Hong Kong Scales for Assessment of Theory of Mind (HKAToM)

About HKAToM

The Hong Kong Scales for Assessment of Theory of Mind (HKAToM) was published in October 2020 by the Child Assessment Service (CAS), Department of Health. The HKAToM was jointly developed by CAS and the University of Hong Kong. The scales are a locally developed, standardized and norm-referenced assessment tool, designed for understanding the social cognitive abilities of Cantonese-speaking children age 5 years to 12 years 1 month. The administration time is around 30 minutes.

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to a system of social cognitive skills that helps people understand what others desire, feel, think and believe. It enables them to take perspective and make predictions about the behaviors of others. In turn it could help in adjusting one’s own behavior accordingly. The HKAToM comprises seven subtests, namely First-order false belief, Emotion words, Perspective taking on emotional responses of different persons, Perspective taking on emotional responses upon change of situation, Sabotage and deception, Speech intentions in daily-life stories, and Pragmatic skills. It has been shown that ToM development may be affected in various developmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit and hyperactive disorder and language disorders. HKAToM aims to provide information on the cognitive processes of children with difficulties in social interaction, through which intervention may be guided. It is also hoped that the tool may lead to further research on ToM in Chinese speaking children.

Eligible users of HKAToM include clinical psychologists, educational psychologists, developmental-behavioural paediatricians, paediatric neurologists, psychiatrists and speech therapists. Users should be fluent in Cantonese to meet the standardized requirements for administration of the tool.