That was fantastic to watch. It's pretty relevant to my thesis, as one of the things that makes it difficult for people with autism to relate to other people is a deficit in "Theory of Mind," which is what Simon Baron-Cohen calls not being able to understand others' thoughts after a certain age. Now I know what part of the brain that is supposed to be kept in!
Also, and this may be a testament to my own quirky mind theories, I got really hung up on those photographs that she showed, saying that anyone would know what is going through the minds of the subjects in said photos. I figured the mother was probably doting on the baby, but what is the baby thinking? Did the guy midair jump on purpose? On a dare? To end it all? Hmmm.
I'm assuming that you're pretty familiar with Piaget, who I thought was the first person to use the test to see if a child could understand beyond her own skull. I can't find what I thought was in my Piaget book though, so it may well have been Uta Frith after Hans Asperger. It also may well have been Baron-Cohen himself. I am mixing theorists, it's kind of at that stage of thesis.
The original as I understood it was to show a child a box with a pencil or some marbles in it, placed there within view of the child by another person. The person leaves the room, a researcher removes the marbles-or-pencil, also in full view of the child. The child is then asked to tell what they think the first person will believe is in the box. A child without a developed Theory of Mind will answer that the person will believe the box is empty, because the child knows this to be true, and cannot imagine that anyone else would not know. Fascinating stuff, and you have a small one to experiment on...I mean observe.
Also, and this may be a testament to my own quirky mind theories, I got really hung up on those photographs that she showed, saying that anyone would know what is going through the minds of the subjects in said photos. I figured the mother was probably doting on the baby, but what is the baby thinking? Did the guy midair jump on purpose? On a dare? To end it all? Hmmm.
I'm assuming that you're pretty familiar with Piaget, who I thought was the first person to use the test to see if a child could understand beyond her own skull. I can't find what I thought was in my Piaget book though, so it may well have been Uta Frith after Hans Asperger. It also may well have been Baron-Cohen himself. I am mixing theorists, it's kind of at that stage of thesis.
The original as I understood it was to show a child a box with a pencil or some marbles in it, placed there within view of the child by another person. The person leaves the room, a researcher removes the marbles-or-pencil, also in full view of the child. The child is then asked to tell what they think the first person will believe is in the box. A child without a developed Theory of Mind will answer that the person will believe the box is empty, because the child knows this to be true, and cannot imagine that anyone else would not know. Fascinating stuff, and you have a small one to experiment on...I mean observe.
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