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Steps in Theory‐of‐Mind Development for Children With Deafness or Autism
Author(s) -
Peterson Candida C.,
Wellman Henry M.,
Liu David
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2005.00859.x
Subject(s) - autism , psychology , theory of mind , developmental psychology , language development , child development , typically developing , sequence (biology) , cognition , biology , genetics , neuroscience
Prior research demonstrates that understanding theory of mind (ToM) is seriously and similarly delayed in late‐signing deaf children and children with autism. Are these children simply delayed in timing relative to typical children, or do they demonstrate different patterns of development? The current research addressed this question by testing 145 children (ranging from 3 to 13 years) with deafness, autism, or typical development using a ToM scale. Results indicate that all groups followed the same sequence of steps, up to a point, but that children with autism showed an importantly different sequence of understandings (in the later steps of the progression) relative to all other groups.