Sally Anne Test

The SallyAnne test is a psychological test with dolls, used in developmental psychology to measure a person s social cognitive ability to attribute false beliefs to others. The experimenter uses two dolls, Sally and Anne. Sally has a basket; Anne has a box. Experimenters show their subjects (usually children) a simple skit, in which Sally puts a marble in her basket and then leaves the scene. While Sally is away and cannot watch, Anne takes the marble out of Sally s basket and puts it into her box. Sally then returns and the children are asked where they think she will look for her marble. Children are said to pass the test if they understand that Sally will most likely look inside her basket before realizing that her marble isn t there. Autistic children face problems reading into the situation.