The Theory of Mind as an Explanation for Autism

This cognitive explanation was put forward by Baren-Cohen in 1997. He believed the social problems autistic children have could be explained by the way the child perceives themselves and others in their social world.

To be socially competent we need to mind read in the sense that we understand that others think differently and have different intentions and feelings from ourselves. Cohen believed that autistic children had mind-blindness – the inability to read others intentions and inner mental states which explains the lack of social interaction skills as they would find it hard to predict or understand the behaviours of others.

The Sally-Anne Study

20 autistic children, 14 children with Down’s syndrome and 27 typically developing children completed a task. They were shown the following scenario:

This doll is Sally, this doll is Anne. Sally has a marble and she puts it in her basket. Sally goes out for a walk. Anne takes the marble out of the basket. Anne puts the marble in a box. Sally comes back. Where will she look for her marble?

They were then asked three questions:

  • Knowledge – where is Sally’s marble?
  • Memory – where was it to begin with?
  • Belief – where will Sally look for it?

If a child could understand that Sally would look in the basket they understood that she possessed a mind that was distinct from their own. But if they said she would look in the box then they wouldn’t understand that Sally held a different belief from them.

Almost all children correctly answered the knowledge and memory questions. Most typically developing and children with Down’s syndrome correctly identified the beliefs question, compared to a minority of children with autism.