We examined the relationship between irony interpretation and Theory of Mind
measures (Strange Stories, Happé, 1994) and the Theory of Mind Inventory (ToMI,
Hutchins et al., 2012), as well as working memory, set shifting and inhibitory
control, whilst controlling for non-verbal IQ. We also examined different types of
irony interpretation. All previous studies have used simple forms of irony, where
the hearer can see from the real world context that the literal meaning cannot be
true (see (1)). We included a complex irony condition, where the non-literal
interpretation cannot be inferred from the visual context (see (2)).
(1) Tom and Sally wanted to go for a picnic. It has just started to rain. Sally: It's a
perfect day for a picnic.
(2) Tom: I have been invited to a party by the most beautiful girl in my class.
Sally: Yeah, and I have been invited to the Queen's party.
We presented children (N=51; aged 6;01 - 9;01) with 5 videos, in both simple and
complex irony conditions. After each short dialogue as in (1) and (2), participants
answered an open-ended question, then a forced-choice (out of three) question
about the speakers meaning. Children selected above chance for simple irony (M
= 76% correct) but significantly below chance for complex (M = 25% correct) irony.
Regression analyses showed that when controlling for age, nonverbal IQ and
formal language, ToM measures related to simple irony interpretation. There was
no relationship found between the EF and ToM measures and complex irony
interpretation