Assignment Paper

Tasks:
Task 1 – Drawings task
Materials –
5 drawings (2x good, 3x bad – 1 of the bad ones is “your” drawing)
Instructions –
Part 1:
1. Present child with 4 drawings (2 good, 2 bad)
2. Ask to sort into “good” and “bad”
3. Leave room
4. Confirm child has sorted correctly – If cannot sort correctly, do not use this child
Part 2:
5. Come back with your “bad” drawing.
Sad condition: come back with sad face “I made this drawing, it’s a bad drawing which makes me sad”.
Neutral condition: come in with neutral face “I made this drawing and it’s bad but that’s ok”
6. Give to child, “which pile would you put my drawing on?”
7. Wait for child to place drawing
8. “Is this the good or the bad pile?”
Scoring –
Bad pile: 0
Good pile: 1

Task 2 – Disappointing gift
Materials –
Two teddies
Sweet – “good gift”
Small button – “bad gift”
Instructions –
1. “This teddy is [name] and this teddy is [name]. They are best friends and today is [name]’s birthday”
2. “[name] gives [name] this present for their birthday” – hand button from one toy to the other
3. “What do you think he might say?”
4. “Then, [name] takes the gift back and says, “just kidding, this is your real birthday present” and hands over the sweet” – hand sweet from one toy to the other
5. “What do you think he’s going to say now?”
Scoring –
Pro-social lie: 1
No pro-social lie: 0

Task 3 – Emotion comprehension test
Materials –
Two teddies
Five emotion cards – happy/sad/angry/scared/just alright
A “favourite objects” – could use sweet used in task 2
A box
Instructions –
1. Show the child the five emotion cards.
a. “Look at these five photos’, can you point to the person who feels sad?”
b. Repeat for each of the emotions
c. Child gets 1 point if they get 4 out of 5 correct
2. Demonstrate scenarios using the cuddly toys and ask child to point to correct emotion card.
a. “This [insert cuddly toy] has lost its favourite [object, could be the same valuable object used in Sally-Anne]. How are they feeling?” – (Correct answer = Sad)
b. “This toy is getting a birthday present. How are they feeling?” – (Correct answer = Happy)
c. “This toy is standing at a bus stop. How are they feeling?” – (Correct answer = Just alright)
d. “This toy is trying to draw but another toy keeps on stopping them. How are they feeling?” – (Correct answer = angry)
e. “This toy is being chased by a monster. How are they feeling?” – (Correct answer = scared)
f. Child gets 1 point if they get 4 out of 5 correct
3. Use cuddly toys to demonstrate differences in what people like. (altered from the original test as the discussion mentioned that children said that [toy2] was just alright rather than sad)
a. “This is [toy1] and [toy2]. [Toy1] likes carrots a lot and [toy2] hates carrots”
b. “Does [toy1] like carrots?” – (Correct answer = yes)
c. “Does [toy2] like carrots?” – (Correct answer = no)
d. “Can you open this box for me?”
e. “There is a carrot in the box. How is [toy1] feeling? Are they happy, sad, just alright or scared?” – (Correct answer = happy)
f. “How is [toy2] feeling?” – (Correct answer = sad/just alright)
g. Child gets 1 point if they get section ‘e’ and ‘f’ correct
4. Very similar to Sally-Anne? Might emit this step.
a. This is [toy1]. [Toy1] is eating a carrot. [Toy1] likes carrots very very much. Can you look behind here for me?” (Hide [toy2] behind something – could even just use a piece of paper)
b. It’s [toy2]! [Toy2] is hiding behind here because he wants to sneak up and steal the carrot!”
c. “Does [toy1] know that [toy2] is hiding behind the bushes?”
d. “That’s right, [toy1] doesn’t know that [toy2] is hiding behind the bushes!” (if the child gets this wrong, correct them and still ask the final question)
e. “How is [toy1] feeling?” – (Correct answer = happy)
f. Child gets 1 point if they get section ‘e’ correct
5. Testing the child to see if they understand that reminders of a sad event can influence present emotional state. (I’ve been struggling to word/write this scenario because it seems slightly tricky for young children)
a. “[Toy1] is very sad because [toy2] stole their carrot”
b. “[Toy1] goes to sleep… the next day [toy1] is looking at a photo of his garden. How is he feeling?”
c. “[Toy1] then notices his carrot that got stolen is in the picture. How is [toy1] feeling now he’s seen a picture of his carrot?” – (Correct answer = sad)
d. Child gets 1 point if they get section ‘c’ correct
6. To assess whether children understand that you can hide an emotional state
a. “[Toy2] is teasing [toy1] about the carrot. [Toy1] is smiling because he does not want to show how he is feeling inside. How do you think he is really feeling inside?” – (Correct answer = angry)
b. Child gets 1 point if they correctly answer “angry”
Scoring –
Child gets max of 6 points – 1 point for each test

Task 4 – Poresky empathy measure
Materials –
Two teddies
4 short stories
Instructions –
The child is read the 4 stories and asked how they would feel versus how the ‘character’ would feel.
“These teddies are best friends”
Scenario 1 (Testing sadness)
1. “One day the teddies went to the park, [toy 1] has lost [toy 2] in the park and is now alone.”
2. “How do you think [toy 1] will be feeling?”
3. “How do you feel about this?”
Scenario 2 (Testing fear)
1. “[Toy 1] and [toy2] went out the play in the forest when suddenly [toy 2] was chased by a mean monster”
2. “How do you think [toy 2] feels about this?”
3. “How do you feel about this?”
Scenario 3 (Testing anger)
1. “[toy 1] really wants to go out and play with [toy 2] in the garden, but his mum says he’s not allowed.”
2. “How do you think [toy 1] feels about this?”
3. “How do you feel about this?”
Scenario 4 (Testing happiness)
1. “[toy 1] is going to his most favourite park to play with [toy 2].”
2. “How do you think they feel about this?”
3. “How do you feel about this?”
Scoring –
0 – No response
1 – Non-emotional response
2 – Some emotion
3 – Similar emotion
4 – Exact match to intended emotion

Task 5 – working memory task
Materials –
Five or six small toys e.g. cars
A box
Instructions –
1. Show child two toys to begin with (work up to five), then hide them in a box.
2. Bring out all toys except one.
3. Ask the child to identify which toy is missing.
4. Repeat until child can no longer identify which toy is missing.
5. NOTE: give the child 2 chances at each level, if they fail twice consecutively, stop testing.
Scoring –
???

Task 6 – Sally-Anne
Materials –
Two teddies
A box
A basket
A sweet/marble
Instructions –
1. “This is [toy 1] and this is [toy 2]”
2. “This is [toy 1]’s basket and this is [toy 2]’s box.”
3. “[Toy 1] is putting the marble in her basket to keep safe and now she is leaving the room where she can’t see her basket anymore”
4. “[toy 2] is taking the marble and putting it in her box”
5. “Oh look, [toy 1] is coming back into the room”
6. Ask child questions to demonstrate they know what has happened so far.
7. “Which one is [toy 1]?”
8. “Which one is [toy 2]?”
9. “Where is the marble now?”
10. “Where was the marble at the start?”
11. “Where will [toy 1] look for her marble?”
Scoring –
If the child correctly says that [toy 1] will think the marble is in the basket – 1
If child is incorrect and says that [toy 1] will know the marble moved to the box – 0