Do We Really Have a “Theory of Mind”? Rethinking ToM from Its Relation to Autism

This paper examines Theory of Mind, including its concepts, definition, autism-related research, and its application in such studies. This paper will discuss and analyze: (a) classical ToM tasks such as Sally & Anne and the Faux Pas task; (b) underlying assumptions, methodology and the results; (c) the influence of participants’ awareness of their diagnosis; (d) how self-reported reasoning is ignored, the circularity in interpretations of the results, and the explanation of compensatory strategies; (e) the concept of ToM and social psychology phenomena, and whether it should be regarded as an “ability”.Keywords: autism, Theory of Mind, conceptual analysis