Spatial Perspective Taking Test

Background

The Perspective Taking Test for Children (PTTC) is a cognitive behavioral assessment tool to measure young children’s perspective taking skills. It was introduced by Anastasia Greenberg and colleagues in 2013. The PTTC is rooted in the Theory-of-Mind (ToM) framework and assesses a child’s ability to see spatial relationships from different view points. In contrast to Mental Rotation tasks which test a person’s ability to manipulate objects in the mind, the PCCT assesses the ability to mentally shift one’s own perspective in relationship to fixed objects. The PCCT can be run with keyboard or with mouse/touch input.

Task Procedure

The participant works on a series of trials. In each trial, the participant sees an owl looking at an arrangment of four colorful cubes (all in different colors) from different perspectives. Sometimes the owl stands to the right of the display, sometimes it stands to the left or in front or behind it. Four response options are provided that depict different arrangements of the cubes and the participant is asked to select the one that shows what the owl sees from its current point of view.

What it Measures

The Perspective Taking Test for Children (PTTC) assesses spatial reasoning and perspective taking skills in children.

Psychological domains

• Spatial Reasoning: Ability to mentally visualize space and manipulate it in one's mind
• Cognitive Perspective Taking (Theory of Mind): Ability to see the world from different view points
• Visuospatial Working Memory: Temporary storage and active manipulation of visual and spatial information

Main Performance Metrics

• Accuracy: Number of correct responses/Proportion Correct Responses/ Percent Correct (incorrect) Responses
• Error Types: Number of errors made that point to particular underlying reasoning errors (such as 'egocentrism')
• Decision Speed: Response times (in ms) of correct responses

Psychiatric Conditions

The PTTC is mainly used as a research and diagnostic tool to evaluate spatial perspective taking skills in children. PTTC performance may be impaired in children with the following conditions:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Developmental Visuospatial Disorder (DVSD)