Theory of mind and executive functions in children with mild intellectual disability

Abstract

The association between theory of mind and executive functions in typically developing children is confirmed by the results of a large number of studies. On the other hand, existence of a link between these two skills is tested in the population of children with intellectual disabilities to a very small extent. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the development level of theory of mind and basic mechanisms of executive functions (working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility) in children with mild intellectual disability. The sample included 50 children with mild intellectual disability, of both sexes, attending school for primary education of students with disabilities in Kikinda (M=12.28; SD=1.76). The results showed that the development of theory of mind in our respondents is associated with better capacity of verbal working memory (r=0.402; p=0.005) and greater cognitive flexibility (r=-0.567; p=0.000). In contrast, the correlation of theory of mind with nonverbal working memory (r=0.180; p=0.222) and inhibitory control (r=-0.243; p=0.096) was not established. Future directions of research in this field could include the implementation of a number of different instruments for assessing theory of mind and test its correlation with executive functions in children with different levels of intellectual disability, in order to further generalize the findings on this topic.

Keywords

• intellectual disability
• theory of mind
• executive functions