Theory of Mind Abilities and Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

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 ASD, including contributions to the understanding of social and academic manifestations of ASD. Several themes emerge: Enhanced language and verbal abilities facilitate better ToM understanding; implicit ToM elements that incorporate parallel processing pose more difficulties than explicit ones; and general and multimodal interventions are more effective than specific interventions. A brief overview is followed by a review of emerging research on the role of domain-general cognitive skills (executive function) and central coherence in the development of ToM. Next, a summary of studies addressing ToM across the development and social and academic manifestations is presented. The article ends with a critical review of ToM intervention studies, which suggests that generalization may be more likely to occur when ToM is targeted as part of broader sociocognitive interventions rather than as an isolated skill.

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

“…These results are consistent with previous research on implicit or anticipatory false belief in children with ASD (Kimhi, 2014; Senju, 2012; Schuwerk, et al, 2016; Slaughter, 2015). Some researchers have even found this to be true in adults with ASD, where the participants failed to spontaneously anticipate the protagonist’s actions in a false belief task (Senju, Southgate, White, & Frit, 2009).…”

From the Editor

“…Westby and Robinson's (2014) message of broadening the context of interventions beyond ToM assessment tasks to incorporate narratives and other social contexts (as captured by the opening quotation for this issue) is consistent with Kimhi's (2014) conclusion about enhancing generalization through more comprehensive, multidimensional approaches. Westby and Robinson's (2014) message of broadening the context of interventions beyond ToM assessment tasks to incorporate narratives and other social contexts (as captured by the opening quotation for this issue) is consistent with Kimhi's (2014) conclusion about enhancing generalization through more comprehensive, multidimensional approaches.…”

“…Kimhi (2014) then provides a fresh look at the large body of research on ToM and autism spectrum disorders, emphasizing the role of domain-general cognitive skills (executive function) and central coherence in the development of ToM, and adding some information about the role of ToM concepts in academics. They discuss theories of how language and ToM might be related, highlighting, among other things, the importance of the complement sentence structure.…”

Construcción de una Escala de Habilidades Protomentalistas para infantes

“…Problemas en el desarrollo de las habilidades mentalistas. Kimbi (2014) y Lowry (2016) indican que el pobre desarrollo de las habilidades mentalistas lleva a los infantes a tener dificultades en su interacción y adaptación social, por ejemplo, existen muchas habilidades que se les hacen difíciles de realizar, tales como:…”