Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.  2019 Feb;62(2):82-88. 10.3342/kjorl-hns.2018.00367.

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

• Choi YM
• Kim HH
• Jeong SW
• Kim LS

• KMID: 2438795
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3342/kjorl-hns.2018.00367

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.

Keyword

Children; Cochlear implant; Theory of mind

MeSH Terms

Child*
Cochlear Implants*
Early Intervention (Education)
Hearing
Humans
Korea
Methods
Reproducibility of Results
Theory of Mind*