Explicit and Implicit Theory of Mind of Children Who Were Attending a Resource Room for Children With Emotional Disabilities: Children With and Without Traits Associated With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

The present study investigated the explicit and implicit theory of mind of children with developmental problems. The investigation focused on a comparison of the theory of mind of children with and without traits associated with autism spectrum disorder. The participants were 19 children in the fırst through sixth grades, who were attending a resource room for children with emotional disabilities in a public elementary school. An explicit false-belief task in the traditional form and an implicit false-belief task using an eye tracker were employed. The results showed that 17 of the children passed the explicit false-belief task. In the implicit false-belief task, the children with traits associated with autism spectrum disorder tended to look at inappropriate places longer than children without such traits did. They also tended not to look at the actor’s face. These results suggest that the children could pass the explicit false-belief task in a structured situation by using language, which is similar to the results reported by Senju et al. (2009). However, the children in the present study, especially those with traits associated with autism spectrum disorder, often did not spontaneously understand the other person’s state of mind.