Baron-Cohen (1997) Flashcards
Background of the study
-Autism involves difficulties in social communication, social interaction, social imagination
-Wanted to understand if there was a ‘core deficit’ in all people with autism-‘Theory of mind’
Social communication
Finding it had to ‘read’ a persons face or tone of voice, not understanding sarcasm
Social interaction
Behaving in ways other people see as inappropriate, such as starting up a conversation ‘out of the blue’
Social imagination
Finding it hard to predict what will happen next and/or to anticipate danger
Aims
-To investigate whether adults with autism still experience a deficit in theory of mind
-To develop a new ‘advanced’ way of testing Theory of Mind that would be appropriate for adults
Sample
-16 adults with autism (13m,3f)
-50 neurotypical adults (25m,25f)
-10 adults with Tourette’s (8m,2f)
Procedure
-Participants took part in a gender recognition task and the basic emotion recognition task
-If they failed they wouldn’t continue
-Those that ‘passed’ did the eyes task and the strange stories task
Explain the gender recognition task
Participants would have to identify the gender of those in the pictures used in the eyes task
Explain the basic emotions recognition task
Participants were given full face pictures to recognise the six basic emotions (happiness, sadness, disgust, etc)
Explain the ‘eyes task’
-Participants were given 25 black and white pictures of eyes
-They were displayed for three seconds
-Had to choose between two semantically different emotions
Findings
Mean scores:
-Adults with autism-16.3/25
-Adults with Tourette’s- 20.4/25
-Neurotypical adults-20.3/25
Conclusions
-Deficit in Theory of Mind is present in adulthood for people with autism
-The eyes task can detect this, and has concurrent validity with the strange stories task
-Neurotypical females are better at reading emotions that males (mean score 21.8 vs 18.8)
Ecological validity of the eyes task
-Not uncommon to judge emotion by facial expressions
-However we would typically be seeing a moving full face in colour, and likely for more than three seconds
Population validity of the study
-High-both genders, people with/without neurological disorders, age range of 18-48
-Low-only from the UK, not an equal gender split, only two conditions, limited ethnicities
How the study shows concurrent validity
The results on the eyes task were similar to those on the strange stories task
Internal reliability of the study
-High number of controls used in the study:
-Images used
-Images displayed for three seconds
-All in black and white
External validity of the study
-High in the neurotypical study as 50 participants
-Low in Tourette’s and autistic sample as only 16 and 10
Link to nature/nurture debate
Nature-naturally occurring gender or condition
Link to freewill/determinism debate
Determinism-behaviour determined by condition and/or gender
Link to individual/situational explanations debate
Individual-participant’s theory of mind ability didn’t vary in different scenarios
Link to key theme of ‘understanding disorders’
Looking at theory of mind skills in people with autism
Link to individual differences area
Investigating how having autism could lead to having differences in theory of mind
Link to cognitive area
Focusing on thought processes (theory of mind)
Two similarities between B-C and Freud
-Both studies used self-report
-High ecological validity by being conducted in their own homes
How did both studies use self-report?
-Little Hans’ father interviewed him about his dreams and phobias, then sent the letters
-B-C conducted online computer questionnaires, including the eyes task
