title: Assessment of theory of mind in children with communication disorders: role of presentation mode.
abstract: Children with communication disorders have problems with both language and social interaction. The theory-of-mind hypothesis provides an explanation for these problems, and different tests have been developed to test this hypothesis. However, different modes of presentation are used in these tasks, which make the results difficult to compare. In the present study, the performances of typically developing children, children with specific language impairments, and children with autism spectrum disorders were therefore compared using three theory-of-mind tests (the Charlie test, the Smarties test, and the Sally-and-Anne test) presented in three different manners each (spoken, video, and line drawing modes). The results showed differential outcomes for the three types of tests and a significant interaction between group of children and mode of presentation. For the typically developing children, no differential effects of presentation mode were detected. For the children with SLI, the highest test scores were consistently evidenced in the line-drawing mode. For the children with ASD, test performance depended on the mode of presentation. Just how the children's non-verbal age, verbal age, and short-term memory related to their test scores was also explored for each group of children. The test scores of the SLI group correlated significantly with their short-term memory, those of the ASD group with their verbal age. These findings demonstrate that performance on theory-of-mind tests clearly depend upon mode of test presentation as well as the children's cognitive and linguistic abilities.
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Montessorilaan 3, 6525 HR Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Buijsen
authors.forename: Angelique
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hendriks
authors.forename: Mieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ketelaars
authors.forename: Ludo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Verhoeven
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012919:Social Behavior; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology*