Relationship between theory of mind and intellectual development in children with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

The present study is focused on the relationship between the capacity for understanding the mental states and the level of intellectual development within Theory of Mind (ToM) paradigm. Using the Strange story test, Picture Sequencing Test, and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, we compared highly functional ASD children (N = 20) with neurotypical controls (N = 24) aged 7-11. We propose the modified ToM questionnaire based on the system-level model of ToM development. The model specifies emotional-figurative, perceptual-figurative, and conceptual levels of ToM representations.

Differential interrelations between the levels of ToM organization and intellectual development were revealed in ASD children and the control group. In particular, among the ASD children the conceptual level was associated with both attention to missing details and the ability to establish the sequence of events; the emotional-figurative level was inversely related to the level of verbal generalization. In contrast, in neurotypical children the ability to establish the sequence of events was associated with the perceptual-figurative level. Thus, the intellectual factors of ToM in ASD were shown to be qualitatively different compared to the normal development. Contradictory relationship between ToM and general intelligence, both in structure and direction, was found.