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...ism is a severe developmental disorder. It is a rare condition,saffecting about 4 in every 10,000 children. The diagnostic criteria at presentsare behavioural (American Psychiatric Association, 1980; =-=Kanner, 1943-=-; Rit-svo & Freeman, 1978; Rutter, 1978) and the main symptom, which can be re-sliably identified, is impairment in verbal and nonverbal communication. Thissimpairment is part of the core feature of c...

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...l perceptual perspective-taking tasks,ssuch as ‘line of sight’ or ‘three mountains’, where a child has to indicate whatscan be seen from another point of view (Hobson, 1982; Hughes & Donaldson,s1979; =-=Piaget and Inhelder, 1956-=-). Such perceptual perspective-taking tasksscan be solved using solely visuo-spatial skills and in no way require imputingsbeliefs to others (Cox, 1980; Huttenlocher & Presson, 1979). Hobson (1984)sha...

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..., feel, or believe things; in short, hav-sing what Premack and Woodruff (1978) termed a ‘theory of mind’. A theorysof mind is impossible without the capacity to form ‘second-order representa-stions’ (=-=Dennett, 1978-=-; Pylyshyn, 1978). According to Leslie’s model this capa-scity does not appear until the second year of life. While this capacity manifestssitself eventually in a theory of mind, Leslie shows that it ...

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...es & Donaldson,s1979; Piaget and Inhelder, 1956). Such perceptual perspective-taking tasksscan be solved using solely visuo-spatial skills and in no way require imputingsbeliefs to others (Cox, 1980; =-=Huttenlocher & Presson, 1979-=-). Hobson (1984)shas recently shown that autistic children succeed on perceptual perspective-s44 S. Baron-Cohen et al.staking tasks with doll protagonists as well as can be expected from their MA.sThi...

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...g evidence for the ability to attribute men-stal states to others, and its development from the second year of life onwardss(Bretherton, McNew, & Beeghly-Smith, 1981; MacNamara, Baker, & Olson,s1976; =-=Shantz, 1983-=-; Shultz, Wells, & Sarda, 1980; Shultz & Cloghesy, 1981).sA convincing demonstration that an explicit theory of mind is well within thescapacity of the normal four-year-old has been’given by Wimmer an...

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...do. This is clearly a crucial compo-snent of social skills. There is growing evidence for the ability to attribute men-stal states to others, and its development from the second year of life onwardss(=-=Bretherton, McNew, & Beeghly-Smith, 1981-=-; MacNamara, Baker, & Olson,s1976; Shantz, 1983; Shultz, Wells, & Sarda, 1980; Shultz & Cloghesy, 1981).sA convincing demonstration that an explicit theory of mind is well within thescapacity of the n...

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...s well known that autistic children, in addition to their social hand-sicaps, also show a striking poverty of pretend play (Sigman & Ungerer, 1981;sDoes the autistic child have a “theory of mind”? 39s=-=Ungerer & Sigman, 1981-=-; Wing, Gould, Yeates, & Brierley, 1977; Wing &sGould, 1979). An explanation for the lack of pretend play and its curious as-ssociation with the social impairments typical of autism is not obvious, an...

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... It is a rare condition,saffecting about 4 in every 10,000 children. The diagnostic criteria at presentsare behavioural (American Psychiatric Association, 1980; Kanner, 1943; Rit-svo & Freeman, 1978; =-=Rutter, 1978-=-) and the main symptom, which can be re-sliably identified, is impairment in verbal and nonverbal communication. Thissimpairment is part of the core feature of childhood autism, namely a profoundsdiso...

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...ic children, in addition to their social hand-sicaps, also show a striking poverty of pretend play (Sigman & Ungerer, 1981;sDoes the autistic child have a “theory of mind”? 39sUngerer & Sigman, 1981; =-=Wing, Gould, Yeates, & Brierley, 1977-=-; Wing &sGould, 1979). An explanation for the lack of pretend play and its curious as-ssociation with the social impairments typical of autism is not obvious, andsagain the notion of mental age is not...

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...).sIn order to explain the specific impairments of childhood autism it is neces-ssary, then, to consider the underlying cognitive mechanisms independent ofsIQ (Frith, 1982; Hermelin & O’Connor, 1970; =-=Rutter, 1983-=-). So far, nobodyshas had any idea of how to characterise such mechanisms in even quasi-com-sputational terms. In this paper we put forward a suggestion which has beensderived from a new model of meta...

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...eve things; in short, hav-sing what Premack and Woodruff (1978) termed a ‘theory of mind’. A theorysof mind is impossible without the capacity to form ‘second-order representa-stions’ (Dennett, 1978; =-=Pylyshyn, 1978-=-). According to Leslie’s model this capa-scity does not appear until the second year of life. While this capacity manifestssitself eventually in a theory of mind, Leslie shows that it also accounts fo...

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... the ability to attribute men-stal states to others, and its development from the second year of life onwardss(Bretherton, McNew, & Beeghly-Smith, 1981; MacNamara, Baker, & Olson,s1976; Shantz, 1983; =-=Shultz, Wells, & Sarda, 1980-=-; Shultz & Cloghesy, 1981).sA convincing demonstration that an explicit theory of mind is well within thescapacity of the normal four-year-old has been’given by Wimmer and Perners(1983). These authors...

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...with IQ’s in the normal range, and sec-sond, mentally retarded non-autistic children, such as Down’s syndrome, aressocially competent relative to their mental age (Coggins, Carpenter, &sOwings, 1983; =-=Gibson, 1978-=-).sIn order to explain the specific impairments of childhood autism it is neces-ssary, then, to consider the underlying cognitive mechanisms independent ofsIQ (Frith, 1982; Hermelin & O’Connor, 1970; ...

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...t aspects of social ineptness, but also to a lack of pretend play.sNow, it is well known that autistic children, in addition to their social hand-sicaps, also show a striking poverty of pretend play (=-=Sigman & Ungerer, 1981-=-;sDoes the autistic child have a “theory of mind”? 39sUngerer & Sigman, 1981; Wing, Gould, Yeates, & Brierley, 1977; Wing &sGould, 1979). An explanation for the lack of pretend play and its curious as...

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...stal states to others, and its development from the second year of life onwardss(Bretherton, McNew, & Beeghly-Smith, 1981; MacNamara, Baker, & Olson,s1976; Shantz, 1983; Shultz, Wells, & Sarda, 1980; =-=Shultz & Cloghesy, 1981-=-).sA convincing demonstration that an explicit theory of mind is well within thescapacity of the normal four-year-old has been’given by Wimmer and Perners(1983). These authors developed an ingenious p...

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...even in able autistic children, despitesimprovements due to intervention. A picture of apparently intractable socialsimpairment emerges in the clinical follow-up studies of autism (e.g. Kanner,s1971; =-=Kanner, Rodriguez, & Ashenden, 1972-=-) and in the as yet rare experi-smental investigations (e.g. Attwood, 1984; Martini, 1980).sAlthough the majority of autistic children are mentally retarded (DeMyerset al., 1974; Wing, Yeates, Brierle...

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...y intractable socialsimpairment emerges in the clinical follow-up studies of autism (e.g. Kanner,s1971; Kanner, Rodriguez, & Ashenden, 1972) and in the as yet rare experi-smental investigations (e.g. =-=Attwood, 1984-=-; Martini, 1980).sAlthough the majority of autistic children are mentally retarded (DeMyerset al., 1974; Wing, Yeates, Brierley, & Gould 1976), and although a numbersof their symptoms may be attributa...

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... 1982; Hughes & Donaldson,s1979; Piaget and Inhelder, 1956). Such perceptual perspective-taking tasksscan be solved using solely visuo-spatial skills and in no way require imputingsbeliefs to others (=-=Cox, 1980-=-; Huttenlocher & Presson, 1979). Hobson (1984)shas recently shown that autistic children succeed on perceptual perspective-s44 S. Baron-Cohen et al.staking tasks with doll protagonists as well as can ...

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... Carpenter, &sOwings, 1983; Gibson, 1978).sIn order to explain the specific impairments of childhood autism it is neces-ssary, then, to consider the underlying cognitive mechanisms independent ofsIQ (=-=Frith, 1982-=-; Hermelin & O’Connor, 1970; Rutter, 1983). So far, nobodyshas had any idea of how to characterise such mechanisms in even quasi-com-sputational terms. In this paper we put forward a suggestion which ...

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...-strast the present task with traditional perceptual perspective-taking tasks,ssuch as ‘line of sight’ or ‘three mountains’, where a child has to indicate whatscan be seen from another point of view (=-=Hobson, 1982-=-; Hughes & Donaldson,s1979; Piaget and Inhelder, 1956). Such perceptual perspective-taking tasksscan be solved using solely visuo-spatial skills and in no way require imputingsbeliefs to others (Cox, ...

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... has the potential to explain both lack of pretend play and social im-spairment by ‘virtue of a circumscribed cognitive failure. This finding encour-sages us to continue with a theoretical framework (=-=Leslie, 1984-=-, to appear)swhich can specify the underlying connections between pretend play, theory ofsmind and social skills. Deriving further testable predictions from such a modelsmay lead to a new approach to ...

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... has the potential to explain both lack of pretend play and social im-spairment by ‘virtue of a circumscribed cognitive failure. This finding encour-sages us to continue with a theoretical framework (=-=Leslie, 1984-=-, to appear)swhich can specify the underlying connections between pretend play, theory ofsmind and social skills. Deriving further testable predictions from such a modelsmay lead to a new approach to ...

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...ocialsimpairment emerges in the clinical follow-up studies of autism (e.g. Kanner,s1971; Kanner, Rodriguez, & Ashenden, 1972) and in the as yet rare experi-smental investigations (e.g. Attwood, 1984; =-=Martini, 1980-=-).sAlthough the majority of autistic children are mentally retarded (DeMyerset al., 1974; Wing, Yeates, Brierley, & Gould 1976), and although a numbersof their symptoms may be attributable to this fac...