Megan Critchlow - Psychology
demonstrate whether autistic children can be trained to develop their Theory of Minds
outside of a lab. If their Theory of Minds can be developed it will additionally
demonstrate how an improved Theory of Mind can benefit their lives. I will not be
looking at mindfulness training due to the high ecological validity and indication of how
the children acted within real life circumstances in the study I previously looked at.
The first intervention I looked at was social stories (Carol Gray, 1991, cited by Baron-
Cohen, 2008). Scattone et al (2002), cited by Mohr, (2013), study further demonstrates
the effects of social stories on autistic children in a classroom situations. Social stories
were used to discourage 3 autistic boys from chair tipping, staring at girls, and shouting
at the teacher. All participants showed a decrease in these disruptive behaviours,
indicating an acknowledgement of the discomfort these actions may cause to others and
therefore demonstrating an improvement of there Theory of Mind. This study is
particularly ecologically valid due to the study being held within an active classroom,
therefore demonstrating the effects the development of an autistic child’s Theory of
Mind has upon their actions in a real life situations.
The second intervention I looked at was the thought-bubble method of training. A
report from Hulburt et al (1994) cited by Wellman et al (2002), demonstrated 3 autistic
individuals inner experiences, via descriptions from the participants of their
perceptions and actions or inner speech. These were described in the form of pictures
in their heads. This study indicates that thought-bubble training allows autistic children
to be able to view other people’s thoughts and emotions. Although they may not be able
to instantaneously predict how someone will behave, it is an alternative method that
allows autistic children to understand social situations to a greater extent.
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