Baron-Cohen Flashcards

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1
Q

What year Baron-Cohen’s study done in?

A

2001

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2
Q

What is autism?

A

A failure to develop particular processes linked to social interaction

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3
Q

How often does autism occur (percentage of the population, and fraction of boys and girls with diagnosed autism in the world)

A

1% of the population, 1/189 girls and 1/42 boys

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4
Q

What are three things that autism involves

A

social functioning, communication, coping with change

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5
Q

What does autism mean regarding the person’s interests

A

Interests are often narrow

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6
Q

What does autism as a generic term refer to

A

A wide range of disorders

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7
Q

What two criteria did autism require to be diagnosed (in 2014, 5th addition)

A
  1. An impairment of social communication and social interaction skills
  2. Evidence of restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities
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8
Q

What were AS and HFA combined into eventually and why

A

AS and HFA were combined eventually into one cateragory called “Autism Spectrum Disorder” (ASD) as the distinction was too fine to differentiate

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9
Q

What was the test called that was designed for children that tested their theory of mind (being able to be aware of another individual’s actions/feelings), as most children who do have autism wouldn’t be successful in this test

A

The Sally-Anne test

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10
Q

How was the AQ set up, what does AQ stand for, and who had to take it?

A

10 questions about your preferences as a person, and a scale between Definitely Disagree and Definitely Agree, ‘Autism Quotient’, and Participants already diagnosed with HFA/AS did not have to take the AQ for the purposes of the Baron-Cohen study

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11
Q

What was the central aim of the Baron-Cohen study

A

To test whether a group of adults with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) or High-Functioning Autism (HFA) would be impaired on the revised version of the ‘Reading the mind in the eyes’ task

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12
Q

What were two other, smaller aims within the Baron-Cohen study

A
  1. Is there an association between performance on this test and measures of autistic traits
  2. Are there gender differences in those without autism in this task
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13
Q

What is Hypothesis #1 in the Baron-Cohen Study?

A

Participants with autism will score significantly lower scores on the revised ‘Reading the mind in the eyes’ task than the control group

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14
Q

What is Hypothesis #2 in the Baron-Cohen Study?

A

Participants with autism will score significantly higher on the Autism Spectrum Quotient Test (AQ) measure

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15
Q

What is Hypothesis #3 in the Baron-Cohen Study?

A

Females in the ‘normal’ group (groups 2 & 3) will score higher on the ‘Reading the mind in the eyes’ task than males in those groups

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16
Q

What is Hypothesis #4 in the Baron-Cohen Study?

A

Males in the ‘normal’ group (group 3) would score higher on the AQ measure than females

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17
Q

What is Hypothesis #5, the final hypothesis in the Baron-Cohen Study?

A

Scores on the AQ and the ‘Reading the mind in the eyes’ task would be negatively correlated

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18
Q

What is one similarity in the results of all of the hypothesis

A

They were all proved right

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19
Q

What does Baron-Cohen suggest that people with autism lack?

A

Baron-Cohen suggests that people with autism lack/have an underdeveloped, cognitive process called ‘theory of mind’

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20
Q

What is the definition of ‘Theory of Mind’

A

A cognitive ability that enables us to realize that others have different feelings, beliefs, knowledge, and desires from us

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21
Q

What is the definition of empathy

A

Empathy is the ability to understand the world as another, separate from ourselves

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22
Q

Who are most ‘Theory of Mind’ designed for, and what is an example of a Theory of mind test

A

Most ‘Theory of mind’ tests are designed for children, and an example is the Sally-Anne test

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23
Q

What is a test that Baron-Cohen suggested for adults, and what does it test their ability to do

A

Baron-Cohen suggested one for adults called ‘Reading the mind in the eyes’ to test their ability to attribute emotional labels to others

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24
Q

What did Baron-Cohen also do 4 years before the 2001 study, and provide details on what it was about

A

He experimented in 1997 to investigate whether adults with AS or HFA had problems employing the theory of mind

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25
Q

How were the groups in the 1997 study compared

A

A group of individuals who had AS or HFA were compared with a group who did not

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26
Q

What were participants shown in the 1997 study

A

Participants were shown photographs of eyes and asked to identify the emotion being shown from 2 options

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27
Q

What did Baron-Cohen suggest about the 1997 study?

A

Baron-Cohen suggested this test demands similar cognitive processes as having a theory of mind as it requires empathy

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28
Q

What did the results of the 1997 study conclude

A

The results concluded that HFA or AS adults could identify significantly fewer emotions correctly in the task than ‘normal’ participants (control group)

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29
Q

What were the 3 key issues within the 1997 study

A
  1. It was a forced choice question with only 2 responses which were always opposites
  2. The small number of examples (25) led to many in the ‘normal group’ scoring 24 or 25 causing the ceiling effect
  3. The 25 sets of eyes illustrated both basic emotions and complex emotions, and the basic ones were too easy
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30
Q

Suggest 5 flaws in the OLD eyes test in 1997

A

-Did not reveal a huge difference between those diagnosed with autism and those who were not
-Some opposites used (sympathetic/unsympathetic)
-Mostly female faces
-No glossary
-Some were too easy, leading to the ceiling effect

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31
Q

Name the 6 basic, universally recognized emotions

A

-Anger
-Happiness
-Surprise
-Disgust
-Sadness
-Fear

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32
Q

How many words were in the glossary that Baron-Cohen provided to help participants identify mental states

A

93

33
Q

Name 6 of the words that were in the glossary that Baron-Cohen provided to help participants identify mental states

A

-Ashamed
-Bewildered
-Cautious
-Desire
-Eager
-Flustered

34
Q

What kind of experiment was Baron-Cohen’s 2001 study

A

Lab experiment

35
Q

What two designs did Baron Cohen’s 2001 experiment follow

A

Matched Participants AND Independent groups design

36
Q

What were participants asked to identify in the 2001 study

A

Participants were asked to identify emotions from photographs (not a regularly performed task with ecological validity)

37
Q

Why was the 2001 study when participants were asked to identify emotions from photographs highly standardized

A

All participants were exposed to the same photographs

38
Q

How were the photographs used in the 2001 study chosen

A

Using a PILOT STUDY

39
Q

What is a Quasi-Experiment/Natural Experiment

A

Participants cannot be assigned to any condition, that is pre-determined based on their characteristics (whether they have autism)

40
Q

GROUP 1- name of Group one
1. What kinds of people were in group one of Baron-Cohen’s experiment
2. How many participants were there in it
3. What was their mean IQ score
4. Mean age
5. What kind of sample was group 1

A

AS/HFA
1. Group 1 was the AS/HFA group
2. 15 male adult participants
3. 115
4. 29.7
5. Self-selecting (volunteer) samples from ads in Autistic Society Magazine and support groups

41
Q

GROUP 2 - Name of Group two
1. What kinds of people were in group two of Baron-Cohen’s experiment
2. What kind of sample was there for group two
3. What was the mean age of group 2

A

Adult Comparison Group
1. ‘Normal’ Adults (not with ASD)
2. Participants were from adult community and education classes in Exeter, or were public library users in Cambridge
3. 46.5

42
Q

GROUP 3 - Name of Group three
1. What kinds of people were in group three of Baron-Cohen’s experiment
2. What kind of sample was there for group three
3. What was the mean age of group three

A

Student Comparison Group
1. ‘Normal’ students (not with ASD)
2. From Cambridge University (Cambridge is a HIGHLY selective university, so these students are not representative of the general population
3. 20.8

43
Q

GROUP 4 -Name of Group 4
1. How many participants were in group four of Baron-Cohen’s experiment
2. What were the participants in group four’s mean age
3. What were the participants in group four’s mean IQ
4. What kind of sample was group 4

A

IQ Matched Group
1. 14 IQ-matched participants
2. 28
3. 116
4. Randomly selected from the general population

44
Q

What was the Independent Variable in the 2001 study by Baron-Cohen

A

The type of participant in each condition

45
Q

What was the experimental group in Baron-Cohen’s study

A

The group with ASD Participants (Group 1)

46
Q

What were the control groups (how many control groups were there) in Baron-Cohen’s 2001 study

A

Three control groups: Groups 2, 3 and 4

47
Q

What kind of design did Baron-Cohen’s study follow

A

Independent groups design

48
Q

What were the two ways in which the dependent variable in Baron-Cohen’s experiment was measured

A

One: Score on the Eyes Task
Two: Score on the AQ test (For those in the AS/HFA and the IQ-matched control condition)

49
Q

Who else’s IQ score was measured within Baron-Cohen’s study

A

IQ scores of participants in the AS/HFA condition and the IQ-matched comparison group were also measured

50
Q

How many pairs of eyes were participants shown, and how many were female/male

A

Participants were shown 36 pairs of eyes, 18 of them being male and 18 of them being female

51
Q

How many choices of emotions did each pair of eyes come with

A

4 FOILS - not synonyms

52
Q

How were the target and foil words (descriptions for eyes) developed

A

The target/foil words (descriptions for eyes) were developed using groups of 8 judges

53
Q

At least how many judges had to agree on the appropriate word to match the pair of eyes, and no more than how many could select one of the other foil words

A

At least 5 judges had to agree on the appropriate word to match the pair of eyes, and no more than 2 judges could select one of the other foil words

54
Q

What were participants in all 4 groups tested on, and what were participants in group 1 also asked to judge

A

Participants in all 4 groups were tested on the revised test, and participants in group 1 were also asked to judge the gender of the target in each photo

55
Q

What did the PILOT TESTS show

A

Pilot tests showed that ‘normal’ adults often achieved 100% accuracy on gender recognition, so this was not included in the experiment

56
Q

What participants completed the AQ test

A

Participants in all groups except for the ‘normal’ adult comparison also completed the AQ test

57
Q

What did each participant do to ensure that they understood the meanings of each emotion

A

Each participant read through a glossary of words that were to be used to ensure that they understood the meanings

58
Q

What would a participant do if they did not know the definition of a word during the experiment

A

They were referred back to the glossary to check its definition

59
Q

What was each participant given before the real mind in the eyes test, and what did the mind in the eyes test include

A

Each participant was given a practice item and then given the 36 sets of eyes with 4 possible target words for each

60
Q

How long were participants allowed to take to identify the emotion

A

As long as they liked

61
Q

What was done beforehand to ensure that participants were aware of what was happening

A

All participants consented to take part and were aware of the nature of the experiment

62
Q

Why was it especially important in this experiment for a full disclosure to take place

A

Due to the nature of autism, it was especially important for full disclosure before the experiment took place

63
Q

How was privacy ensured in this experiment

A

All data was anonymous and all participant’s identities were concealed

64
Q

What were the results regarding which group identified significantly fewer target words than all other groups

A

Group 1 (AS/HFA group) identified significantly fewer target words than all other groups

65
Q

How many times was the glossary used during the experiment

A

No participant in any of the conditions checked the glossary for more than 2 definitions

66
Q

What result was there between groups 2 and 3

A

In the group 2 (normal adults) comparison and group 3 (student) comparison, sex differences were apparent between males and females on the eyes test, but this was not significant

67
Q

What did the results in gender recognition scores for group 1 look like

A

All participants in Group 1 scored 33 or above out of 36 on gender recognition task

68
Q

Who scored the highest on the AQ test

A

Group 1 (AS/HFA group)

69
Q

What differences were there in AQ scores between males and females in the student comparison group results

A

Males scored significantly higher than females on the AQ scores in the student comparison group

70
Q

What were the results for each group in the average number of words correctly identified on the eye test

A

Group 1 (AS/HFA) scored the lowest, Group 2 (Adult controls) scored slightly higher than Group 1, then Group 3 (Student controls) scored higher than Group 2, and lastly, Group 4 (IQ-matched controls) scored the highest out of all of the groups. 1,2,3,4 from least to most

71
Q

What two test scores did the results show a significant correlation between, and what does this suggest

A

Statistically significant correlation between AQ and Eyes test scores (-0.53)

-This suggests that as a participant’s AQ score increases (meaning higher autistic traits) their ability to identify correct target words correctly decreases

72
Q

What is a conclusion we can reach about people with ASD

A

They have a deficit in cognitive processes that allow them to identify emotions in other people

73
Q

What is the lack of ‘theory of mind’ or ability to attribute emotions to others strongly linked to

A

ASD

74
Q

What does evidence in sex differences in comparison groups with males show us

A

males show more autistic traits than females and perform worse on eye test

75
Q

What did the revised test help with and what was it more sensitive on

A

It will help further research in this area because it was a more sensitive measure of adult social intelligence

76
Q

What were 5 strengths of Baron-Cohen’s 2001 study

A

-Highly standardized
-Highly controlled (helps eliminate extraneous variables)
-High internal validity
-High reliability
-Improved on the previous version of this experiment

77
Q

What were 4 weaknesses of Baron-Cohen’s 2001 study

A

-Random allocation impossible (possible confounding variables)
-Low ecological validity (lacks mundane realism)
-Unnatural conditions of experiment (future version could use videos of eyes instead of photos)
-Small sample size - group 1 in particular

78
Q

What is the GRAVE analysis for this study

A

G: Generalisability - Medium
R: Reliability - High
A: Application - High
V: Validity - Medium
E: Ethics - High