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The Mind Behind the Message: Advancing Theory‐of‐Mind Scales for Typically Developing Children, and Those With Deafness, Autism, or Asperger Syndrome
Author(s) -
Peterson Candida C.,
Wellman Henry M.,
Slaughter Virginia
Publication year - 2012
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.1467-8624.2011.01728.x
Subject(s) - sarcasm , theory of mind , psychology , autism , asperger syndrome , developmental psychology , task (project management) , cognitive psychology , cognition , irony , linguistics , psychiatry , philosophy , management , economics
Children aged 3–12 years ( n = 184) with typical development, deafness, autism, or Asperger syndrome took a series of theory‐of‐mind (ToM) tasks to confirm and extend previous developmental scaling evidence. A new sarcasm task, in the format of H. M. Wellman and D. Liu’s (2004) 5‐step ToM Scale, added a statistically reliable 6th step to the scale for all diagnostic groups. A key previous finding, divergence in task sequencing for children with autism, was confirmed. Comparisons among diagnostic groups, controlling age, and language ability, showed that typical developers mastered the 6 ToM steps ahead of each of the 3 disabled groups, with implications for ToM theories. The final (sarcasm) task challenged even nondisabled 9‐year‐olds, demonstrating the new scale’s sensitivity to post‐preschool ToM growth.