Baron-Cohen (1997)

Question 1

Background of the study

Answer 1

-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’

Question 2

Social communication

Answer 2

Finding it had to ‘read’ a persons face or tone of voice, not understanding sarcasm

Question 3

Social interaction

Answer 3

Behaving in ways other people see as inappropriate, such as starting up a conversation ‘out of the blue’

Question 4

Social imagination

Answer 4

Finding it hard to predict what will happen next and/or to anticipate danger

Question 5

Aims

Answer 5

-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

Question 6

Sample

Answer 6

-16 adults with autism (13m,3f)
-50 neurotypical adults (25m,25f)
-10 adults with Tourette’s (8m,2f)

Question 7

Procedure

Answer 7

-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

Question 8

Explain the gender recognition task

Answer 8

Participants would have to identify the gender of those in the pictures used in the eyes task

Question 9

Explain the basic emotions recognition task

Answer 9

Participants were given full face pictures to recognise the six basic emotions (happiness, sadness, disgust, etc)

Question 10

Explain the ‘eyes task’

Answer 10

-Participants were given 25 black and white pictures of eyes
-They were displayed for three seconds
-Had to choose between two semantically different emotions

Question 11

Findings

Answer 11

Mean scores:
-Adults with autism-16.3/25
-Adults with Tourette’s- 20.4/25
-Neurotypical adults-20.3/25

Question 12

Conclusions

Answer 12

-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)

Question 13

Ecological validity of the eyes task

Answer 13

-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

Question 14

Population validity of the study

Answer 14

-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

Question 15

How the study shows concurrent validity

Answer 15

The results on the eyes task were similar to those on the strange stories task

Question 16

Internal reliability of the study

Answer 16

-High number of controls used in the study:
-Images used
-Images displayed for three seconds
-All in black and white

Question 17

External validity of the study

Answer 17

-High in the neurotypical study as 50 participants
-Low in Tourette’s and autistic sample as only 16 and 10

Question 18

Link to nature/nurture debate

Answer 18

Nature-naturally occurring gender or condition

Question 19

Link to freewill/determinism debate

Answer 19

Determinism-behaviour determined by condition and/or gender

Question 20

Link to individual/situational explanations debate

Answer 20

Individual-participant’s theory of mind ability didn’t vary in different scenarios

Question 21

Link to key theme of ‘understanding disorders’

Answer 21

Looking at theory of mind skills in people with autism

Question 22

Link to individual differences area

Answer 22

Investigating how having autism could lead to having differences in theory of mind

Question 23

Link to cognitive area

Answer 23

Focusing on thought processes (theory of mind)

Question 24

Two similarities between B-C and Freud

Answer 24

-Both studies used self-report
-High ecological validity by being conducted in their own homes

Question 25

How did both studies use self-report?

Answer 25

-Little Hans’ father interviewed him about his dreams and phobias, then sent the letters
-B-C conducted online computer questionnaires, including the eyes task