations are distinct. We review evidence showing that adults can indeed engage in ToM processing even without being conscious of doing so. However, at the same time, there is evidence that explicit and implicit ToM operations share some functional features, including drawing on executive resources. Based on the available evidence, we propose that implicit and explicit ToM operations overlap and should only be considered partially distinct.

Do individualism and collectivism on three levels (country, individual, and situation) influence theory-of-mind efficiency? A cross-country study.

PubMed

Vu, Tuong-Van; Finkenauer, Catrin; Huizinga, Mariette; Novin, Sheida; Krabbendam, Lydia

2017-01-01

This study investigated whether individualism and collectivism (IC) at country, individual, and situational level influence how quickly and accurately people can infer mental states (i.e. theory of mind, or ToM), indexed by accuracy and reaction time in a ToM task. We hypothesized that collectivism (having an interdependent self and valuing group concerns), compared to individualism (having an independent self and valuing personal concerns), is associated with greater accuracy and speed in recognizing and understanding the thoughts and feelings of others. Students (N = 207) from individualism-representative (the Netherlands) and collectivism-representative (Vietnam) countries (Country IC) answered an individualism-collectivism questionnaire (Individual IC) and were randomly assigned to an individualism-primed, collectivism-primed, or no-prime task (Situational IC) before performing a ToM task. The data showed vast differences between the Dutch and Vietnamese groups that might not be attributable to experimental manipulation. Therefore, we analyzed the data for the groups separately and found that Individual IC did not predict ToM accuracy or reaction time performance. Regarding Situational IC, when primed with individualism, the accuracy performance of Vietnamese participants in affective ToM trials decreased compared to when primed with collectivism and when no prime was used. However, an interesting pattern emerged: Dutch participants were least accurate in affective ToM trials, while Vietnamese participants were quickest in affective ToM trials. Our research also highlights a dilemma faced by cross-cultural researchers who use hard-to-reach populations but face the challenge of disentangling experimental effects from biases that might emerge due to an interaction between cultural differences and experimental settings. We propose suggestions for overcoming such challenges.

Towards a better understanding of the relationship between executive control and theory of mind: an intra-cultural comparison of three diverse samples.

PubMed

Shahaeian, Ameneh; Henry, Julie D; Razmjoee, Maryam; Teymoori, Ali; Wang, Cen

2015-09-01

Previous research has consistently indicated that theory of mind (ToM) is associated with executive control in the preschool years. However, interpretation of this literature is limited by the fact that most studies have focused exclusively on urbanized Western cultural samples. Consequently, it is not clear whether the association between ToM and executive control reflects the specific features of this particular cohort or instead reflects a universal pattern. The present study provides the first empirical assessment of these two constructs in three diverse groups of Iranian children. Participants were 142 preschoolers (4-5 years old) from high-socioeconomic status (SES) urban (n = 33), low-SES urban (n = 37) and rural villages (n = 77). The results show that there is a robust association between ToM and executive control in all three groups, and that executive control contributes significant unique variance to ToM understanding, even after controlling for a range of variables that have been proposed as potential confounders of this relationship. However, although the three groups were equated in ToM, significant differences in executive control were evident. Moreover, cluster analysis identified three distinct clusters that were relatively homogeneous with respect to executive control and SES. One of these clusters was characterized by both low SES and low executive functioning, and showed little evidence of ToM understanding. Taken together, these findings provide possibly the clearest evidence to date that the association between ToM and executive control is not dependent on children's previous experiences on the tasks, or their family and cultural background. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Do individualism and collectivism on three levels (country, individual, and situation) influence theory-of-mind efficiency? A cross-country study

PubMed Central

Finkenauer, Catrin; Huizinga, Mariette; Novin, Sheida; Krabbendam, Lydia

2017-01-01

This study investigated whether individualism and collectivism (IC) at country, individual, and situational level influence how quickly and accurately people can infer mental states (i.e. theory of mind, or ToM), indexed by accuracy and reaction time in a ToM task. We hypothesized that collectivism (having an interdependent self and valuing group concerns), compared to individualism (having an independent self and valuing personal concerns), is associated with greater accuracy and speed in recognizing and understanding the thoughts and feelings of others. Students (N = 207) from individualism-representative (the Netherlands) and collectivism-representative (Vietnam) countries (Country IC) answered an individualism-collectivism questionnaire (Individual IC) and were randomly assigned to an individualism-primed, collectivism-primed, or no-prime task (Situational IC) before performing a ToM task. The data showed vast differences between the Dutch and Vietnamese groups that might not be attributable to experimental manipulation. Therefore, we analyzed the data for the groups separately and found that Individual IC did not predict ToM accuracy or reaction time performance. Regarding Situational IC, when primed with individualism, the accuracy performance of Vietnamese participants in affective ToM trials decreased compared to when primed with collectivism and when no prime was used. However, an interesting pattern emerged: Dutch participants were least accurate in affective ToM trials, while Vietnamese participants were quickest in affective ToM trials. Our research also highlights a dilemma faced by cross-cultural researchers who use hard-to-reach populations but face the challenge of disentangling experimental effects from biases that might emerge due to an interaction between cultural differences and experimental settings. We propose suggestions for overcoming such challenges. PMID:28832602

What Does Research Say about Social Perspective-Taking Interventions for Students with HFASD?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Southall, Candice; Campbell, Jonathan M.

2015-01-01

The term "theory of mind" (ToM) was introduced by Premack and Woodruff as the ability to infer mental states of others. Many researchers believe that social deficits seen in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are directly linked to deficits in ToM or the inability to realize that others' perspectives are different from…

Symptomatology and social inference: a theory of mind study of schizophrenia and psychotic affective disorder.

PubMed

Marjoram, Dominic; Gardner, Clare; Burns, Jonathan; Miller, Patrick; Lawrie, Stephen M; Johnstone, Eve C

2005-11-01

There is evidence that certain patients with schizophrenia have deficits in theory of mind (ToM) capabilities. It is, however, unclear whether these are symptom or diagnosis-specific. A ToM hinting task was given to 15 patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia, 15 patients with affective disorder and 15 healthy controls. Severity of the current psychopathology was measured using the Krawiecka standardised scale of psychotic symptoms (Krawiecka, Goldberg, & Vaughan, 1977); IQ was estimated via the Ammons and Ammons Quick Test (Ammons & Ammons, 1962). The group with schizophrenia performed significantly worse than the affective and control groups. Poor performance on the hinting task was found to be significantly related to the presence of positive symptoms (instead of negative ones) and specifically related to delusions and hallucinations. These findings remained when covariance for potentially confounding variables was applied. Individuals with high levels of delusions and hallucinations performed significantly worse on this ToM task, regardless of diagnosis, implying ToM impairment is not exclusive to schizophrenia but is evident in other forms of psychosis. Between-group analyses showed the schizophrenia group had a significantly poorer performance on this task than the others.

Deception and false belief in paranoia: modelling theory of mind stories.

PubMed

Shryane, Nick M; Corcoran, Rhiannon; Rowse, Georgina; Moore, Rosanne; Cummins, Sinead; Blackwood, Nigel; Howard, Robert; Bentall, Richard P

2008-01-01

This study used Item Response Theory (IRT) to model the psychometric properties of a Theory of Mind (ToM) stories task. The study also aimed to determine whether the ability to understand states of false belief in others and the ability to understand another's intention to deceive are separable skills, and to establish which is more sensitive to the presence of paranoia. A large and diverse clinical and nonclinical sample differing in levels of depression and paranoid ideation performed a ToM stories task measuring false belief and deception at first and second order. A three-factor IRT model was found to best fit the data, consisting of first- and second-order deception factors and a single false-belief factor. The first-order deception and false-belief factors had good measurement properties at low trait levels, appropriate for samples with reduced ToM ability. First-order deception and false beliefs were both sensitive to paranoid ideation with IQ predicting performance on false belief items. Separable abilities were found to underlie performance on verbal ToM tasks. However, paranoia was associated with impaired performance on both false belief and deception understanding with clear impairment at the simplest level of mental state attribution.

Disassociation of cognitive and affective aspects of theory of mind in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

PubMed

Liu, Wanting; Fan, Jie; Gan, Jun; Lei, Hui; Niu, Chaoyang; Chan, Raymond C K; Zhu, Xiongzhao

2017-09-01

Impairment in social functioning has been widely described in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, several aspects of social cognition, such as theory of mind (ToM), have not been substantially investigated in this context. This study examined cognitive and affective ToM in 40 OCD patients and 38 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls (HCs) with the computerized Yoni task and a battery of neurocognitive tests. OCD symptom severity was assessed with the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Depressive and anxiety symptoms were also assessed. Compared to HCs, OCD patients performed worse on second-order affective condition trials, but not cognitive or physical condition trials, of the Yoni task; there were not group differences in any of the first-order condition domains. Second-order ToM performance of OCD patients was associated with estimated intelligence and working memory performance. After controlling for neurocognitive variables, the group difference in second-order affective condition performance remained significant. These findings indicate that the affective component of ToM may be selectively impaired in OCD patients and that the observed deficit is largely independent of other neurocognitive impairments and clinical characteristics. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Systematic Comparison of Brain Imaging Meta-Analyses of ToM with vPT

PubMed Central

Schurz, Matthias; Perner, Josef

2017-01-01

In visual perspective taking (vPT) one has to concern oneself with what other people see and how they see it. Since seeing is a mental state, developmental studies have discussed vPT within the domain of “theory of mind (ToM)” but imaging studies have not treated it as such. Based on earlier results from several meta-analyses, we tested for the overlap of visual perspective taking studies with 6 different kinds of ToM studies: false belief, trait judgments, strategic games, social animations, mind in the eyes, and rational actions. Joint activation was observed between the vPT task and some kinds of ToM tasks in regions involving the left temporoparietal junction (TPJ), anterior precuneus, left middle occipital gyrus/extrastriate body area (EBA), and the left inferior frontal and precentral gyrus. Importantly, no overlap activation was found for the vPT tasks with the joint core of all six kinds of ToM tasks. This raises the important question of what the common denominator of all tasks that fall under the label of “theory of mind” is supposed to be if visual perspective taking is not one of them. PMID:28367446

Theory of Mind and Selective Attention, Response Inhibition, Cognitive Flexibility in Patients with Schizophrenia.

PubMed

Eşsizoğlu, Altan; Köşger, Ferdi; Akarsu, Ferdane Özlem; Özaydin, Özer; Güleç, Gülcan

2017-06-01

The aims of the current study are to investigate the relationship between selective attention, response inhibition, and cognitive flexibility that are among executive functions and sociocognitive and socioperceptual theory of mind (ToM) functions and also to investigate whether selective attention, response inhibition, and cognitive flexibility are predictive factors for ToM functions in patients with schizophrenia. Forty-seven patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and a control group consisting of 42 individuals were administered demographic information form, Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST), Stroop test, Eye test, Hinting test. Positive and negative syndrome scale was applied to the schizophrenia group. In comparison to the control group, the schizophrenia group performed significantly worse on Eyes test and Hinting test. Eyes Test score and age, WCST perseverative error scores were significantly negatively correlated; education and WCST categories achieved scores were significantly positively correlated in patients with schizophrenia. Age and cognitive flexibility were found to predict the Eyes test score in patients with schizophrenia. ToM functions that are important in maintaining socioperceptual functioning are closely related with cognitive flexibility, and impairment in cognitive flexibility may predict the ToM functions in patients with schizophrenia.

Cross-cultural differences in adult Theory of Mind abilities: A comparison of native-English speakers and native-Chinese speakers on the Self/Other Differentiation task.

PubMed

Bradford, Elisabeth Ef; Jentzsch, Ines; Gomez, Juan-Carlos; Chen, Yulu; Zhang, Da; Su, Yanjie

2018-02-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the ability to compute and attribute mental states to ourselves and other people. It is currently unclear whether ToM abilities are universal or whether they can be culturally influenced. To address this question, this research explored potential differences in engagement of ToM processes between two different cultures, Western (individualist) and Chinese (collectivist), using a sample of healthy adults. Participants completed a computerised false-belief task, in which they attributed beliefs to either themselves or another person, in a matched design, allowing direct comparison between "Self"- and "Other"-oriented conditions. Results revealed that both native-English speakers and native-Chinese individuals responded significantly faster to self-oriented than other-oriented questions. Results also showed that when a trial required a "perspective-shift," participants from both cultures were slower to shift from Self-to-Other than from Other-to-Self. Results indicate that despite differences in collectivism scores, culture does not influence task performance, with similar results found for both Western and non-Western participants, suggesting core and potentially universal similarities in the ToM mechanism across these two cultures.

Neurological soft signs, but not theory of mind and emotion recognition deficit distinguished children with ADHD from healthy control.

PubMed

Pitzianti, Mariabernarda; Grelloni, Clementina; Casarelli, Livia; D'Agati, Elisa; Spiridigliozzi, Simonetta; Curatolo, Paolo; Pasini, Augusto

2017-10-01

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with social cognition impairment, executive dysfunction and motor abnormalities, consisting in the persistence of neurological soft signs (NSS). Theory of mind (ToM) and emotion recognition (ER) deficit of children with ADHD have been interpreted as a consequence of their executive dysfunction, particularly inhibitory control deficit. To our knowledge, there are not studies that evaluate the possible correlation between the ToM and ER deficit and NSS in the population with ADHD, while this association has been studied in other psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate ToM and ER and NSS in a sample of 23 drug-naïve children with ADHD and a sample of 20 healthy children and the possible correlation between social cognition dysfunction and NSS in ADHD. Our findings suggest that ToM and ER dysfunction is not a constant feature in the population with ADHD, while NSS confirmed as a markers of atypical neurodevelopment and predictors of the severity of functional impairment in children with ADHD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Self-recognition, theory-of-mind, and self-awareness: what side are you on?

PubMed

Morin, Alain

2011-05-01

A fashionable view in comparative psychology states that primates possess self-awareness because they exhibit mirror self-recognition (MSR), which in turn makes it possible to infer mental states in others ("theory-of-mind"; ToM). In cognitive neuroscience, an increasingly popular position holds that the right hemisphere represents the centre of self-awareness because MSR and ToM tasks presumably increase activity in that hemisphere. These two claims are critically assessed here as follows: (1) MSR should not be equated with full-blown self-awareness, as it most probably only requires kinaesthetic self-knowledge and does not involve access to one's mental events; (2) ToM and self-awareness are fairly independent and should also not be taken as equivalent notions; (3) MSR and ToM tasks engage medial and left brain areas; (4) other self-awareness tasks besides MSR and ToM tasks (e.g., self-description, autobiography) mostly recruit medial and left brain areas; (5) and recent neuropsychological evidence implies that inner speech (produced by the left hemisphere) plays a significant role in self-referential activity. The main conclusions reached based on this analysis are that (a) organisms that display MSR most probably do not possess introspective self-awareness, and (b) self-related processes most likely engage a distributed network of brain regions situated in both hemispheres.

Theory of mind mediates the prospective relationship between abnormal social brain network morphology and chronic behavior problems after pediatric traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Ryan, Nicholas P; Catroppa, Cathy; Beare, Richard; Silk, Timothy J; Crossley, Louise; Beauchamp, Miriam H; Yeates, Keith Owen; Anderson, Vicki A

2016-04-01

Childhood and adolescence coincide with rapid maturation and synaptic reorganization of distributed neural networks that underlie complex cognitive-affective behaviors. These regions, referred to collectively as the 'social brain network' (SBN) are commonly vulnerable to disruption from pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI); however, the mechanisms that link morphological changes in the SBN to behavior problems in this population remain unclear. In 98 children and adolescents with mild to severe TBI, we acquired 3D T1-weighted MRIs at 2-8 weeks post-injury. For comparison, 33 typically developing controls of similar age, sex and education were scanned. All participants were assessed on measures of Theory of Mind (ToM) at 6 months post-injury and parents provided ratings of behavior problems at 24-months post-injury. Severe TBI was associated with volumetric reductions in the overall SBN package, as well as regional gray matter structural change in multiple component regions of the SBN. When compared with TD controls and children with milder injuries, the severe TBI group had significantly poorer ToM, which was associated with more frequent behavior problems and abnormal SBN morphology. Mediation analysis indicated that impaired theory of mind mediated the prospective relationship between abnormal SBN morphology and more frequent chronic behavior problems. Our findings suggest that sub-acute alterations in SBN morphology indirectly contribute to long-term behavior problems via their influence on ToM. Volumetric change in the SBN and its putative hub regions may represent useful imaging biomarkers for prediction of post-acute social cognitive impairment, which may in turn elevate risk for chronic behavior problems. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Theory of mind mediates the prospective relationship between abnormal social brain network morphology and chronic behavior problems after pediatric traumatic brain injury

PubMed Central

Ryan, Nicholas P.; Catroppa, Cathy; Beare, Richard; Silk, Timothy J.; Crossley, Louise; Beauchamp, Miriam H.; Yeates, Keith Owen; Anderson, Vicki A.

2016-01-01

Childhood and adolescence coincide with rapid maturation and synaptic reorganization of distributed neural networks that underlie complex cognitive-affective behaviors. These regions, referred to collectively as the ‘social brain network’ (SBN) are commonly vulnerable to disruption from pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI); however, the mechanisms that link morphological changes in the SBN to behavior problems in this population remain unclear. In 98 children and adolescents with mild to severe TBI, we acquired 3D T1-weighted MRIs at 2–8 weeks post-injury. For comparison, 33 typically developing controls of similar age, sex and education were scanned. All participants were assessed on measures of Theory of Mind (ToM) at 6 months post-injury and parents provided ratings of behavior problems at 24-months post-injury. Severe TBI was associated with volumetric reductions in the overall SBN package, as well as regional gray matter structural change in multiple component regions of the SBN. When compared with TD controls and children with milder injuries, the severe TBI group had significantly poorer ToM, which was associated with more frequent behavior problems and abnormal SBN morphology. Mediation analysis indicated that impaired theory of mind mediated the prospective relationship between abnormal SBN morphology and more frequent chronic behavior problems. Our findings suggest that sub-acute alterations in SBN morphology indirectly contribute to long-term behavior problems via their influence on ToM. Volumetric change in the SBN and its putative hub regions may represent useful imaging biomarkers for prediction of post-acute social cognitive impairment, which may in turn elevate risk for chronic behavior problems. PMID:26796967

Temporo-parietal dysfunction in Tourette syndrome: Insights from an fMRI study of Theory of Mind.

PubMed

Eddy, Clare M; Cavanna, Andrea E; Rickards, Hugh E; Hansen, Peter C

2016-10-01

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by tics, repetitive movements and vocalizations which are prompted by a sensory-cognitive premonitory urge. Complex tics include environmentally dependent social behaviors such as echoing of other people's speech and actions. Recent studies have suggested that adults with TS can show differences to controls in Theory of Mind (ToM): reasoning about mental states (e.g. beliefs, emotions). In this study, twenty-five adults with uncomplicated TS (no co-morbid disorders, moderate tic severity), and twenty-five healthy age and gender matched controls were scanned with fMRI during an established ToM task. Neural activity was contrasted across ToM trials involving reasoning about false-belief, and matched trials requiring judgments about physical states rather than mental states. Contrasting task conditions uncovered differential fMRI activation in TS during ToM involving the right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), right amygdala and posterior cingulate. Further analysis revealed that activity within the right TPJ as localised by this task covaried with the severity of symptoms including echophenomena, impulse control problems and premonitory urges in TS. Amygdala activation was also linked to premonitory urges, while activity in the left TPJ during ToM was linked to ratings of non-obscene socially inappropriate symptoms. These findings indicate that patients with TS exhibit atypical functional activation within key neural substrates involved in ToM. More generally, our data could highlight an important role for TPJ dysfunction in driving compulsive behaviors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory of mind in remitted bipolar disorder: Younger patients struggle in tasks of higher ecological validity.

PubMed

Feyerabend, Julia; Lüttke, Stefan; Grosse-Wentrup, Fabienne; Wolter, Sibylla; Hautzinger, Martin; Wolkenstein, Larissa

2018-04-15

To date, research concerning Theory of Mind (ToM) in remitted bipolar disorder (rBD) has yielded inconclusive results. This may be a result of methodological shortcomings and the failure to consider relevant third variables. Furthermore, studies using ecologically valid stimuli are rare. This study examines ToM in rBD patients, using ecologically valid stimuli. Additionally, the effects of sad mood induction (MI) as well as of age and gender are considered. The sample comprises N = 44 rBD patients (rBDPs) and N = 40 healthy controls (HCs). ToM decoding is assessed using the Cambridge Mindreading Face-Voice-Battery (CAM) and ToM reasoning using the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC). Both tasks were divided into two parts to conduct one part with and one without MI. While across the whole sample there was no evidence that rBDPs and HCs differed in ToM decoding or reasoning, in the younger subsample (age < 45) rBDPs performed worse than HCs in ToM decoding. While MI negatively influenced reasoning in both groups, gender had no effect. Most patients in this study had a high level of social functioning, limiting the generalizability of the results. As important social steps have to be undertaken before middle-age, the decoding deficits in younger rBDPs might be of particular importance not only for social functioning but also for the course of illness. Furthermore, this age-related deficit may explain the inconclusive findings that have been reported so far. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A prospective longitudinal study of children's theory of mind and adolescent involvement in bullying.

PubMed

Shakoor, Sania; Jaffee, Sara R; Bowes, Lucy; Ouellet-Morin, Isabelle; Andreou, Penelope; Happé, Francesca; Moffitt, Terrie E; Arseneault, Louise

2012-03-01

Theory of mind (ToM) allows the understanding and prediction of other people's behaviours based on their mental states (e.g. beliefs). It is important for healthy social relationships and thus may contribute towards children's involvement in bullying. The present study investigated whether children involved in bullying during early adolescence had poor ToM in childhood. Participants were members of the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative sample of 2,232 children and their families. We visited families when children were 5, 7, 10 and 12 years. ToM was assessed when the children were 5 years using eight standardized tasks. Identification of those children who were involved in bullying as victims, bullies and bully-victims using mothers', teachers' and children's reports was carried out when they were 12 years' old. Poor ToM predicted becoming a victim (effect size, d = 0.26), bully (d = 0.25) or bully-victim (d = 0.44) in early adolescence. These associations remained for victims and bully-victims when child-specific (e.g. IQ) and family factors (e.g. child maltreatment) were controlled for. Emotional and behavioural problems during middle childhood did not modify the association between poor ToM and adolescent bullying experiences. Identifying and supporting children with poor ToM early in life could help reduce their vulnerability for involvement in bullying and thus limit its adverse effects on mental health. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2011 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Theory of Mind in Schizophrenia: Associations With Clinical and Cognitive Insight Controlling for Levels of Psychopathology.

PubMed

Popolo, Raffaele; Dimaggio, Giancarlo; Luther, Lauren; Vinci, Giancarlo; Salvatore, Giampaolo; Lysaker, Paul H

2016-03-01

Poor insight in schizophrenia is a risk factor for both poor outcomes and treatment adherence. Accordingly, interest in identifying causes of poor insight has increased. This study explored whether theory of mind (ToM) impairments are linked to poor clinical and cognitive insight independent of psychopathology. Participants with schizophrenia (n = 37) and control subjects (n = 40) completed assessments of ToM with the Hinting Task and the Brüne Picture Sequencing Task, clinical insight and psychopathology with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, and cognitive insight with the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale. Results indicated that the schizophrenia group had greater impairments in ToM relative to control subjects. In the schizophrenia group, the Hinting Task performance was related to both cognitive and clinical insight, with only the relationship with cognitive insight persisting after controlling for psychopathology. Picture Sequencing Task performance was related to cognitive insight only. Future research directions and clinical implications are discussed.

Empathic skills and theory of mind in female adolescents with conduct disorder.

PubMed

Arango Tobón, Olber E; Olivera-La Rosa, Antonio; Restrepo Tamayo, Viviana; Puerta Lopera, Isabel C

2018-01-01

Most studies on conduct disorder (CD) have focused on male adolescents, disregarding analysis of this psychopathology in women. The purpose of this study was to identify differences in empathy and theory of mind (ToM) in a group of adolescent women with CD and a control group. Thirty-six adolescent women were selected from an initial sample of 239 adolescents (CD group = 18, control group = 18). Empathy and ToM were evaluated through objective instruments. Mean comparisons and multivariate analysis were performed to ascertain differences between cases and controls and to propose a prediction model based on clinical status. Significant differences in empathic abilities and ToM were found between the groups. The model that differentiated both groups was composed of eye-reading ability, perspective taking, and personal distress. These findings are consistent with previous studies. Capacity to take the other's perspective and the recognition of emotions in the face are protective factors against CD in women.

Graphic symbols as "the mind on paper": links between children's interpretive theory of mind and symbol understanding.

PubMed

Myers, Lauren J; Liben, Lynn S

2012-01-01

Children gradually develop interpretive theory of mind (iToM)-the understanding that different people may interpret identical events or stimuli differently. The present study tested whether more advanced iToM underlies children's recognition that map symbols' meanings must be communicated to others when symbols are iconic (resemble their referents). Children (6-9 years; N = 80) made maps using either iconic or abstract symbols. After accounting for age, intelligence, vocabulary, and memory, iToM predicted children's success in communicating symbols' meaning to a naïve map-user when mapping tasks involved iconic (but not abstract) symbols. Findings suggest children's growing appreciation of alternative representations and of the intentional assignment of meaning, and support the contention that ToM progresses beyond mastery of false belief. © 2011 The Authors. Child Development © 2011 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Subthalamic nucleus stimulation affects theory of mind network: a PET study in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Péron, Julie; Le Jeune, Florence; Haegelen, Claire; Dondaine, Thibaut; Drapier, Dominique; Sauleau, Paul; Reymann, Jean-Michel; Drapier, Sophie; Rouaud, Tiphaine; Millet, Bruno; Vérin, Marc

2010-03-29

There appears to be an overlap between the limbic system, which is modulated by subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) in Parkinson's disease (PD), and the brain network that mediates theory of mind (ToM). Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of STN DBS on ToM of PD patients and to correlate ToM modifications with changes in glucose metabolism. To this end, we conducted (18)FDG-PET scans in 13 PD patients in pre- and post-STN DBS conditions and correlated changes in their glucose metabolism with modified performances on the Eyes test, a visual ToM task requiring them to describe thoughts or feelings conveyed by photographs of the eye region. Postoperative PD performances on this emotion recognition task were significantly worse than either preoperative PD performances or those of healthy controls (HC), whereas there was no significant difference between preoperative PD and HC. Conversely, PD patients in the postoperative condition performed within the normal range on the gender attribution task included in the Eyes test. As far as the metabolic results are concerned, there were correlations between decreased cerebral glucose metabolism and impaired ToM in several cortical areas: the bilateral cingulate gyrus (BA 31), right middle frontal gyrus (BA 8, 9 and 10), left middle frontal gyrus (BA 6), temporal lobe (fusiform gyrus, BA 20), bilateral parietal lobe (right BA 3 and right and left BA 7) and bilateral occipital lobe (BA 19). There were also correlations between increased cerebral glucose metabolism and impaired ToM in the left superior temporal gyrus (BA 22), left inferior frontal gyrus (BA 13 and BA 47) and right inferior frontal gyrus (BA 47). All these structures overlap with the brain network that mediates ToM. These results seem to confirm that STN DBS hinders the ability to infer the mental states of others and modulates a distributed network known to subtend ToM.

A Randomized Clinical Trial of Cognitive Enhancement Therapy for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-01

changes in brain function have indicated significant increases in brain activity supporting theory of mind and emotion regulation abilities in...depicted in the scenarios; adults with ASD have previously shown hypoactivation in the temporo- parietal-junction theory of mind (ToM) network when...treatment MRI data have been collected with processing speed, perspective-taking, theory of mind , and emotion regulation fMRI measures on participants

Theory of Mind and Executive Functioning Following Stroke.

PubMed

Hamilton, Jackie; Radlak, Bogna; Morris, Paul G; Phillips, Louise H

2017-08-01

Cognitive deficits following stroke are well documented, but less is known about problems with social skills such as understanding others' thoughts and feelings. This study investigated the effect of stroke on a visual-affective measure of social understanding: the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET). The aims were to investigate whether right hemisphere stroke was particularly detrimental to this aspect of Theory of Mind (ToM), and investigate the relationship between ToM ability and executive function following stroke. Performance of stroke patients (right hemisphere stroke, n = 15; left hemisphere stroke, n = 15) was compared to that of controls (n = 40) matched for age, years of education, and IQ on tasks measuring ToM and executive functioning. Right hemisphere stroke was associated with impaired ToM ability, but left hemisphere stroke was not. There was no effect of stroke on a matched non-ToM control task. High correlations were found between performance on the RMET and some measures of executive functioning in participants with right hemisphere stroke only. Further analyses suggested that deficits in executive functioning could not statistically explain all of the difficulties shown by stroke participants on the RMET. A reduction in the ability to attribute mental states to others following right hemisphere stroke may adversely affect psychosocial functioning, disrupt interpersonal relationships, and lead to reduced quality of life. The clinical importance of these findings, implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Examining the influence of psychopathy, hostility biases, and automatic processing on criminal offenders' Theory of Mind.

PubMed

Nentjes, Lieke; Bernstein, David; Arntz, Arnoud; van Breukelen, Gerard; Slaats, Mariëtte

2015-01-01

Theory of Mind (ToM) is a social perceptual skill that refers to the ability to take someone else's perspective and infer what others think. The current study examined the effect of potential hostility biases, as well as controlled (slow) versus automatic (fast) processing on ToM performance in psychopathy. ToM abilities (as assessed with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test; RMET; Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Hill, Raste, & Plumb, 2001), was compared between 39 PCL-R diagnosed psychopathic offenders, 37 non-psychopathic offenders, and 26 nonoffender controls. Contrary to our hypothesis, psychopathic individuals presented with intact overall RMET performance when restrictions were imposed on how long task stimuli could be processed. In addition, psychopaths did not over-ascribe hostility to task stimuli (i.e., lack of hostility bias). However, there was a significant three-way interaction between hostility, processing speed, and psychopathy: when there was no time limit on stimulus presentation, psychopathic offenders made fewer errors in identifying more hostile eye stimuli compared to nonoffender controls, who seemed to be less accurate in detecting hostility. Psychopaths' more realistic appraisal of others' malevolent mental states is discussed in the light of theories that stress its potential adaptive function. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contribution of Theory of Mind, Executive Functioning, and Pragmatics to Socialization Behaviors of Children with High-Functioning Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berenguer, Carmen; Miranda, Ana; Colomer, Carla; Baixauli, Inmaculada; Roselló, Belén

2018-01-01

Social difficulties are a key aspect of autism, but the intervening factors are still poorly understood. This study had two objectives: to compare the profile of ToM skills, executive functioning (EF), and pragmatic competence (PC) of children with high-functioning autism (HFA) and children with typical development (TD), and analyze their mediator…

The Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT): Examining the effects of age on a new measure of theory of mind and social norm understanding

PubMed Central

Abrahams, Sharon; Auyeung, Bonnie; MacPherson, Sarah E.

2018-01-01

Current measures of social cognition have shown inconsistent findings regarding the effects of healthy aging. Moreover, no tests are currently available that allow clinicians and researchers to examine cognitive and affective theory of mind (ToM) and understanding of social norms within the same test. To address these limitations, we present the Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT) which assesses cognitive and affective ToM and inter- and intrapersonal understanding of social norms. We examined the effects of age, measures of intelligence and the Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP) on the ESCoT and established tests of social cognition. Additionally, we investigated the convergent validity of the ESCoT based on traditional social cognition measures. The ESCoT was administered alongside Reading the Mind in Films (RMF), Reading the Mind in Eyes (RME), Judgement of Preference and Social Norm Questionnaire to 91 participants (30 aged 18–35 years, 30 aged 45–60 years and 31 aged 65–85 years). Poorer performance on the cognitive and affective ToM ESCoT subtests were predicted by increasing age. The affective ToM ESCoT subtest and RMF were predicted by gender, where being female predicted better performance. Unlike the ESCoT, better performance on the RMF was predicted by higher verbal comprehension and perceptual reasoning abilities, while better performance on the RME was predicted by higher verbal comprehension scores. Lower scores on inter-and intrapersonal understanding of social norms were both predicted by the presence of more autism-like traits while poorer interpersonal understanding of social norms performance was predicted by increasing age. These findings show that the ESCoT is a useful measure of social cognition and, unlike established tests of social cognition, performance is not predicted by measures of verbal comprehension and perceptual reasoning. This is particularly valuable to obtain an accurate assessment of the influence of age on our social cognitive abilities. PMID:29664917

The Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT): Examining the effects of age on a new measure of theory of mind and social norm understanding.

PubMed

Baksh, R Asaad; Abrahams, Sharon; Auyeung, Bonnie; MacPherson, Sarah E

2018-01-01

Current measures of social cognition have shown inconsistent findings regarding the effects of healthy aging. Moreover, no tests are currently available that allow clinicians and researchers to examine cognitive and affective theory of mind (ToM) and understanding of social norms within the same test. To address these limitations, we present the Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT) which assesses cognitive and affective ToM and inter- and intrapersonal understanding of social norms. We examined the effects of age, measures of intelligence and the Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP) on the ESCoT and established tests of social cognition. Additionally, we investigated the convergent validity of the ESCoT based on traditional social cognition measures. The ESCoT was administered alongside Reading the Mind in Films (RMF), Reading the Mind in Eyes (RME), Judgement of Preference and Social Norm Questionnaire to 91 participants (30 aged 18-35 years, 30 aged 45-60 years and 31 aged 65-85 years). Poorer performance on the cognitive and affective ToM ESCoT subtests were predicted by increasing age. The affective ToM ESCoT subtest and RMF were predicted by gender, where being female predicted better performance. Unlike the ESCoT, better performance on the RMF was predicted by higher verbal comprehension and perceptual reasoning abilities, while better performance on the RME was predicted by higher verbal comprehension scores. Lower scores on inter-and intrapersonal understanding of social norms were both predicted by the presence of more autism-like traits while poorer interpersonal understanding of social norms performance was predicted by increasing age. These findings show that the ESCoT is a useful measure of social cognition and, unlike established tests of social cognition, performance is not predicted by measures of verbal comprehension and perceptual reasoning. This is particularly valuable to obtain an accurate assessment of the influence of age on our social cognitive abilities.

Temperament Dimensions in Preschool Children: Links with Cognitive and Affective Theory of Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Longobardi, Emiddia; Spataro, Pietro; D'Alessandro, Marta; Cerutti, Rita

2017-01-01

Research Findings: The present cross-sectional study investigated the question of whether 6 different temperament dimensions (inhibition to novelty, social orientation, motor activity, positive emotionality, negative emotionality, and attention) influenced cognitive and affective theory of mind (ToM) in 168 children (86 three/four-year-olds and 82…

Applying Theory of Mind Concepts When Designing Interventions Targeting Social Cognition among Youth Offenders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Noel, Kristine K.; Westby, Carol

2014-01-01

This study employed a multiple baseline, across-participants, single-subject design to investigate the feasibility of an individual, narrative-based, social problem-solving intervention on the social problem-solving, narrative, and theory of mind (ToM) abilities of 3 incarcerated adolescent youth offenders identified as having emotional…

Idiom, Syntax, and Advanced Theory of Mind Abilities in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whyte, Elisabeth M.; Nelson, Keith E.; Scherf, K. Suzanne

2014-01-01

Purpose: When researchers investigate figurative language abilities (including idioms) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), syntax abilities may be more important than once considered. In addition, there are limitations to the overreliance on false-belief tasks to measure theory of mind (TOM) abilities. In the current study, the…