Simple Mindreading Abilities Predict Complex Theory of Mind: Developmental Delay in Autism Spectrum Disorders.
A quick eyes-test at intake spots autistic children who will lag on harder theory-of-mind lessons.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Pino et al. (2017) compared autistic and neurotypical children on mindreading tasks.
They gave a quick eyes-test and harder comic-strip tasks that need full theory of mind.
The goal was to see if the simple score could predict who would struggle with the complex stories.
What they found
Autistic kids scored lower on the eyes-test and on every harder mindreading story.
Lower eyes-test scores warned that the child would also lag on advanced theory-of-mind tasks.
The pattern shows a clear developmental delay, not just a different style of thinking.
How this fits with other research
Rutherford et al. (2003) first showed that theory-of-mind gaps hurt pretend play in preschoolers.
Chiara’s team extends that link: a quick eyes-test in early childhood now foretells later comic-strip struggles.
Rosenblau et al. (2015) seems to disagree—adults with autism can pass the eyes-test yet still fail naturalistic mindreading tasks.
The clash is only apparent: the eyes-test predicts kids’ growth, but grown-ups who pass it may still need help with subtle social cues.
Why it matters
During intake, run the brief eyes-test. A low score flags the child who will need extra steps before teaching advanced perspective-taking.
Pair simple emotion drills with later comic-strip role-plays to close the gap early.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Theory of mind (ToM) is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The aims of this study were to: (i) examine the developmental trajectories of ToM abilities in two different mentalizing tasks in children with ASD compared to TD children; and (ii) to assess if a ToM simple test known as eyes-test could predict performance on the more advanced ToM task, i.e. comic strip test. Based on a sample of 37 children with ASD and 55 TD children, our results revealed slower development at varying rates in all ToM measures in children with ASD, with delayed onset compared to TD children. These results could stimulate new treatments for social abilities, which would lessen the social deficit in ASD.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2017 · doi:10.1007/s10803-017-3194-1