11.1.15

Baron-Cohen Studies

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Baron-Cohen et al. Sally-Anne Study (1985) - Method

The Sally-Anne study examined children with autism and Down’s syndrome and was fundamental in theory of mind research.

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Participants

  • Three groups of children were studied:
    • Control group of children (average age of 4)
    • Children with Down’s syndrome (average age of 11)
    • Children with autism (average age of 12)
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Method

  • Two dolls were used in the experiment:
    • Sally had a basket.
    • Anne had a box.
  • The children were asked four questions about the dolls and the scenario created by the examiners.
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Naming question

  • The children were asked the names of the dolls.
  • This was to ensure the children understood which doll was which so no incorrect conclusions were drawn.
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Belief question

  • After the children were asked the dolls’ names, they were shown Sally hiding a marble in her basket and leaving the room.
  • Then Anne was shown taking the marble from the basket and putting it in her box.
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Belief question cont.

  • Once Sally returned, the children being studied were asked the belief question:
    • “Where will Sally look for her marble?”
  • The correct answer was in her basket. This is where Sally had placed it and she had not seen Anne taking it because she was out of the room.
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Reality question

  • The children were then asked:
    • “Where is the marble really?”
  • The correct answer being in Anne’s box.
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Memory question

  • Finally, the children were asked:
    • “Where was the marble at the beginning?”
  • The correct answer being in Sally’s basket.
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Retesting

  • Each child was then tested again, with the marble originating in a different place.

Baron-Cohen et al. Sally-Anne Study (1985) - Results

The Sally-Anne study examined children with autism and Down’s syndrome compared to a control group and was fundamental in theory of mind research. They found that children with autism had under-developed theory of mind.

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Results

  • All the children (including those with Down’s syndrome and autism) got the correct answer on the:
    • Naming question.
    • Reality question.
    • Memory question.
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Results of belief question

  • The results were different for the belief question.
    • Children with Down’s syndrome got 86%
    • Control group of children got 85%
    • Children with autism got 20%
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Conclusion

  • Baron-Cohen concluded that children with autism had under-developed theory of mind as they could not view the scenario from the perspective of the dolls.
    • The children with autism did not understand that Sally did not see Anne move the marble and therefore would not think to look in Anne’s box.
  • They could not predict or understand others’ beliefs.
  • This underdeveloped theory of mind is sometimes referred to as mind-blindness.
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Evaluation

  • The study lacked ecological validity as dolls were used.
    • It could be that children with autism do have a developed theory of mind in which they know that dolls do not actually have their own beliefs as they are not living.
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Evaluation cont.

  • Some believed that if the experiment was acted out by people rather than dolls, the results may show children with autism can perform on those tasks.
  • However, a study carried out by Leslie and Frith (1988) found the same pattern of results when they carried out the experiment with humans.

Jump to other topics

1Social Influence

2Memory

3Attachment

4Psychopathology

5Approaches in Psychology

6Biopsychology

7Research Methods

8Issues & Debates in Psychology (A2 only)

9Option 1: Relationships (A2 only)

10Option 1: Gender (A2 only)

11Option 1: Cognition & Development (A2 only)

12Option 2: Schizophrenia (A2 only)

13Option 2: Eating Behaviour (A2 only)

14Option 2: Stress (A2 only)

15Option 3: Aggression (A2 only)

16Option 3: Forensic Psychology (A2 only)

17Option 3: Addiction (A2 only)

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