Baron Cohen 1997 Flashcards
what area is this
individual differences area
aim 1
investigate TOM in autistic adults and show why don’t have it cognitively
TOM
theory of mind - ability to understand emotions different form your own. develops around 4-6 yrs old
background
suggested core deficit of autism is lack of TOM.
The Sally Anne test puts development of TOM at 6yrs.
Sally Anne test (background)
researcher has two dolls -sally + anne
Sally puts a marble in her box and goes away
Anne moves the marble to her basket.
Question asked to child who has observed this. Where will Sally look for her marble?
TOM in her box
no TOM in Anne’s basket
method experiment
Quasi experiment
IV neurological, naturally occurring
IVs
3 IVs
2 of these were control groups.
design
matched pairs on age and intelligence, snap shot study
Iv 1
P with autism/AS
normal intelligence
self selected from ad
13m 3f
Iv 2
P ‘normal’ adults
25m 25f
random sample from Cambridge uni
age matched with IV 1
Iv 3
P with Tourette’s TS
normal intelligence
8m 2f
age matched
self selected from London clinic oppotuinity sample
ethics
to avoid stress when testing TOM, P with ASD were tested in their own homes or local clinics (natural environment)
Procedure
A series of tasks were done in a random order in the indivduals home, clinic or research lab. P was tested individually.
task 1 eyes
the eyes task shows the P a series of 25 photos of just someones eyes both m+f in B&W for 3 secs and then asked to pick the mental state. Options given were in complete contrast to each other eg joyful or upset.
strange stories
group 1 + 3 ASD + TS were tested
demonstrates the validity of the eye recognition task
researcher will tell a story in which the character will lie and then ask the P to explain why.
Dv
scores on all 3 tasks
Strange stories Example
Peter’s aunt visits with a new hat.
the hat is ugly.
Peter says he likes the hat.
Why does Peter say e likes the hat?
Example - white lie
control task 1 eyes
gender recognition
shown the eyes tasks photos again but now has to state the gender of the eyes. Doesn’t involve mind reading but involve facial perception.
Control task 2
basic emotion recognition
shown 6 full face photos and asked to state the emotion portrayed. done to show the eyes task was struggled with due to difficulties with basic emotional recognition skills.
results
ASD group had worse TOM than any other group.
20.4/25 mean TS
20.3/25 mean normal
16.3/25 mean ASD
strange stories and eyes task similar results in ASD TOM being lower.
no real difference between control grps.
Conclusion
People with ASD have very little TOM and struggle with ‘mind reading’ abilities even as adults. Strange stories validated the eyes task.
