Baron-Cohen Flashcards
What is autism?
Autism is a failure to develop processes linked to social interaction. It involves difficulties in social functioning, communication, coping with change, and often means the person has narrow interests.
How is autism characterized in children?
By difficulties with social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and a lack of imaginative play.
When was autism first included in the DSM?
Autism was included in the DSM in 1980 (DSM-III).
What are the two criteria for autism diagnosis in the DSM-5 (2014)?
Impairment of social communication and interaction skills.
Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities.
Why were Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) combined into Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?
The distinction between AS and HFA was too fine to differentiate.
What was the aim of the Baron-Cohen et al. (2001) study?
To test if adults with AS or HFA would be impaired on the revised “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” task.
To investigate the association between performance on this task and autistic traits.
To examine gender differences on the Eyes Test in non-autistic participants.
What is the “Theory of Mind”?
A cognitive ability to recognize that others have different feelings, beliefs, knowledge, and desires from oneself.
What does the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” test measure?
Social cognition and the first stage of the Theory of Mind—assigning mental states to others.
What were the main hypotheses of the study?
ASD participants will score lower on the Eyes Test than controls.
ASD participants will score higher on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ).
Females in the control groups will score higher on the Eyes Test than males.
Males in control groups will score higher on the AQ than females.
Scores on the AQ and Eyes Test will be negatively correlated.
What type of experiment was the Baron-Cohen et al. (2001) study?
A quasi-experiment with matched participants and independent groups design.
What were the participant groups in the study?
Group 1: 15 male adults with AS/HFA (mean IQ 115, mean age 29.7).
Group 2: Adult comparison group (mean age 46.5).
Group 3: Student comparison group (Cambridge University, mean age 20.8).
Group 4: IQ-matched group (mean IQ 116, mean age 28).
What were the dependent variables?
Score on the Eyes Test.
Score on the AQ (for groups 1 and 4).
What changes were made to the Eyes Test in 2001 compared to the 1997 version?
Increased response options from 2 to 4.
Balanced male and female faces.
Complex emotions only.
Glossary provided for terms.
How was the Eyes Test conducted?
Participants viewed 36 pairs of eyes (18 male, 18 female).
Chose 1 emotion out of 4 options.
Referred to a glossary if needed.
Allowed unlimited time.
What were the main findings?
Group 1 scored significantly lower on the Eyes Test than all control groups.
Group 1 scored higher on the AQ than other groups.
Negative correlation between AQ and Eyes Test scores (-0.53).
