The social context of developments in theory of mind and communicative competence: Evidence from mother-child conversations with children with autism, Asperger syndrome, specific language impairment, and normal development

Abstract

The relationship of maternal conversational input to theory of mind development was examined in a study of mother-child conversation involving children with autism, Asperger syndrome, specific language impairment (SLI), and normol development. Speech act analysis using Dore's (1986) categories was completed for conversation samples taken between mother and child during a toy selection task Comparisons of moternal assertions revealed lower proportions of reference to internal stote used with children with autism, Asperger syndrome, and SLI compared to those with normol children. Significant positive associations existed between the children's production of mental assertions and maternal descriptions, explanations, evaluations, attributions of another's internal state, organizational devices, clarifications, and requests for process. There were also significant positive associations between children's theory of mind development and moternal descriptions, explanations, clarifications, acknowledgments, rhetorical questions, and responses to process questions.These results indicate the importance of an elaborative style of maternal conversation to the development of theory of mind.

Keywords::

• Asperger syndrome
• autism
• language
• moternal input
• specific language impoirment
• theory of mind