Domain A: Emotion Recognition
Identifying emotions and emotional cues
Item 1: Basic Emotion
Scenario: "Ali receives a birthday present. He opens it and sees the toy he really wanted."
Question: "How does Ali feel?"
Follow-up: "How do you know?"
Expected: Happy/excited. Identifies happiness and gives an appropriate cue/reason.
Item 2: Disappointed Emotion
Scenario: "Sarah worked very hard on a drawing. She shows it to her teacher, but the teacher accidentally spills water on it."
Question: "How does Sarah probably feel?"
Follow-up: "Why?"
Expected: Sad/upset/disappointed.
Item 3: Mixed Emotions
Scenario: "Ahmed is going to a new school. He is excited because he will meet new children, but he is also worried because he doesn't know anyone."
Question: "How might Ahmed feel?"
Expected: Two emotions or recognition of mixed feelings.
Item 4: Emotion From Context
Scenario: "Mary is standing outside her friend's house. She has been waiting for 30 minutes, and her friend has not come."
Question: "How might Mary feel?"
Follow-up: "What makes you think that?"
Expected: Infers emotion from circumstances (frustrated, disappointed, annoyed).
Domain B: Perspective Taking
Understanding another person's point of view
Item 5: Visual Perspective
Instruction: Place an object between the examiner and child so that the child sees one side and the examiner sees another.
Question: "What can I see?"
Follow-up: "Can I see the same thing you can see?"
Expected: Correctly identifies different perspectives.
Item 6: Different Preference
Scenario: "Ahmed loves football. His sister Sara loves drawing but does not like football."
Question: "Would Sara want to receive a football for her birthday?"
Follow-up: "Why?"
Expected: Recognizes that another person's preference may differ from their own.
Item 7: Different Perspective in Social Situation
Scenario: "John thinks the movie is funny. His friend Omar thinks the movie is boring."
Question: "Who thinks the movie is boring?"
Follow-up: "Does John have to think the movie is boring too?"
Expected: Understands that people can have different opinions about the same thing.
Item 8: Choosing for Another Person
Scenario: "Your friend tells you that she doesn't like chocolate but loves strawberries."
Question: "If you wanted to give her a treat, what would you choose?"
Follow-up: "Why wouldn't you choose chocolate?"
Expected: Chooses based on the other person's preference, not their own.
Domain C: Knowledge & Information
Understanding what another person knows or does not know
Item 9: Seeing vs. Knowing
Scenario: "Emma is in the classroom when the teacher puts a pencil in a box. Emma watches. Tom comes into the classroom after the pencil has been put away."
Question: "Does Tom know where the pencil is?"
Follow-up: "Why?"
Expected: Understands that Tom doesn't know because he didn't see it.
Item 10: Information Access
Scenario: "Sam was outside when his mother put the keys inside the drawer."
Question: "Does Sam know where the keys are?"
Follow-up: "How could Sam find out?"
Expected: Understands Sam doesn't have access to that information.
Item 11: Hearing Information
Scenario: "Lisa was not in the room when her teacher announced that there would be no homework."
Question: "Does Lisa know that there is no homework?"
Follow-up: "Why or why not?"
Expected: Understands Lisa doesn't know because she wasn't present.
Item 12: Knowledge Updating
Scenario: "Adam thinks the book is in the bedroom. His sister tells him that she moved it to the kitchen."
Question: "Does Adam still have the same information?"
Follow-up: "What should he do if he wants to know where the book is?"
Expected: Understands that knowledge can change with new information.
Domain D: False Belief
Understanding that someone can hold a belief that is different from reality
Item 13: Unexpected Transfer
Story: "Ali puts his ball in the red box and leaves the room. While Ali is away, his mother moves the ball to the blue box. Ali comes back."
Question: "Where will Ali look for his ball first?"
Critical Question: "Why?"
Expected: Red box. Says red box because Ali believes it is there (not because that's where it really is).
Item 14: False Belief With a Character
Story: "Sarah puts her favorite pencil in her school bag. She leaves the room. Her brother takes the pencil and puts it in a drawer. Sarah comes back."
Question: "Where will Sarah look for her pencil?"
Follow-up: "Why?"
Expected: School bag. Demonstrates understanding of false belief.
Item 15: False Belief and Reality
Scenario: "Ahmed thinks his mother put the cookies in the cupboard. But his mother actually put them in the refrigerator. Ahmed has not seen this happen."
Questions: "Where does Ahmed think the cookies are?" and "Where are they actually?"
Expected: Correctly distinguishes belief from reality.
Item 16: False Belief Explanation
Scenario: "John believes that his toy is under the bed. In reality, his father moved it into the closet while John was outside."
Question: "Why does John think the toy is under the bed?"
Expected: Demonstrates understanding of how the belief was formed, not simply identifying its location.
Domain E: Intentions & Social Reasoning
Understanding intentions, mistakes and ambiguous situations
Item 17: Accidental vs. Deliberate
Scenario: "Maria is carrying a glass of water. She trips and accidentally spills the water on her friend's book."
Question: "Did Maria do it on purpose?"
Follow-up: "Why?"
Expected: No, it was an accident. Distinguishes accidental from deliberate actions.
Item 18: Intentional Action
Scenario: "David sees his sister's favorite toy on the floor. He picks it up and throws it across the room because he is angry."
Question: "Did David throw the toy accidentally or on purpose?"
Follow-up: "Why?"
Expected: On purpose. Recognizes intentional action.
Item 19: Ambiguous Social Situation
Scenario: "Two children are talking. One child looks at the other and starts laughing."
Question: "What could be happening?"
Expected: Recognizes more than one possible interpretation. Accept multiple reasonable possibilities.
Item 20: Understanding a Mistake
Scenario: "A teacher asks Sara to bring three books. Sara brings two because she misunderstood the instruction."
Question: "Did Sara intentionally disobey the teacher?"
Follow-up: "Why or why not?"
Expected: No. Understands another person's intention rather than simply the outcome.
Domain F: Higher-Order Theory of Mind
Understanding sarcasm, hidden meaning, social inference and beliefs about beliefs
Item 21: Sarcasm
Scenario: "Tom arrives at school completely soaked because it has been raining heavily. His friend says: 'Wow, you're really dry today!'"
Question: "Does the friend really mean that Tom is dry?"
Follow-up: "What does the friend actually mean?"
Expected: No. Recognizes sarcasm and indirect communication.
Item 22: Hidden Meaning
Scenario: "Mom looks at the messy bedroom and says: 'This room certainly looks very organized!'"
Question: "Is Mom giving a genuine compliment?"
Follow-up: "What does she really mean?"
Expected: No. Interprets hidden meaning and sarcasm.
Item 23: Understanding Another Person's Belief
Scenario: "Mary thinks that John likes her new drawing. John actually doesn't like the drawing, but he tells Mary that it is nice because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings."
Questions: "What does Mary think John thinks about the drawing?" "What does John actually think?" "Why does John say it is nice?"
Expected: Demonstrates understanding of another person's belief about another person's thoughts (second-order belief).
Item 24: Social Inference
Scenario: "Two children are talking. One child says: 'I can't wait to tell everyone what happened yesterday!' The other child becomes quiet and looks uncomfortable."
Question: "Why might the second child be uncomfortable?"
Follow-up: "What information would you need to know to understand the situation better?"
Expected: Demonstrates inference, recognition of ambiguity, and understanding that context is needed.
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Before Beginning
- Conduct the assessment in a quiet environment.
- Establish rapport with the child.
- Explain that there are no "bad" answers.
- Avoid giving clues or correcting the child during administration.
- Read each scenario exactly as written where possible.
- Allow adequate processing time.
- Record the child's exact response when the answer is unusual or unclear.
- Score the child's spontaneous response before providing any prompting.
- Use prompts only where specifically permitted.
- Record behavioral observations separately from the numerical score.
Important Observations
The assessment should not be administered as a rapid-fire quiz. The examiner should observe:
- Verbal reasoning
- Facial expression
- Eye gaze
- Spontaneous explanation
- Use of emotional vocabulary
- Recognition of ambiguity
- Ability to explain another person's perspective
- Whether the child relies on reality rather than another person's belief
Scoring System
Each item receives 0, 1 or 2 points:
- 2 Points – Independent Mastery: The child provides the expected response and demonstrates appropriate understanding.
- 1 Point – Emerging / Partial Understanding: The child demonstrates partial understanding, gives an incomplete explanation, requires a minor prompt, or understands the concept inconsistently.
- 0 Points – Not Yet Demonstrated: The child gives an incorrect response, relies entirely on their own perspective, cannot explain the reasoning, or requires substantial prompting.
Overall Score Interpretation
| Score Range | Interpretation | General Description |
|---|---|---|
| 41–48 | Strong/Consistent | Demonstrates Theory of Mind skills across most assessed areas |
| 33–40 | Functional | Demonstrates most foundational skills with some areas requiring support |
| 25–32 | Emerging | Demonstrates several ToM skills but performance is inconsistent |
| 17–24 | Developing | Significant areas of difficulty; structured teaching is recommended |
| 0–16 | Limited Demonstration | Requires intensive, individualized support and further assessment |
Domain-Level Interpretation
Each domain has a maximum of 8 points:
| Domain Score | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| 7–8 | Consistent mastery |
| 5–6 | Functional/emerging mastery |
| 3–4 | Developing skill |
| 0–2 | Significant difficulty demonstrated |
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