Baron-Cohen Flashcards
Advantage of lab experiment
Ability to identify cause and effect ie..
Use of control therefore ease of replicability
Disadvantage of lab experiment
Artificial environment, demand characteristics influence results
Sample
16 Autistic adults
High functioning
12 with Aspergers
13M 3F
50 normal adults
Matched by age with Autistic group
25,25
Cambridge
10 adults with Tourette's syndrome
Matched by age with autistic group
8 M, 2 F
Clinical sample
ALL normal intelligence range.
Sample recruited
Advert in National Autistic Society
Clinical Tourette’s syndrome sample from a centre in London
Normal = general population of Cambridge
Aim
To provide support for a cognitive explanation of autism, specifically that autistic adults lack theory of mind skills. Eg. Predict thoughts or behaviours of another person.
Sample type
Volunteer (article)
Research method
Independent measured design
Research design
Quasi-experiment
IV
Natural
Normal adult, Tourette’s syndrome, autistic adult
DV
Eyes task
4 tasks
Eyes
Strange stories
Control task 1: gender recognition
Control task 2: basic emotion
Quantitative data
Eyes task obtained score
Controls
- age matched
- all normal IQ
- random presentation of 4 tasks
- control tasks used to assess gender and basic emotion recognition
- eyes task pre tested using people blind to aim/hypothesis
- pic shown for 3 seconds
Results eyes task
1: Autistic 16.3 Normal 20.3 Tourette's 20.4 /25 2: In normal group, females performed better than males Males 18.8 Females 21.8
Results strange stories
TS no errors
A some some errors and impaired relative to controls
Results control tasks
No difference between groups on controls task
Conclusion
High functioning autistic adults impaired on theory of mind test, despite having normal IQ. Evidence of mind reading deficits.
Females significantly better than males on this ToM test.
Significance of results p=
Changes
Film of face (whole face indicating chosen emotion rather than just photo)
Experiment in lab (rather than varying location)
Sample (proportionate number and range of autistic adults on spectrum)
Strange stories
Advanced theory of mind test. If difficulties with eyes then difficulties with this.
Happe strange stories.
Comprises contextually embedded and realistic theory of mind tasks. Included simple accounts of events related to various motivations underlying everyday utterances that are not literally meant eg. Joke, lie, sarcasm.
Eyes task
25 B&W photos 3 seconds Magazine photos, eye region. Same size Male and female Forced choice between two mental states TARGET & FOIL - printed underneath Tested individually
Emotion and direct opposite
4 judges generated target words
Photos shown to 8 adults who did not know answer
100% agreement, therefore good validity.
Target / Foil
Relaxed/worried
Calm/anxious
Friendly/hostile
Control task 2: basic emotion
Identify emotion of full face photos.
Everyone should pass these as checking validity of experiment.
Six faces used eg. Happy, sad - based on Ekman categories
Control task 1: gender indentification
Identify gender of 25 eye photos
Same as eyes task but asked for gender as well.
Ecological validity
- simpler than real demands of a live social situation eg. Forced choice and gender recognition have more cues than just the eye region
- lab experiment is a strange environment esp. Subjects with autism easily feel disorientated, therefore effect way performed. Autistic characteristic = need for routine and familiarity.
- eyes task unusual, simpler than the demands of real life even though a ‘very advanced’ test. Static photos never like real world and would have been more realistic with films
Previous research stimulus
Baron-Cohen’s research in children using the Sally-Anne Test
Advantage of sample
Adult autistics had difficulty with eyes task, BC able to show that adult autistics as well as autistic children have mind reading deficits.
