Comparison of the Advanced Theory of Mind Skills in Turkish Children with Autism and Typically Developing Children

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Published: Aug 2, 2017
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2017-08-02 (2)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18844/ijlt.v9i2.1156

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Alev Gİrli
Department of Special Education, Buca Faculty of Education, Dokuz Eylul University, Ugur Mumcu Cad. 135. Sk. No:5; 35150 Buca-Izmir, Turkey

Abstract

Theory of mind (ToM) has been applied in an attempt to explain the social impairments that characterize children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, an examination of several Turkish ToM studies revealed that ToM belief tests often have been used inappropriately to assess typically developing (TD) children and those adult versions of the Eyes Test and other ToM tests have been used inappropriately to assess adults with psychiatric disorders. Among the studies examined, none had used advanced ToM tests such as the Eyes Test and the Strange Stories Test to compare TD children and children with autism. The objective of this study was to examine the ToM levels attained by children with autism and TD children between the ages of 7 and 13 years, using the advanced ToM Strange Stories and Eyes tests. Compared with ASD children, TD children achieved higher scores on the Eyes and Strange Stories tests.

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Gİrli, A. (2017). Comparison of the Advanced Theory of Mind Skills in Turkish Children with Autism and Typically Developing Children. International Journal of Learning and Teaching, 9(2), 305–316. https://doi.org/10.18844/ijlt.v9i2.1156
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Vol. 9 No. 2 (2017): April
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