theory of mind presentation
DESCRIPTION
A student presentation for a class seminar on Simon Baron-Cohen's 'Theory of Mind'.TRANSCRIPT
“Social Communication Difficulties”
Narrow Interests and Repetitive “Behaviours”
Baron-Cohen, 2008
Leo Kanner was the founder of what we know as Autism.
He first identified Autism in The United States of America in 1943 by observing 11 patients in his Baltimore Clinic
Termed ‘Autistic Aloneness’
Autism is known as a spectrum disorder which belongs to a group known as developmental disabilities as it affects information processing to the brain by changing how nerve cells connect and organise
Autism is known as a spectrum disorder due to varying degrees of each individual’s needs and capabilities
Autism affects around 1 in a thousand people, with approximately four times as many males as females
Learning difficulties or lower IQ
High Risk of Epilepsy
Self Injury
Hypersensitivity to sounds, textures, tastes, smells and temperature.
• No language delay
• Gifted language development
• Narrow interests e.g maps, train times
• Preference of adult company
• Bossy and controlling
• Withdrawal or being intrusive
• Excellent attention to memory
• IQ average or above.
Aspergers – Average IQ and no language delay
Autism – IQ appears anywhere on scale and has language delay.
Social difficulties
Communication abnormalities
Repetitive behaviour
Beliefs Desires Intentions Imagination Emotions
Most children develop Tom around age 2 Results compared with normal children of
a similar developmental stage (in this case aged 3-4).
Seeing Leads to Knowing (Sally, Ann Test)
(Marble in the Basket) Baron-Cohen & Goodhart, 1994; Leslie &
Firth, 1998
WITH TOM WITHOUT TOM
Dreaming Wanting Thinking Keeping
Secrets Moving Staying Alive
Only able to identify physical function
Fail to identify any mental function
WITH TOM WITHOUT TOM
Candle in shape of an apple
It looks like an apple but is really a candle
Object is an apple
Or its a candle
One or other
WITH TOM WITHOUT TOM
Little Red Riding Hood thinks its her grandmother in bed but it really is the wicked wolf
Its a wolf
A selection of ‘Strange Stories’
• Adapted from: Kaland et. al (2005) The Strange Stories test. A replication study of children and adolescents with Asperger syndrome.
• and • Jolliffe & Baron-Cohen (1999) The Strange
Stories Test: A Replication with High-Functioning Adults with Autism or Asperger Syndrome
Katie and Emma are playing in the house. Emma picks up a banana from the fruit bowl and holds it up to her ear. She says to Katie, “Look! This banana is a telephone!”
Is it true what Emma says? Yes/No/Don’t know
Why does Emma say this?
One day Aunt Jane came to visit Peter. Now Peter loves his aunt very much, but today she is wearing a new hat; a new hat, which Peter thinks is very ugly indeed.
Peter thinks his aunt looks silly in it, and
much nicer in her old hat. But when Aunt Jane asks Peter, “How do you like my new hat”, Peter says, “Oh, its very nice”.
Was it true, what Peter said? Yes/No/Don’t know
Why did he say it?
Do individuals with Autism and Aspergers lack Theory of Mind
Vote YES/NO
Difficulties arise such as social interaction Difficulty forming friendships. View people as objects. Lack of Empathy see another’s perspective. operate in their own world.
Case study lists difficulties he has throughout his life with Aspergers
Baron-Cohen 2008
Baron-Cohen, 2001. Theory of Mind in normal development and autism: Prisme 34, 174-183
Baron-Cohen, 2008, Autism and Aspergers Syndrome: The Facts. Oxford. University Press
Baron-Cohen, S.,Leslie, A.M., & Frith, U. (1985) Does the autistic child have a ‘theory of mind’? Cognition, 21, 37-46 [online] http://www.holah.karoo.net/baronstudy.htm [accessed 13th October 2011]
National Autistic Society. (2011). What is Autism.[online]:
http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/autism-and-asperger-syndrome-an-introduction/what-is-autism.aspx.[ accessed 13th October 2011]