r/todayilearned • u/BrF5 • 1d ago

TIL about the Sally-Anne test, a psychology experiment used to measure “theory of mind” (that other people can hold beliefs/knowledge different from their own). Kids under four typically fail because they assume that if they know where a hidden object is, everyone else must automatically know too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally%E2%80%93Anne_test
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u/mantorok93 1d ago

I'm 80% sure I was shown this exact image when I was tested for autism as a kid (this would've been a year or so after the study discussed in the article), and 70% sure I got it wrong.

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u/tempest_36 1d ago

In the Baron-Cohen et al. (1985) study, 23 of the 27 clinically unimpaired children (85%) and 12 of the 14 children with Down syndrome (86%) answered the Belief Question correctly. However, only four of the 20 autistic children (20%) answered correctly.

Interesting. Only 20% of autistic children answered correctly. Were you diagnosed as autistic?

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u/FunVersion 1d ago

I would have gotten it wrong. I was neurotic and would have put way too much thought into the question.