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Theory of Mind Performance in Middle Childhood: Australian Normative and Validation Data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2012

Larry Cashion
Larry Cashion*
Affiliation:
Child & Adolescent Mental Health (North), Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. larry.cashion@dhhs.tas.gov.au
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr Larry Cashion, Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist, Child & Adolescent Mental Health (North), 46 Cameron Street, Launceston, Tasmania, 7250, Australia.
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Abstract

Theory of mind tests are regularly used in childhood research and clinical practice for autism spectrum disorders in Australia. Despite this, there is little empirical evidence that the tests used in the United Kingdom and the United States have validity for Australian children. Furthermore, many tests believed to assess ‘advanced’ or ‘higher-order’ theory of mind have not had their reliability or validity rigorously evaluated. In the current study, seven theory of mind tasks were administered to 216 Australian children aged 6 to 12 years as part of a larger research project. While Australian children performed similarly to previous research samples on some tasks, there were marked discrepancies on others. Despite these differences, the validity of using a three-factor structure of first-, second-, and higher-order theory of mind tasks was supported by subsequent confirmatory factor analysis. Methodological issues accounted for some differences between the Australian and previously reported data. However, there were also some cross-cultural aspects of the results that require further investigation.

Keywords

theory of mindfalse beliefconfirmatory factor analysis
Type
Articles
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , 01 December 2009 , pp. 138 - 153
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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