Theory of Mind in autism: more variations and more complexity than once believed

Miklós Györi

Abstract


The present paper is an overview of our research from the last few years, which was aimed at getting a finer image of Theory of Mind impairment and its consequences in autism. Theory of Mind is a crucial human cognitive ability to understand and predict others’ behaviour by attributing mental states to them. This ability is, as it is well-known, developmentally impaired in autism, but relatively little is known about the individual varieties and the precise nature of this impairment.
The studies summarised in this paper were aimed at three issues: (1) if those individuals who are able to solve Theory of Mind problems indeed have a Theory of Mind ability, (2) how existing Theory of Mind abilities are related to linguistic abilities and to social-communicative symptoms in autism, and (3) if the existing Theory of Mind competence in autism is stable over time or shows atypical fluctuation.
In order to solve these issues we applied various methodologies of cognitive psychology, including experimental, psycholinguistic and psychometric methods. Our findings show that Theory of Mind ability shows a striking variation in high functioning autism, from deep impairment to relatively complex understanding of minds, including compensatory strategies in some cases. Also, we found that language and Theory of Mind show a very specific relationship in autism, and existing Theory of Mind ability shows remarkable stability in some subjects, while others are more unstable in this sense.
In sum, these findings indicate that the impairment of Theory of Mind ability in autism is a far more complex issue than once believed, and calls for further intensive research.


References


Baron-Cohen, S. (1989a). The autistic child’s theory of mind: a case of specific developmental delay. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33, 1141–1155.

Baron-Cohen, S. (1995). Mindblindness. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A., & Frith, U. (1985). Does the autistic child have a “theory of mind”? Cognition, 21, 37–46.

Baron-Cohen, S., Tager-Flusberg, H., & Cohen, D. J. (Eds.), (2000). Understanding Other Minds: Perspectives from Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. (2nd edition) Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bishop, D. V. M. (1983). The Test for Reception of Grammar. Published by the author and available from Age and Cognitive Performance Research Centre, University of Manchester, M13 9PL.

Bowler, D. M. (1992). Theory of mind in Asperger Syndrome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33, 877–955.

Csányi, F. I. (1974). Peabody Szókincs Teszt. Bárczi Gusztáv Gyógypedagógiai Főiskola. Budapest.

Frith, U., & Happé, F. G. E. (1994a). Autism: beyond ‘theory of mind’. Cognition, 50, 115–132.

Frith, U., Happé, F., & Siddons, F. (1994). Autism and theory of mind in everyday life. Social Development, 3, 108–124.

Györi, M. (2006). Autism and cognitive architecture. Domain specificity and cognitive theorising on autism. Budapest: Akadémiai.

Györi, M., Hahn, N., Várnai, Zs., Sajó, E., Stefanik, K., & Balázs, A. (2007). Nem verbális eljárás a hamisvélekedés-tulajdonítás tesztelésére: eredmények tipikusan fejlődő és atipikus fejlődésű gyermekektől. [In:] M. Racsmány (Ed.), A fejlődés zavarai és vizsgálómódszerei. Neuropszichológiai diagnosztikai módszerek. Budapest: Akadémiai.

Györi, M.,, Kanizsai-Nagy, I, Stefanik, K, Markovich, Á., Balázs, A., & Pléh, Cs. (in preparation, a). Towards a more refined view on theory of mind in autism, I: An exploratory study on understanding written irony.

Györi, M., Stefanik, K., Kanizsai-Nagy, I., Balázs, A., & Pléh, Cs. (in preparation, b). Towards a more refined view on theory of mind in autism, II: Evidence for genuine mentalizing and a compensatory strategy from a false irony task.

Györi, M., Hahn, N., Stefanik, K., & Balázs, A. (in preparation, c). A novel non-verbal test of false belief understanding: findings from typically developing children, children with autism. Happé, F. (1993). Communicative competence and theory of mind in autism: A test of relevance theory. Cognition, 48, 101–119.

Happé, F. (1994a). Autism. An introduction to psychological theory. London: University College of London Press.

Klin, A., Schultz, R. & Cohen, D.J. (2000): The need for a theory of theory of mind in action. [In:] Baron-Cohen et al., 2000.

Leslie, A. M., & Thaiss, L. (1992). Domain specificity in conceptual development: Neuropsychological evidence from autism. Cognition, 43, 225–251.

Lord, C., Rutter, M., Dilavore, P. C., & Risi, S. (1999). Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. Western Psychological Services: Los Angeles.

Ozonoff, S., Pennington, B. F., & Rogers, S. J. (1991a). Executive function deficits in high-functioning autistic individuals: Relationship to theory of mind. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 1081–1105.

Ozonoff, S., Rogers, S. J., & Pennington, B. F. (1991b). Asperger’s syndrome: Evidence of an empirical distinction from high-functioning autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 1107–1122.

Russell, J. (1997a) (ed.). Autism as an Executive Disorder. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Tager-Flusberg, H. (2000). Language and understanding minds: connections in autism. [In:] Baron-Cohen et al., 2000.

Zimmerman, A.W. (2008). Autism. Current Theories and Evidence. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.