Psychometric evaluation of the Theory of Mind Inventory (ToMI): a study of typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorder.
The Theory of Mind Inventory is a quick parent checklist that validly spots ToM delays across the full autism age span.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked parents to fill out the Theory of Mind Inventory. It is a 42-item checklist about everyday mind-reading skills.
They gave the form to the families. Half had kids with autism. Half had typical kids .
What they found
The scores were steady when parents took it twice. Kids with autism scored lower at every age.
The parent ratings matched how the same kids did on lab false-belief tasks.
How this fits with other research
Granader et al. (2014) narrowed the lens to preschoolers. They showed that planning and shifting skills drive ToM at that age. The ToMI now lets you catch those early gaps without a lab visit.
Cohrs et al. (2017) split advanced ToM into social-cognitive and social-perceptual pieces. Use ToMI first for a quick screen, then pick tasks that match the weak slice they found.
Keintz et al. (2011) warn that different lab tasks load on different executive skills. The ToMI gives one caregiver number that still predicts the mix of those lab scores.
Why it matters
You can hand the ToMI to parents in the waiting room. Five minutes later you have a reliable flag for theory-of-mind delays in autism from preschool to high school. Pair it with brief EF probes if the child is under six, or dive into advanced social-cognitive tasks if the teen scores low but has strong language. Monday morning, slip the form into your intake packet and you have a normed baseline before the first session starts.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Two studies examined the psychometric properties of the Theory of Mind Inventory (ToMI). In Study One, 135 caregivers completed the ToMI for children (ages 3 through 17) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Findings revealed excellent test-retest reliability and internal consistency. Principle Components Analysis revealed three subscales related to the complexity of ToM understanding. In Study Two, data were collected for 124 typically developing children (2 through 12 years). Findings again revealed excellent test-retest and internal consistency. The ToMI distinguished groups by age (younger vs. older children) and developmental status (typically developing vs. ASD), and predicted child performance on a ToM task battery. Utility of the ToMI, study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2012 · doi:10.1007/s10803-011-1244-7