Introduction
“Theory of Mind (ToM)” is based upon the ability to interpret one’s own and other people’s mental and emotional states, understanding that each person has a unique motive or prospective. It is still up for debate whether theory of mind can or does exist during infancy. In early childhood, around preschool age, children begin to grasps the nature of theory of mind which gradually improves as they aged. There are two core mental states a child undergoes in this process. The two core mental states consist of: desire-understanding and belief-understanding. Of these two mental states, children’s theory of mind tends to focus more on the belief state. Testing this theory can be done by performing an experiment known as a False Belief task. For example, the Smarties and Sally Anne
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There were two groups within the autistic children; the higher and lower functioning. They were tested by supplementing the Vineland Scales with items that were designed to distinguish social behavior which necessitates theory of mind in their everyday life. In their findings, the results showed in the autistic group, the higher functioning children and the normal developing children passed the false belief task. This study means children with autism on the higher spectrum are capable of self-awareness, intentional agents, and perspective taking in comparison to normal developing children. “Cognitive factors and family structure associated with theory of mind development in young children”, this study tested 68 three to five-year-olds. The participants were given 4 false belief task. Participants that were from larger families scored higher on the false belief tasks than those with smaller families. This study indicates that the size of the family is associated with false