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Theory of Mind and Communicative Competence in Autistic Children

Theory of Mind and Communicative Competence in Autistic Children. Laura Echavarria. Background.

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Theory of Mind and Communicative Competence in Autistic Children

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  1. Theory of Mind and Communicative Competence in Autistic Children Laura Echavarria

  2. Background • Theory of mind is the ability of normal children to attribute mental states, such as intentions, beliefs, desires, etc., to themselves and other people and thereby to understand and predict behavior ( Buitelaar, Van Der Wees, Swaab-Barneveld & Jan Van Der Gaag, 1999)

  3. There is a link between the development of theory of mind and communicative competence in autistic children • This suggest that autistic children who do poorly on the false belief task where they have to use their verbal skills have a deficit in theory of mind.

  4. Belief Term Development in Children with Autism, Asperger Syndrome, Specific Language Impairment, and Normal Development: Links to Theory of Mind Ziatas, Durkin, & Pratt, 1998

  5. Subjects • 12 children with autism • 12 children with specific language impairment • 12 children with Asperger syndrome • 12 Children with normal development

  6. Tasks • “Sally Anne” false belief task • Belief term comprehension terms • Belief term expression

  7. Results • Autistic group performed significantly poorer in all tasks that the Asperger Syndrome, specific language impairment or normal development group. • There is a correlation between deficits in verbal skills and theory of mind.

  8. Theory of Mind-Based Action in Children from the Autism Spectrum Begeerr, Rieffe, Terwogt & Stockmann, 2003

  9. Subjects • 12 children with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified ( PDDNOS) • 10 children with autism

  10. Tasks • Jigsaw puzzle had to be made and a story had to be told and tape-recorded. • One of the tasks was going to be rewarded with candy.

  11. Results • Autistic children performed poorly on the false belief rewarded task • Children with autism could indeed be “ mind-blind” ( Barin-Cohen, 1995)

  12. Conclusions • Autistic children have a deficit in theory of mind. • Deficits on theory of mind lead to the social, communication and imagination impairment of children with autism. • Deficits in theory of mind are present even in a rewarded condition.

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