Boucher J
Br J Disord Commun. 1989 Aug;24(2):181-98. doi: 10.3109/13682828909011955.
The hypothesis that autistic people have impaired metarepresentational ability (and, as one result, lack a 'theory of mind') is described in the context of other psychological work concerning the development and function of the human mind. Evidence for the hypothesis is outlined and evaluated. The claim that impaired metarepresentational ability underlies the social, communicative and imaginative deficits of autism (see paper by Uta Frith in this issue) is discussed. It is concluded that impaired metarepresentational ability is unlikely to be the primary, or fundamental, behavioural difficulty in autism, but that the hypothesis provides an important new way of looking at and understanding autistic behaviour.
自闭症患者存在元表征能力受损（因此缺乏“心理理论”）这一假设，是在有关人类心智发展与功能的其他心理学研究背景下进行描述的。文中概述并评估了该假设的证据。还讨论了元表征能力受损是自闭症社交、沟通及想象缺陷的基础这一观点（见本期乌塔·弗里思的论文）。得出的结论是，元表征能力受损不太可能是自闭症的主要或根本行为障碍，但该假设为看待和理解自闭症行为提供了一种重要的新方式。
