How to work the theory of mind step by step

When talking about theory of mind, reference is made to the ability that human beings have to perceive and predict that the other people also have their own ideas, thoughts, feelings and that like ourselves, they also have a state internal.

In this Psychology-Online article, we are going to explain to you in which cases there may be a deficit of this ability and finally we will explain some exercises so that you can know how to work the theory of mind step by step.

Index

1. What is the theory of mind?
2. How to work the theory of mind step by step: exercises and examples
3. More exercises to work the theory of mind

A person is said to have adequately developed the theory of mind when he is able to understand that the other person has their own mental states and that they may be different from own her. This ability develops from 4 or 5 years of age when other skills have been developed basic cognitive abilities.

This theory is extremely important because it is necessary to develop this ability to be able to interact with others and thus yourself to be able to empathize with them and understand what happens in their internal world, as well as their way of acting and behave. But what happens when this skill is not developed properly?

There are some cases in which there may be difficulties for the person to adequately develop the theory of mind, the most common case is people with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Development of theory of mind in children with autism

People with Autism Spectrum Disorder (TEA) cannot really distinguish what happens in their internal world and what happens in the internal world of others. It is for this reason that it is extremely difficult for them to interact with other people in an appropriate way since they lack empathy.

Among the main difficulties that people with Autism Spectrum Disorder show are the following:

• Difficulty realizing the true intentions of others.
• Difficulty understanding the emotions and feelings of others, therefore there can be no empathy in the bond.
• Difficulty predicting and understanding the behavior of others.
• Difficulty realizing how their comments and actions influence what they think of him.
• Difficulty understanding the reason for social interactions.
• Difficulty realizing whether or not you are being cheated, as well as lying.

If you want to know how to properly develop their skills, we recommend reading the following article: theory of mind in children with autism.

Next we are going to introduce you to some exercises that are applied in children with Spectrum Disorder Autistic that will help them little by little to be able to connect with themselves and with others and above all so that go developing theory of mind.

Exercise to facilitate your relationship with the environment

This exercise will allow you to begin to familiarize yourself with the use of verbs associated with each sense (sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell). Here we show you how to do it.

• Sense of sight: Verb- see. On a table, put 3 objects in front of the child and ask him what he sees on the table, after he has answered that it is what he is seeing, ask him the question: "What do I see on the table?" and wait for the child to answer right way. Likewise, the objects are changing or increasing the number of them, you can even place different objects in front of him and in front of yourself. After having carried out this exercise, others are carried out in which the objects are distributed in a room and they are made that type of questions, as well as it can be carried out on the street or seen through the window, that is, they are away from both of them.
• Sense of smell: Verb-smell. Different objects are exposed to the child, which he has to smell and answer the question: "What do you smell?" And then answer questions such as: "What do I smell?"
• Sense of taste: Verb-know. Sweet, salty, acidic, spicy, etc. foods are given to the child to taste. and he is asked what each one tastes like. We can also use some support material that allows you to see graphically what is eaten and the face that a person normally makes when trying different types of flavors.
• Ear: Verb- hear. Objects that make different sounds are used and the child is asked with each one of them what it is that hears and at the same time is told what one is hearing, as well as being asked what one is hearing hearing.
• Touch: Verb-touch. In this type of exercise, the child can be given an order such as: "touch the chair", "touch my face", and so on. as well as he is also asked to describe what he is doing, in this case it would be: "I am touching the chair", "you are touching your face", and so on. also ask what the other is playing or doing.

Exercise to facilitate visual perspective

These exercises help the child understand that each person can see different things.

• Exercise. The child is asked to draw something different on each of its sides on a sheet of paper. Then we stand in front of the child and picking up the sheet of paper we ask him: "What do you see on the sheet?" answer is asked: "What do I see on the sheet?" to which the child has to answer what is in the drawing of the other side of the sheet. This exercise is repeated with other drawings, even if the child does not know or does not want to draw, you have to draw the drawings yourself.

Next, to complement these exercises to develop the theory of mind step by step, we offer you 15 relaxation exercises for kids.

Other examples that we want to propose you to be able to correctly develop this skill are the following:

Exercise of situations and different perspectives

The goal of this exercise will be to teach your child that each person can experience and know different things than someone else experiences. For example, one person may know that the water is cold because he has touched it before, but another has not and therefore cannot know.

• Exercise. A box is placed in front of the child and likewise asked: "Do you know what is inside this box?" The child replies that he does not know and it is mentioned that he cannot know because the box is closed and he cannot watch. Then the box is opened and he is asked again what is inside it, to which the child responds what he sees. He is made to know that what he has said is correct and he is told that he knows it because he has been able to see it. The same can be applied with a surprise gift.

Exercise to know the difference between saying and thinking

These types of exercises have the purpose that the child experiment and recognize different verbs and also relate them to mental actions as this will help him to apply them to other people. They will begin to perform simpler and simpler exercises like the one that we will show below, however it is necessary that they gradually increase in difficulty.

• Exercise. Graphics and cartoons can be used to show the child different everyday situations, such as displaying a picture of a child who is looking for his toy and while he is doing it he is explained that the child is surely thinking something like: "where will my toy? ", then the child meets his brother and asks:" where is my toy? " so that he realizes the difference between think and say.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to How to work the theory of mind step by step, we recommend that you enter our category of Cognitive psychology.

1. Anabel Cornago, A. C. (s.f.). THEORY OF MIND - how to work it step by step. Retrieved November 5, 2018, from https://es.scribd.com/doc/18696384/TEORIA-DE-LA-MENTE-como-trabajarla-paso-a-paso