The Korean Version of the Theory of Mind Test and the Early Development of the Theory of Mind in Children with Cochlear Implant / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the ability humans have for recognizing the mental states of others and for predicting or explaining other people’s behavior. ToM is an essential ability people have for living with other people because it influences social relations, and the deaf children have been reported to have problems in ToM. As there are no ToM assessment tools in Korea, the purpose of this study was to establish such a version and to examine the early development of ToM of children with cochlear implant (CI). SUBJECTS AND METHOD: The original tools for ToM assessment were translated in Korean and the reliability and validity of the Korean version of ToM assessment tools were investigated with fifty normal hearing (NH) children. The early development of ToM of sixteen children with CI was compared with that of age-matched children with NH. RESULTS: The reliability of Korean version of ToM assessment tools was determined by tests for internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The validity of the tools was also evaluated by the tests for criterion-related validity and concurrent validity. There was no significant difference in ToM between children with CI and those with NH. CONCLUSION: The Korean version of ToM assessment tools was established and the assessment showed that the early development of ToM of deaf children, who received early intervention using CI, was comparable to that of NH children.