Baren Cohen et al Flashcards
Background
To perform the eyes test a second time while fixing the weaknesses that arose from the old time- they created a new revised eyes test.
Autism spectrum disorder
Difficulty in social, communicative and imaginative areas.
Also repetitive and physical behaviours
Autism Spectrum Quotient Test
a self- report questionnaire with scores ranging from 0 to 50. A high score means the person has more autistic traits
Social cognition
the ability to understand the interrelations in the environment
Characteristics of autism in children (3)
- difficulty with social interaction
- difficulty with verbal and non-verbal communication
- lack of imaginative play
Random characteristics of autism (4)
- little/ no eye contact
- lack theory of mind
- problems identifying facial expressions
- lack of social skills
What is a psychometric test?
A pencil and paper test that measures psychological aspects that are individual such as IQ
First stage of the theory of mind
assigning an appropriate mental state to another
Second stage of the theory of mind
to infer the content of the mental state
IV
the revised eyes test
What is the revised eyes test?
test with photos presented to the participants showing various emotions to calculate the tester’s autistic traits
IV operationalised by
specific details of the test
DV
the participants’ scores on the revised eyes test
Aim 1( test a group with autism…)
To test a group of adults with autism on the RET
Aim 2 (relationship…)
To test if there’s an inverse relationship between RET and the autism spectrum quotient
Aim 3 (gender)
To test if females scored better on the RET than males
Where did the study take place
Exter and Cambridge
How was ‘reading the mind in the eyes’ proved to be testable
by testing whether the general population can judge mental state from minimal cues such as expressions around the eyes.
Why was the first eyes test not very valid
because it did not differentiate between people who had autism and people who did not
Problem with eyes test 1 (forced choice)
only had two response options meaning there were a narrow range of correct responses.
How was forced choice problem solved?
Forced choice remained but there were four options instead of two
Problem with eyes test 2 (basic and complex)
The basic options were too easy to identify
How was basic and complex options solved
only the complex options were used
Problem with eyes test 3 (sem..)
The two options are semantic opposites which made chosing between them too easy
How to solve semantic opposites probelms
Semantic opposites were removed and foil choices were included which were more similar to the answers.