Post a brief summary of the article you selected. Provide a real-world application of the theory within your current professional area or one in which you have interest. Also, explain how the theory could apply to one or two aspects of your daily life. Be specific and provide examples. Cognitive Theory of Mind discusses thinking about thoughts, knowledge, beliefs, intentions, while affective Theory of Mind involves thinking about and experiencing emotions, referring to oneself (intrapersonal) or others (interpersonal) (Vissers & Koolen, 2016).  A good example of this theory in use is when evaluating children with Specific Language Impairment and how this impairment can cause them to have social and emotional difficulties in life.  According to Vissers & Koolen it was found that children with specific language impairment (SLI) have several social emotional problems and both cognitive and affective areas of Theory of Mind are compromised. In this study where children had SLI it was found that as a whole they are not nearly as developed as say the ‘normal child.’  Item such as grades, competence, assertiveness, peer social skills differ, as well as verbal skills and the likelihood of engagement in play (Vissers & Koolen, 2016).  Not only can a difference be seen at school, but parents of these children have also noticed a difference at home, scoring them lower in areas regarding assertion, responsibility and cooperation (Vissers & Koolen, 2016).  One behavior that was found to be one of the biggest issues in children with SLI was withdraw, and this can be understandable given the deficits in peer social skills, verbal skills and decreased overall engagement (Vissers & Koolen, 2016).   Another developmental disorder in development is also childhood autism.  Similar in some senses to SLI, autism is a much more complex developmental disorder distinguished by difficulties with social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and behavior issues such as repetitive behaviors and a narrow focus of interest (Segen’s Medical Dictionary, 2012).  Keep in mind that there are a variety of disorders within the autistic categorization like Rett syndrome (common in females), Asperger syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and Pervasive developmental disorder.  Given this information we will keep our focus on the classic autism, and how this disorder demonstrates the difficulty they have making social connections.   One keep point with autistic children is they tend to avoid eye contact in general, they do not actively hug, but rather passively accept physical contact and at times can even shy against it (Segen’s Medical Dictionary, 2012).  At times they can become angry, or irritated when they are held, and can cry when picked up; showing the opposite of what typical children yearn for.  It may seem to many as if autistic children have no desire or formed attachment to their parents (Segen’s Medical Dictionary, 2012).  Verbal communication is m ...

1. Post
a brief summary of the article you selected. Provide a real-
world application of the theory within your current professional
area or one in which you have interest. Also, explain how the
theory could apply to one or two aspects of your daily life. Be
specific and provide examples.
Cognitive Theory of Mind discusses thinking about thoughts,
knowledge, beliefs, intentions, while affective Theory of Mind
involves thinking about and experiencing emotions, referring to
oneself (intrapersonal) or others (interpersonal) (Vissers &
Koolen, 2016). A good example of this theory in use is when
evaluating children with Specific Language Impairment and how
this impairment can cause them to have social and emotional
difficulties in life. According to Vissers & Koolen it was found
that children with specific language impairment (SLI) have
several social emotional problems and both cognitive and
affective areas of Theory of Mind are compromised.
In this study where children had SLI it was found that as a
whole they are not nearly as developed as say the ‘normal
child.’ Item such as grades, competence, assertiveness, peer
social skills differ, as well as verbal skills and the likelihood of
engagement in play (Vissers & Koolen, 2016). Not only can a
difference be seen at school, but parents of these children have
also noticed a difference at home, scoring them lower in areas
regarding assertion, responsibility and cooperation (Vissers &
Koolen, 2016). One behavior that was found to be one of the
biggest issues in children with SLI was withdraw, and this can
be understandable given the deficits in peer social skills, verbal
skills and decreased overall engagement (Vissers & Koolen,
2016).
Another developmental disorder in development is also
childhood autism. Similar in some senses to SLI, autism is a

2. much more complex developmental disorder distinguished by
difficulties with social interaction, verbal and nonverbal
communication and behavior issues such as repetitive behaviors
and a narrow focus of interest (Segen’s Medical Dictionary,
2012). Keep in mind that there are a variety of disorders within
the autistic categorization like Rett syndrome (common in
females), Asperger syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder,
and Pervasive developmental disorder. Given this information
we will keep our focus on the classic autism, and how this
disorder demonstrates the difficulty they have making social
connections.
One keep point with autistic children is they tend to avoid eye
contact in general, they do not actively hug, but rather passively
accept physical contact and at times can even shy against it
(Segen’s Medical Dictionary, 2012). At times they can become
angry, or irritated when they are held, and can cry when picked
up; showing the opposite of what typical children yearn for. It
may seem to many as if autistic children have no desire or
formed attachment to their parents (Segen’s Medical Dictionary,
2012). Verbal communication is minimal, if at all and some
children may use only a few words at a time. Others may learn
a vocabulary with many words only to lose those words later in
time. Autism children find the social environment extremely
uncomfortable, unreliable, incomprehensible and very
unpredictable (Baron-Cohen, Leslie, Frith, 1985). Baron-Cohen
et. al concluded, “we have demonstrated a cognitive deficit that
is largely independent of general intellectual level and has the
potential to explain lack of pretend play and social impairment
by virtue of a circumscribed cognitive failure. This finding
encourages us to continue with a theoretical framework which
can specify the underlying connections between pretend play,
theory of mind and social skills.” This finding meant that
autistic children could not be categorized as mental retarded
similar to children of Downs syndrome; however it was known
that there was a specific deficit that could not yet be classified

3. into a category…hence this theory.
References:
Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A. M., &Frith, U. (1985). Does the
autistic child have a “theory of mind”?
Cognition
,
21
(1), 37–46.doi:10.1016/0010-0277(85)90022-8
Segen’s Medical Dictionary. (2018). Autism.
Vissers, C., & Koolen, S. (2016). Theory of Mind Deficits and
Social Emotional Functioning in Preschoolers with Specific
Language Impairment. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1734.
http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01734