Putting theory of mind in its place: psychological explanations of the socio-emotional-communicative impairments in autistic spectrum disorder

[Pay attention to this topic of  'Theory of Mind' (ToM) as it relates to the Autism Spectrum.   This blog was prepared last week and scheduled for posting tonight.  See below for another article that was released just this afternoon.  Of course, online searches yields more references.]

1. In this review, the history of the theory of mind (ToM) theory of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is outlined (in which ToM is indexed by success on false belief tasks), and the explanatory power and psychological causes of impaired ToM in ASD are critically discussed. It is concluded that impaired ToM by itself has only limited explanatory power, but that explorations of the psychological precursors of impaired ToM have been fruitful in increasing understanding of mindreading impairments in ASD (where ‘mindreading’ refers those abilities that underlie triadic interaction as well as ToM). It is argued that early explanations of impaired mindreading are untenable for various reasons, but that impairments of dyadic interaction in ASD that could lead to impaired ability to represent others’ mental states may be the critical psychological cause, or causes, of impaired ToM. The complexity of causal routes to impaired ToM is emphasized

Jill Boucher, Department of Psychology, City University, London EC1V 0HB, UK. Email: Jill.Boucher.1@city.ac.uk

http://aut.sagepub.com/content/16/3/226.abstract?rss=1

"Life on the Autism Spectrum can be ENJOYable."

Problems with Theory of Mind and Neurotypical Autism Experts

Landon Bryce at thAutcast.com

*San Francisco Chronicle* autism blogger Laura Shumaker today presents this quote from Dr. Susan Ashely's 2006 book *The Asperger’s Answer Book: Professional Answers to 275 of the Top Questions Parents Ask* as an authoritative, neutral statement on theory of mind:Theory of Mind (ToM)is the ability to make attributions. Attributions are the thoughts we create about others in order to explain what happens in our interactions with and observations of them. No one actually teaches us to make attributions; we just do it automatically. For the most part, we can make good guesses at som...more »