This book focuses on the "theory of mind" hypothesis, an important new psychological approach to autism. The theory asserts that autistic children fail to develop the ability to think about mental states--a "theory of mind"--unlike other children, and thus fail to conceptualize behavior in terms of mental processes. Proponents argue that this psychological deficit underlies some of the key features of autism, such as abnormalities in social and communication development. The editors have collected both the evidence and the controversies surrounding the theory, and present a valuable discussion about the nature of what is widely recognized as the most severe childhood psychological disorder. The chapters are written by distinguished scholars from a variety of disciplines, including developmental psychology, neuropsychology, philosophy, psycho-linguistics, primatology, and psychoanalysis.

PART I: Introduction

1. An Introduction to the Debate, H. Tager-Flusberg, D. Cohen and S. Baron-Cohen

2. Early Understanding of Mind: The Normal Case, H. Wellman

3. Social Development in Autism: Historical and Clinical Perspectives, F. Volkmar and A. Klin

PART II: The Theory-of-Mind Hypothesis of Autism: The Cognitive Approach

4. From Attention-Goal Psychology to Belief-Desire Psychology: The Development of a Theory of Mind, and Its Dysfunction, S. Baron-Cohen

5. What Autism Teaches Us about Metarepresentation, A. Leslie and D. Roth

6. The Theory-of-Mind Deficit in Autism: Rethinking the Metarepresentation Theory, J. Perner

7. What Language Reveals about the Understanding of Minds in Children with Autism, H. Tager-Flusberg

8. The Theory-of-Mind Deficit in Autism: Evidence from Deception, B. Sodian and U. Frith

PART III: The Theory-of-Mind Hypothesis of Autism: Critical Perspectives

9. The Theory-of-Mind and Joint-Attention Deficits in Autism, P. Mundy, M. Sigman, and C. Kasari

10. Understanding Persons: The Role of Affect, P. Hobson

11. Pretending and Planning, P. Harris

12. Narrative Language in Autism and the Theory-of-Mind Hypothesis: A Wider Perspective, K. Loveland and B. Tunali

13. Theories of Mind and the Problem of Autism, J. Bruner and C. Feldman

14. The Complexity of Social Behavior in Autism, C. Lord

15. The Development of Individuals with Autism: Implications for the Theory-of-Mind Hypothesis, A. Klin and F. Volkmar

PART IV: Wider Perspectives

16. The Role of Imitation in Understanding Persons and Developing a Theory of Mind, A. Meltzoff and A. Gopnik

17. Evolving a Theory of Mind: The Nature of Non-verbal Mentalism in Other Primates, A. Whiten

18. The Comparative Study of Early Communication and Theories of Mind: Ontogeny, Phylogeny, and Pathology, J.C. Gomez, E. Sarria, and J. Tamarit

19. Autism and the Theory of Mind: Some Philosophical Perspectives, J. Samet

20. Desire and Fantasy: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on the Theory of Mind and Autism, L. Mayes, D. Cohen, and A. Klin

21. The Theory-of-Mind Deficit in Autism: Some Questions for Teaching and Diagnosis, S. Baron-Cohen and P. Howlin

22. The Place of this Book in Autism Research, M. Rutter