Confused about the theory of mind

Post Reply New Topic

I'll assume you're familiar with Simon Baron-Cohen's study 'Does the Autistic Child have a Theory of Mind??'
I took that test when I saw it in a psychology magazine at school.

I failed the belief question, which implies that I don't have a theory of mind, as I cannot imagine that the marble is anywhere but where it is. Or something along those lines.

However, I failed the belief question because I thought that the question 'where will Sally look for the marble?' meant 'where will Sally look for the marble after she doesn't find it in her basket?'

So maybe this was the mistake that the autistic children made in the experiment, and maybe it makes Baron-Cohen's conclusions a bit dodgy.

Disclaimer: I am not claiming to be autistic, therefore I acknowledge that my result may be down to my own mind, or faulty presentation of the experiment in the magazine.

Interesting that the wikipedia article makes no mention of interpretation. I wonder if the experimenters accounted for it?

I took the ball in the box test a few months ago (I'm 26), I failed it.

I interpreted the question correctly; I only saw the incorrect answer.