Measuring advanced theory of mind: Do story‐based tasks work?

Abstract

Introduction Although much is known about theory of mind (ToM) development during childhood, data on how these skills develop in adolescence is scarce. This cavity is due in part to the limited knowledge about measures of advanced theory of mind. Methods The study examined the relation among six common story‐based tasks designed to measure advanced ToM in two age groups of Polish adolescents: early (13‐year‐olds; 78 girls) and late (16‐year‐olds; 143 girls) adolescents. Results Factor models for individual tasks were constructed, followed by an examination of the underlying structure that explained the variability of factor scores. Only in half of the tasks, the results revealed an age‐related increase in advanced ToM. Contrary to expectation, results showed a lack of correlations among story‐based advanced ToM tasks in the two adolescent groups. Conclusions The results suggest a lack of coherence among advanced story‐based ToM tasks and the need for further development of reliable and valid advanced ToM measures which are sensitive enough to show increasingly complex social reasoning abilities in adolescence.

Language, ambiguity, and executive functions in adolescents' theory of mind

“…Although most research has focused on early developments in ToM, there is a growing interest in later developments, with several measures having been developed to assess aToM in children and adults (for reviews, see Białecka‐Pikul et al, 2021; Hayward & Homer, 2017). Some of the most popular tasks for assessing aToM include the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (Baron‐Cohen et al, 2001), in which participants pick one emotional word to match a photograph of a pair of human eyes, the Strange Stories Task (Happé, 1994), which requires participants to identify characters' motives and intended meaning (e.g., irony, double bluff, suggestion) in short social scenarios, and the Silent Film Task (Devine & Hughes, 2013), which adapted the Strange Stories Task into film‐based analogues.…”

Mentalizing strategies for navigating the social world in adolescence

“…Several story‐based tasks have been adapted and used in adolescents to measure mentalizing ability. These tasks, including the Modified Hinting Task and the Modified Unexpected Outcome Task, generate scores reflecting a participant's understanding of hinting and unexpected reactions, respectively (Białecka‐Pikul et al, 2021). The Flexibility and Automaticity of Social Cognition Task are composed of eight comic‐like cartoon stories (Hayward et al, 2018).…”

“…The Picture Test of Theory of Mind is composed of pictures that participants are asked to order to form a story (Brüne, 2003). Participants are then asked to tell the story and to respond to questions about the story character's mental states which consist of first, second, and third‐order beliefs (Białecka‐Pikul et al, 2021; Brüne, 2003). The Faux Pas Test (Stone et al, 1998) is an adult adaptation of the child Faux Pas Test used with children and preadolescents (Baron‐Cohen et al, 1999) that consists of stories, half of which contain a faux pas .…”

“…Participants are asked to respond to questions about faux pas detecting and understanding. In a recent study of early (13 years old) and late (16 years old) adolescents, participants completed all of the above stories (Białecka‐Pikul et al, 2021). Late adolescents had higher scores compared to early adolescents on the Modified Hinting Task, Modified Unexpected Outcomes Task, Flexibility and Automaticity of Social Cognition Task, and a portion of the Self‐Persuasion Story Task but not the Picture Test of Theory of Mind or Faux Pas Test (Białecka‐Pikul et al, 2021).…”

“…In a recent study of early (13 years old) and late (16 years old) adolescents, participants completed all of the above stories (Białecka‐Pikul et al, 2021). Late adolescents had higher scores compared to early adolescents on the Modified Hinting Task, Modified Unexpected Outcomes Task, Flexibility and Automaticity of Social Cognition Task, and a portion of the Self‐Persuasion Story Task but not the Picture Test of Theory of Mind or Faux Pas Test (Białecka‐Pikul et al, 2021). Notably, the factors generated from the tasks (or task components in the case of the Self‐Persuasion Story Task) displayed non‐significant age‐related associations and also showed low‐reliability indices, potentially indicating poor reliability of the tasks themselves as reasoned by the authors (Białecka‐Pikul et al, 2021).…”