Theory of Mind, Autistic Children, and the Sally-Anne Test

 

There is an old belief that autistic people lack 'theory of mind'.  In other words, can't understand that others have different beliefs about things, different opinions, different knowledge to us.  The debate is still happening, in academic circles.

One of the tests is the Sally Anne test.  The illustration above shows the principle of it, which is described as...

The researcher uses two dolls, "Sally" and "Anne". 

Sally has a basket;

 Anne has a box. 

The research explains to an autistic child, and demonstrates it using toys etc.
 Sally puts a marble in her basket and then leaves the scene.
While Sally is away and cannot watch, Anne takes the marble out of Sally's basket and puts it into her box.

 Sally then returns.
The autistic child is asked where they think Sally will look for her marble. 

Children are said to "pass" the test if they tell/show the researcher that Sally will probably look inside her basket before realizing that her marble isn't there.

The children are quizzed on this by the researcher.  "Where is the marble really?".  "Where was the marble in the beginning?". 

They're testing whether the children realise that Sally doesn't know where it is, now Ann has moved it out of the basket and into the box.

But, is this what it's testing?

Let's think about this.

Autistic children tend to be more honest, and more focused on social justice.  They are also more dedicated to their hobbies and cherished items, and these have a huge emotional meaning for them. We know this from research.

They've just watched a crime happening.  Anne has nicked the precious, loved marble of Sally, and put it into her box, without permission.  Sally is likely to be devastated and about to enter an autistic brain event as a result.  It's so important to the autistic child to help Sally stay out of that brain event (empathy, theory of mind...).   Keen to help Sally solve the crime quickly and be reunited with her precious item, they point fervently to the box, where it is.  For the autistic child, this is the important thing.  And, Sally will look in the box.  Just not first.  So if asked where Sally will look, they're not wrong in saying 'the box'.  

The researcher is asking them questions during this crime, in spoken words, and expecting spoken-word answers.  In all probability, the autistic child's brain will be in near-panic and there's not a hope in heck of getting a proper answer out of them.  Many such tests are carried out at the end of a long day for the child, in a room that is sensory-hell for them, and which may also interfere with the test results. This should always be factored into any answers.

So, did we test theory of mind?  Arguably, yes, but perhaps not that of the autistic child.  We tested theory of mind & autism knowledge of the researcher, because their assumptions about theory of mind are what's at play here - not potential reality.

This helps demonstrate how autistic culture and neurology can lead to very different answers to those expected.  Individual test results may vary of course - this is to assist thinking, not to say that all autistic children will do the above.

Always, always, ask autistic specialists to help guide test processes, so that we avoid potential errors and can test what we think we're testing.