Assessment of Theory of Mind in Adults: Beyond False Belief Tasks
01 Sep 2019-Activitas nervosa superior (Springer International Publishing)-Vol. 61, Iss: 3, pp 142-146
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reviewed the issues surrounding the assessment of the theory of mind in the context of autism spectrum disorder and discussed why the construct needs to be assessed in a culture-specific manner, the problems with the existing tools that have been developed to measure the construct, the complexity of simulating real social stimuli, and the subtleties around the construct that is to be taken care of while developing assessment measures.
Abstract: Theory of Mind, or the ability to attribute mental states to the self and others, forms the foundation of social cognitive processes or social cognition. Since its conception in 1978, the construct has been enjoying increasing attention from researchers and it has been widely studied in the context of autism spectrum disorder. This paper tries to review the issues surrounding the assessment of the construct. Theory of Mind (ToM) assessment goes almost synonymously with false belief tests. And assessing ToM with false belief tasks did not pose a problem because the construct had traditionally been studied mostly, if not exclusively on children. This paper discusses the danger of testing theory of mind with false belief tasks only and the serious necessity to study the construct in the adult population. The paper also discusses why the construct needs to be assessed in a culture-specific manner, the problems with the existing recent tools that have been developed to measure the construct, the complexity of simulating real social stimuli, and the subtleties around the construct that is to be taken care of while developing assessment measures.
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TL;DR: The authors predicted that childhood fantasy play (CFP), need for cognition (NfC), and fiction reading would be associated with emerging adult theory of mind (ToM), and found that CFP and NfC are associated with the emergence of adult ToM.
Abstract: Little is known about what factors are associated with emerging adult theory of mind (ToM). We predicted that childhood fantasy play (CFP), need for cognition (NfC), and fiction reading would be po...
5 citations
Cites background from "Assessment of Theory of Mind in Adu..."
...Development of higher level ToM (e.g., decision making based on others’ perspectives; predicting behavior in strategic situations) is documented by false belief understanding around age 3–4 (Wellman et al., 2001), into adolescence (e.g., understanding social stories/“faux pas,” Dumontheil et al., 2010; Klindt et al., 2017), and by variation in complex ToM skills in typically developed adults (Apperly et al., 2010; Keysar et al., 2003), but there is comparatively little research within the transitional period of emerging adulthood (Giovagnoli, 2019; Karmakar & Dogra, 2019)....
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...…et al., 2010; Klindt et al., 2017), and by variation in complex ToM skills in typically developed adults (Apperly et al., 2010; Keysar et al., 2003), but there is comparatively little research within the transitional period of emerging adulthood (Giovagnoli, 2019; Karmakar & Dogra, 2019)....
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TL;DR: In this paper , a meta-analysis showed that patients with epilepsy are at a significantly increased risk of deficits in social cognition, while TLE and FLE patients perform worse than those with eTLE/eFLE, without significant differences between FLE and TLE regarding ToM ability.
Abstract: Abstract Background The aim of this review is to (a) characterize social cognition impairments in the domains of emotion recognition (ER) and theory of mind (ToM) in patients with epilepsy and (b) to review assessment tools with a focus on their validity and usability in clinical practice. Methods An electronic search for clinical studies investigating social cognition in epilepsy populations vs healthy control subjects (HC) yielded 53 studies for the meta-analysis and descriptive review. Results Results suggest that (1) social cognition is significantly impaired in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) and patients with epilepsy not originating within the temporal or frontal lobes including idiopathic generalized epilepsies (eTLE/eFLE); (2) there is no significant difference between eTLE/eFLE and TLE regarding ER, while TLE and FLE patients perform worse than those with eTLE/eFLE, without significant differences between FLE and TLE regarding ToM ability. A descriptive analysis of the most commonly used assessment tools and stimulus material in this field revealed a lack of ecological validity, usability, and economic viability for everyday clinical practice. Conclusions Our meta-analysis shows that patients with epilepsy are at a significantly increased risk of deficits in social cognition. However, the underlying multifactorial mechanisms remain unclear. Future research should therefore specifically address the impairment of processing and methodological problems of testing.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the effect of executive functions and educational attainment on affective ToM is investigated, and significant relationships were found between ToM and some executive functions, that is, cognitive flexibility and inhibition predicted 34% of the ToM score.
Abstract: Theory of Mind (ToM) is the capacity to understand the feelings and emotional states (i.e., affective ToM) or intentions, goals, and beliefs (i.e., cognitive ToM) of others. Previous evidence on the effect of executive functions and educational attainment on affective ToM is controversial. This study was conducted to investigate: (1) the nature of the associations between affective ToM and some indexes of cognitive reserve (i.e., years of education, vocabulary) in late adulthood when age was controlled; (2) whether cognitive reserve (e.g., years of education, leisure activities, vocabulary) and age predicted affective ToM in late adulthood; (3) the associations between affective ToM and some executive functions measures in late adulthood, controlling for the effect of age; (4) whether executive functioning predicted affective ToM performance; (5) whether some executive functions (i.e., cognitive flexibility and inhibition) mediated between vocabulary score (i.e., used as an index of cognitive reserve) and affective ToM score. Fifty-six 75-93-year-old community-dwellers completed a battery of tasks to assess some executive functions and affective ToM skills (i.e., through the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test). It was found that vocabulary, age, and participation in outdoor socio-recreational leisure activities predicted 31% of the variance in the Reading the Mind in the Eyes condition. Moreover, significant relationships were found between ToM and some executive functions, that is, cognitive flexibility and inhibition predicted 34% of the ToM score. Finally, cognitive flexibility and inhibition mediate between cognitive reserve (i.e., assessed in terms of vocabulary) and Reading the Mind in the Eyes test score.
2 citations
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TL;DR: Theories of the self from both psychology and anthropology are integrated to define in detail the difference between a construal of self as independent and a construpal of the Self as interdependent as discussed by the authors, and these divergent construals should have specific consequences for cognition, emotion, and motivation.
Abstract: People in different cultures have strikingly different construals of the self, of others, and of the interdependence of the 2. These construals can influence, and in many cases determine, the very nature of individual experience, including cognition, emotion, and motivation. Many Asian cultures have distinct conceptions of individuality that insist on the fundamental relatedness of individuals to each other. The emphasis is on attending to others, fitting in, and harmonious interdependence with them. American culture neither assumes nor values such an overt connectedness among individuals. In contrast, individuals seek to maintain their independence from others by attending to the self and by discovering and expressing their unique inner attributes. As proposed herein, these construals are even more powerful than previously imagined. Theories of the self from both psychology and anthropology are integrated to define in detail the difference between a construal of the self as independent and a construal of the self as interdependent. Each of these divergent construals should have a set of specific consequences for cognition, emotion, and motivation; these consequences are proposed and relevant empirical literature is reviewed. Focusing on differences in self-construals enables apparently inconsistent empirical findings to be reconciled, and raises questions about what have been thought to be culture-free aspects of cognition, emotion, and motivation.
18,178 citations
TL;DR: This paper showed an adult chimpanzee a series of videotaped scenes of a human actor struggling with a variety of problems, some of which were simple, such as bananas vertically or horizontally out of reach, behind a box, and so forth; others were more complex, involving an actor unable to extricate himself from a locked cage, shivering because of a malfunctioning heater, or unable to play a phonograph because it was unplugged.
Abstract: An individual has a theory of mind if he imputes mental states to himself and others. A system of inferences of this kind is properly viewed as a theory because such states are not directly observable, and the system can be used to make predictions about the behavior of others. As to the mental states the chimpanzee may infer, consider those inferred by our own species, for example, purpose or intention, as well as knowledge, belief, thinking, doubt, guessing, pretending, liking, and so forth. To determine whether or not the chimpanzee infers states of this kind, we showed an adult chimpanzee a series of videotaped scenes of a human actor struggling with a variety of problems. Some problems were simple, involving inaccessible food – bananas vertically or horizontally out of reach, behind a box, and so forth – as in the original Kohler problems; others were more complex, involving an actor unable to extricate himself from a locked cage, shivering because of a malfunctioning heater, or unable to play a phonograph because it was unplugged. With each videotape the chimpanzee was given several photographs, one a solution to the problem, such as a stick for the inaccessible bananas, a key for the locked up actor, a lit wick for the malfunctioning heater. The chimpanzee's consistent choice of the correct photographs can be understood by assuming that the animal recognized the videotape as representing a problem, understood the actor's purpose, and chose alternatives compatible with that purpose.
5,979 citations
TL;DR: A travelling salesman found himself spending the night at home with his wife when one of his trips was unexpectedly cancelled, and he leapt out from the bed, ran across the room and jumped out the window.
5,176 citations
TL;DR: This large-scale longitudinal pediatric neuroimaging study confirmed linear increases in white matter, but demonstrated nonlinear changes in cortical gray matter, with a preadolescent increase followed by a postadolescent decrease.
Abstract: Pediatric neuroimaging studies1,2,3,4,5, up to now exclusively cross sectional, identify linear decreases in cortical gray matter and increases in white matter across ages 4 to 20. In this large-scale longitudinal pediatric neuroimaging study, we confirmed linear increases in white matter, but demonstrated nonlinear changes in cortical gray matter, with a preadolescent increase followed by a postadolescent decrease. These changes in cortical gray matter were regionally specific, with developmental curves for the frontal and parietal lobe peaking at about age 12 and for the temporal lobe at about age 16, whereas cortical gray matter continued to increase in the occipital lobe through age 20.
5,140 citations
TL;DR: The Revised Eyes Test has improved power to detect subtle individual differences in social sensitivity and was inversely correlated with the Autism Spectrum Quotient (the AQ), a measure of autistic traits in adults of normal intelligence.
Abstract: In 1997 in this Journal we published the ‘‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’’ Test, as a measure of adult ‘‘mentalising’’. Whilst that test succeeded in discriminating a group of adults with Asperger syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA) from controls, it suered from several psychometric problems. In this paper these limitations are rectified by revising the test. The Revised Eyes Test was administered to a group of adults with AS or HFA (N fl 15) and again discriminated these from a large number of normal controls (N fl 239) drawn from dierent samples. In both the clinical and control groups the Eyes Test was inversely correlated with the Autism Spectrum Quotient (the AQ), a measure of autistic traits in adults of normal intelligence. The Revised Eyes Test has improved power to detect subtle individual dierences in social sensitivity.
4,858 citations