Now that you have joined as contributors, I am very interested in reading your critique and analysis of the concept of the Theory of Mind. This theory, which developed over the last thirty plus years, proposes to explain the autistic individual's relation of his or her own thoughts, ideas and feelings in relation to those of others. Simon Baron-Cohen defines Theory of Mind as "...the ability to attribute thoughts and feelings and intentions and emotions to other people different to your own." (http://meetinnovators.com/2011/10/14/simon-baron-cohen-cambridge-university/) While this theory cannot been directly proved due to the nature of the phenomenon, it is nevertheless an important consideration in the assessment on ASD individuals. In fact, it is an important consideration in any type of human interaction.
Please view the following two videos on Theory of Mind and contribute a substantive blog post in which you comment whether you agree that Theory of Mind is an important consideration in assessing ASD individuals based on the information presented by two scholars in the field.
Robert SeyFarth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDtjLSa50uk&list=FLhENi61rzs4zEChadFq9n3g&index=10&feature=plpp_video
Professor Ute Firth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bsvm7q3lWo&list=FLhENi61rzs4zEChadFq9n3g&index=13&feature=plpp_video
Theory of Mind is very important to consider in assessing ASD individuals. Theory of mind is the ability to attribute mental states to other people. It is the ability to make the distinction between what people do and what people think we do. We are not born with this ability we need to learn it. Children and people with autism have difficulty attributing mental states to other people. They don’t think that other people have thoughts, needs, and/or desires. One example that was given in the video links displays the inability to apply this theory of mind to others was in the example of the boy who pointed to the sweets. The boy did not have the ability to communicate with words so his parents taught him to point to a specific cabinet when he wanted sweets. The boy would point to the cabinet and would obtain a sweet. However, sometimes he would point to the cabinet when no one was around. He would get frustrated that he wouldn’t get a sweet. What he didn’t realize was that no one else was in the room while he was pointing. He did not understand that everyone else doesn’t know that he wants a sweet. The boy imagines that everyone else knows what that he wants a sweet and that is not the case.
ReplyDeleteI think this example is very important to consider when assessing individuals with ASD. When assessing individuals with ASD you need to really look at what you’re assessing. Using the example above, are you assessing the skill of the boy to point to the cabinet with the sweets in order to obtain the sweet, or are you assessing the ability of the boy to communicate his want for a sweet. Initially the skill of pointing to the sweets fits both requirements of obtaining a sweet, however, if the boy continues to point to the cabinet with no one in the kitchen, he is not successfully communicating his want for a sweet. In that case, the boy is not successfully communicating and therefore would not pass the assessment of being able to communicate his need of wanting a sweet. A new skill would need to be taught of getting someone to go to the kitchen with the boy and then pointing to the cabinet for the sweet. Because we are not born with the innate ability to have Theory of Mind, everyone needs to learn it. People with ASD need to be specifically taught that other people have thoughts, needs, and/or desires.
I’m going to tread lightly here because I think as a group we probably come from different perspectives/practices…
ReplyDeleteFrom a behavioral perspective, theory of mind is a hypothetical construct in that it is not directly observable. For behavior analysts it would be risky to attribute behavior to internal or mentalistic processes because it implies that we cannot manipulate the environment to change and/or control behavior which is in practice, what we do.
Take, for example, the child who pointed to the sweets when no communicative partner was present. One might argue that he points to the sweets when no one else is looking because he does not have a developed theory of mind. A behavior analyst would be more likely to say “it is said he does not have a developed theory of mind because he points to the sweets when no one is looking.” This behavior is simply occurring under faulty stimulus control, the presence of the sweets is evoking the pointing response, as opposed to the presence of a communicative partner evoking the communicative/pointing response. It is likely that at some point (or maybe several times) in the past, this behavior has been reinforced; possibly the parents entered the room while the child was pointing to the sweets and retrieved them for him. If we were to teach him that in the presence of, and only in the presence of a communicative partner, pointing to the sweets would get him the sweets; and that when no communicative partner was present, pointing to sweets would get him no sweets, it is likely that pointing in the absence of another individual would stop.
In assessing individuals with ASD, I think it is very important to look at individual skills. In the case of the sweets, for example, by identifying, “can the individual point to an item he or she wants?” and, “does the individual get your attention prior to pointing to what he or she wants?” you are sure to evaluate the actual skill set of the individual and identify what skills need to be taught and/or modified.
In regards to social skills in general, examining joint attention, pretend play, sharing and even expressions of empathy in very small pieces (looks from an item to another person, engages in imaginary play with a peer, takes items from peers/offers items to peers, says “are you okay,” when a peer falls down) we get an objective, comprehensive evaluation. Though it may be true that in individuals with ASD taking the perspective of another person can be a deficit, I think it is important that this (or any) prior awareness does not interfere with the assessment process itself. If a skill is found to be deficient, it is our role to then teach and reinforce it, but, as Ute Firth stated, children with autism very often predicted Sally would look for the item in the second location, implying some children with autism already had the skill. As assessors, we have to be careful not to assume a skill is deficient in one individual simply because it has been found to be deficient in most. We always want to be sure to objectively assess and treat the individual, not the diagnosis.
Theory of mind is extremely important, especially when assessing individual with ASD.We are not born with the skills, we have to learn them. Children with ASD have to learn every skills. One of the examples that was giving in the theory of mind, Sally put the ball in the basket, she went to the bathroom but when she came back the ball was not in there. If she was a typical kid, she will know to look in the box even though she did not put the ball in there. They think people only know what they know. Children with autism have difficulty to attribute to others. some of the children are always scripting, they are like a machine that is program to do thing a certain way. They don't have the ability to look outside their little box. When assessing children with ASD it is very important to know the environment and what skills they might have. Also it is important the child is somewhat familiar with the environment because they are used to routine and the assessor does not want to throw them of. Another example that was mentioned by Ute Firth,a boy was thought to point to the cabinet and he would get sweet. He learned that all he had to do and he would get what he wanted. However, he did not know if he pointed when people were not in the kitchen he would not get sweet. He was getting frustrated because he had done that in the past and got rewarded. Since he did not have the ability to communicate his needs, his mother could have teach him how to get the sweet in a different way. He could have learn to take someone hands and bring he/she in the kitchen and then pointed to the cabinet. Therefore he would always get his sweet. I think that will have been an affective way to communicate his needs. Remember children with autism think we only know what they know. Children with ASD have difficulty with social play and make belief. When the boy saw his mother used a banana as a telephone he laughed because he knew that was make belief. Children with ASD would not have the ability to understand that was pretend play. That would have to be taught to the child before he or she can understand the concept. As assessor theory of mind should always be in mind when assessing children with ASD.
ReplyDeleteI think that overall, I would have to agree with Naomi's points on this manner. While it is important to keep things such as theory of the mind in mind when assessing a child with autism, I think that it is also very important to keep the motivating functions of behaviors in mind as well when it comes to skill acquisition and abilities for children with ASD. In assessing a child with ASD we look to see what skills and abilities they have and can then choose the best course of action for different interventions. It is also possible though, that certain skills are only lacking for these children not because they don't have the ability to acquire them but they just may not have the proper motivation. Yes it is quite possible that a common thing among most ASD children is that they all lack the ability to naturally acquire Theory of mind which their typical peers gain naturally through development but isn't it also possible that they just lack the proper motivation. For typical children, the motivation for social interaction is present from birth and so theory of the mind is developed in more natural settings because in learning these sets of skills they are receiving attention which reinforces the skills even more. For a child with ASD, who does not necessarily seek social interaction or attention, continuing to develop the skills connected to theory of the mind may not occur because the natural reaction from others of attention is not reinforcing to them. When assessing children with autism we should assess what skills are present but never assume that those which are not present cannot be developed. We should determine what things are most reinforcing to the child and can then teach them all the skills that they may be lacking. We should never assume that they do not have the ability to acquire those skills but rather that we just have not found the proper motivation for the child yet. While it is very possible that these children do lack the skill of theory of the mind at the time of assessment it should not be the main focus when beginning an assessment of a child. The main focus should be on the child's strengths, weaknesses, and things which they find reinforcing so we can then develop interventions and treatments which will ultimately give them the best outcomes and possibilities in life.
ReplyDeleteTheory of mind is one of many tools used to assess an individual with ASD. Theory of Mind is knowing that all humans have different mental states which include different thoughts, desires and knowledge. Theory of Mind is the way we perceive our environment and it also plays a big part in everyday communication. An example of Theory of Mind is the child pointing to the sweets. When the boy's parents taught him to point to the cabinet when he wanted a treat, he automatically thinks anytime he "points" he would receive a treat, even when no one is in the room. Children without ASD have Theory of Mind to think and realize"No one is in the room....I need to help".
ReplyDeleteAnother Example in explaining Theory of Mind is the marble situation with Sally and Anne. When Sally leaves to use the bathroom, a typical child would know Anne moved the marble into her basket. On the other hand, an child with ASD would think Sally "knows" the marble is in Annes basket and would have a difficult time understanding why one may think differently. This is because they cannot conceive different states of mind. The example given, shows how communication can be an everyday challenge for an ASD individual. Human beings are not born with Theory of Mind. With experience and guidance children begin to learn that all individuals think differently and have feelings as well as thoughts. Because children with ASD lack Theory of Mind, as an educator we need to teach everyday coping skills. It is important to make sure the child is actually understanding what is being taught versus memorization, which can be very common in a ASD children. As I mentioned before, Theory of Mind is important to assess a child with ASD, but I strongly believe there are many other important concepts that need to be involved to help the child to his/her potential.
Coming from a behavioral background, I'm a little bit skeptical of the theory of mind. In the practice of Applied Behavior Analysis, we focus on objectively observable behavior as well as observable environmental causes of that behavior. And we do not focus on thoughts or mental processes. It would be contradictory to a behavior analyst's job to attribute the cause of someone's behavior to a certain state of mind.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, there are certain behaviors that could be considered to be consistent with having a theory of mind. For example, basic social questions such asking someone "How are you?" or "What do you think about ___?" are indicative of someone having a theory of mind. And children with ASD can be taught to ask these questions as well as being taught to appropriately respond to the questionees answer. After someone acquires and performs these skills, we still cannot say that they have a theory of mind. We can only say that they "behave in a way that is consistent with having a theory of mind."
Overall, I'm reluctant to say that theory of mind should be considered when as asessing children with ASD. Assessors should focus on the child'd ability to learn and their ability to perform pivotal skills such as generalized imitation and receptive and expressive language. When a child has the appropriate skills, they can be taught to perform the socially significant behaviors that are products of a theory of mind.
To conclude, I do not think theory of mind should be rejected altogether. I just think it should be identified in terms of behavioral charactersitics rather than mentalistic processes.
I agree with Naomi and Courtney. While the development of theory of mind is considered a clinically significant difference between typical children and many children with ASD, one needs to look at each individual child to determine whether or not each child has the skills that make up a developed theory of mind. In terms of behavior, how would a behavior analyst assess theory of mind? One cannot directly assess mental processes, but there might be certain behaviors one could look at that would provide an indication of whether or not this is an area to focus on. I think it is important for those of us who are in the field of behavior to ask themselves if there are ways we can observe what is typically considered unobservable and immeasurable, and to translate the mental into the behavioral whenever possible.
ReplyDeleteDirectly observable behaviors that could possibly relate to theory of mind might be: does the child engage in joint attention (for example, if they find a toy will they walk up to you and show it to you? Or if you say look, and point to an object, will the child look back and the object and then look back at your reaction?), If the child has verbal and especially an intraverbal repertoire, will they share pertinent information about themselves that might not be known by others, will the child engage in pretend play, will the child ask questions of another individual about themselves such as “How are you doing?” or “Are you okay?”, will the child label objects and events in the environment in the presence of others already in that environment?
If the child does not have some of these skills, then one might be able to argue they do not have a developed theory of mind. But more importantly, one needs to then assess what is reinforcing to the child (do they like verbal attention from adults, do they have a tangible item they are motivated by?), and then pair what is reinforcing as a consequence with the skill you are trying to teach. For example, if you want a child to come up to a peer when they act hurt and say, “Are you okay?”, you need to teach that skill and then upon completion, provide the reinforcing consequence alongside the answer with the peer, “I’m okay”. Eventually one would hope to fade this consequence so that eventually just the natural consequence of the peer remains and hopefully becomes reinforcing due to the pairing.
I think that we should consider theory of mind when assessing children with autism, and assess whether children have observable behaviors that would indicate to us whether a child might have a developed theory of mind. If they do not have those behaviors in their repertoire and we know that most children do, then it is our job to apply the principles of behavior in hope that they will acquire those skills as well.
Theory of the mind is a concept described as the ability to attribute feelings, thoughts, beliefs and knowledge to other individuals. It is a skill that typically developing children acquire around the ages of 5 or 6. According to the film, some researchers have discovered that many individuals on the ASD spectrum do not have the ability to attribute mental states to others; therefore, theory of the mind could be a useful tool when assessing ASD individuals. As a behaviorist, I could not see myself using the theory of the mind to assess people on the ASD spectrum because it is a mental state that cannot be observed or measured. Although I do understand the concept and why some people might use it during assessments, It is not a tool that I would find valuable.
ReplyDeleteTheory of mind is the ability of an individual to attribute mental states to other individuals, and to understand that not everyone has the same feelings, wants, needs, etc. To me, theory of mind is a foundation in forming reciprocal, meaningful relationships with other people which is necessary to lead a successful life. If an individual with Autism does not have theory of mind, we want them to get to that point if possible and cannot find out what they are capable of and which direction to take in teaching without first assessing.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, I do believe that theory of mind should be considered when assessing a child with Autism. Because of my background and the population that I work with, I feel there is so much more to a child with Autism than just their observable behaviors. For instance, if we're purely looking at behaviors, the child who pointed at the cabinet for chocolate would have mastered that skill. However, that skill has no meaning if he does not understand that first, others must be present in order to get his needs met and second, others must understand what his pointing indicates. While I do agree that theory of mind may not be directly observable, it should by no means be the only skill being assessed, and therefore would just be another piece to keep in mind when looking at the performance of the whole child.
I am in agreement with some of the people in the class regarding the Theory of Mind. With a background in Applied Behavior Analysis and also furthering my education in Applied Behavior Analysis, I am on the fence about including it when assessing children with autism. The Theory of Mind is making the assumption that one has different mental states which include thoughts, feelings and desires. From a behavior standpoint, Theory of Mind is not an observable behavior that can be directly measured. It would be rather difficult in assessing whether or not a child has a Theory of Mind because according to the videos, it is only assumed that children might be developing a Theory of Mind around the age of 5 or 6; there is nothing concrete to say whether or not a child has this mental state. If there were observable behaviors that could be measured that indicated a Theory of Mind, I would agree that it would be important in assessing children with autism. It is important in any and all areas that might be of difficulty for children should be assessed and the proper way of teaching them be taught for them to become a successful party of society.
ReplyDeleteFor those professionals that are not coming from a behavior standpoint/background, I would agree for them to include the Theory of Mind in assessing children with autism. It would provide more information to professionals on how children with ASD process information and view their world. It might provide further understanding to the disorder and how it might develop and lead to ways in which it would be very helpful in teaching.
I do not personally find it helpful or valuable in assessing the Theory of Mind when assessing children with autism because it cannot be observed or measured. Theory of Mind, from listening to the videos, sounds like a very interesting concept to learn more about.
As someone who practices behavioral analysis on a daily basses it is difficult to accept the idea of the theory of mind. Because thought processes are completely hypothetical and can not be measured this has to remain a theory. On the plus side of it, it can be demonstrated when talking to children and using situations like the one in the video (the ball in the basket/box) as an example to measure there responses to the hypothetical situation. This is an important skill to acquire, and many individuals with ASD do not fully acquire it. There are some tasks that I do in my own classroom that rely on trying to teach this relationship to others. Such task as describing a emotion seen on a card, saying the emotion, then demonstrating what the students face would look like if he was feeling this same emotion. When dealing with such constructs as emotions and thoughts, it can be difficult to demonstrate it to others who do not understand or relate such as some individuals with ASD. This ability of being able to understand others emotional state also effects individuals with ASD socially as well. Many individuals with ASD already struggle with social situations and subtle social cues and this puts them even more at a disadvantage. Viewing a movie, TV show, or story can be challenging to these individuals who can, most times, not relate to the characters emotional state or are not able to obtain the characters perspective. Since it can not be measured this theory, although can be demonstrated but not accurately measured, will remain just a theory until further understanding can be achieved.
ReplyDeleteTheory of mind seems to be a major area of separation between children with autism and the rest of the population. It is absolutely an important consideration to make while assessing children with autism, because as the scholars explained children with autism do not often have this concept. With typically developing children a concept of perspective taking emerges at a young age. While a child with autism is capable of learning many aspects of perspective taking, theory of mind is not necessarily one of them. To best describe here is an original example: A seven year old boy does not wash his hands while leaving the bathroom, he is well aware he did not wash his hands and that he should have washed them, his mother asks him if he washed his hands and he says "no". She then accompanies him to the bathroom to wash his hands. This boy did not want to wash his hands and he could have said "yes" and his mother would not have made him wash his hands, but he didn't because he doesn't really understand that he is capable of deceiving others. He knows that he did not wash his hands and so since that is what happened that's what he'll say. To better explain why I think this is essential in assessing students with autism lets pretend the same boy is taking the MCAS, in the reading section he reads a story about one cat with two homes however the story never directly says that the cat has two homes but instead follows a cat to two different homes with two different families that call him two different names in the comprehension section the boy is answers questions about the story, the problem is he does not understand that the two cats he is reading about are really the same cat and so he gets all the reading comprehension questions wrong, the question becomes does the boy really not comprehend what he's reading or is he unable to infer information like typically developing children. I think this example makes a good argument for the consideration of theory of mind in assessment of children with autism
ReplyDeleteSorry about my user name I have a blogger acount set up with this as my sign off and so it pops up!
ReplyDeleteTheory of mind is attributing mental states to other people. The reason this is an abstract concept is because you can't see other people thinking. It is the distinction between what they do and what they think we do. This is something that we have to learn, not something that we are born with. I agree with some of the above posts. I think that Theory of mind is important to assess in children with Autism because if we can find some objective measurable behaviors to examine, then we as behavior analysts can look at whether or not this skill or skills are things that need to be taught to our students. I think it is wrong to assume that all children with Autism lack theory of mind which is why it is important to assess.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to the child pointing to the sweets cabinet, I agree with Naomi. I think that this is faulty stimulus control. The boy wasn't taught that he needed a communicative partner present in order to access the sweets. This means that this is not a function way of communicating for this child. Perhaps if the pointing was taught in a way that is similar to PECS (eventually teaching the child that he needs to seek out the communicative partner in order to ask for something that he wants) then this wouldn't have been an issue. If that was the case, would you say this child has theory of mind? I think that we need to find multiple ways to assess theory of mind, so that we can see the exact skill or skills that are lacking that we can then break down into a systematic way of learning for our students.
For many of those autistic individuals, mindblindness or lack of Thoery of mind creates major barriers to communication and social interaction.
ReplyDeleteSomeone who has a full grasp of Theory of mind will immediatelly know that Sally will look where she last left the ball. She does not know that the ball has been moved. A person with poor Theory of mind skills will believe that Sally will look for the ball in the box, becuase they do not fully grasp that Sally will not know what Ann has done. This has lead many professionals to say, as in a quote from Stephen Edelson Ph.D.,"many austistic individuals do not understand that people have their own plans, thoughts and point of view".The central symptom of autism(anomalies in social interaction, communication and pretense) could be explained by specific deficit of Theory of mind.Although autistic children have cognitive performance, they lack the ability to understand false belief task.
Given the findings in the aforementioned studies, Theory of mind tests do have a reliable and valid place in assessing developmentally delayed children. However, Theory of mind does not address the reasons for the varying degree of severity in autism and , the theory only addresses the triad of impairment.