Inference Pictures for Social Inferencing
Updated: Oct 28, 2020
c&p
Inference pictures are a great way to teach the ability to
make social inferences.
Making social inferences means understanding information that is inferred or not directly stated. It involves observing a situation, then using clues with background knowledge to figure out what has happened or what is happening.
The ability to
make social inferences is an essential social skill. We
make social inferences all the time but it is actually a very complex skill. Children with language delay, children with autism and adults with autism or brain injury often need extra support to learn how to read situations, decipher the clues and
make a social inference.
Making inferences using pictures
Let’s take an example. Look at the picture of the dog and see if you can work out what has happened.
When you see this picture, you are able to pull all the pieces together and infer what has happened. You use your prior knowledge that dogs like to chew things. You find the clues in the picture; the dog, the damaged wooden door and the pieces of wood on the floor. You probably didn’t even need to consciously think about the
inferences you made about the picture.
Making social inferences also includes drawing conclusions about how people may be feeling, what they may be thinking or saying and what they intend to do. These types of
social inferences are more complex because they require the ability to read facial expressions and body language.