Baron-Cohen et al Flashcards
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
A diagnostic category (previously containing AS and autism) Symptoms appearing in childhood present a range of difficulties with social interaction and communication and restrictive, repetitive, or inflexible interests or behavior.
High-Functioning Autism (HFA)
A type of autism, considered a milder form, where individuals can still function well in society and cope with daily activities.
Asperger-Syndrom (AS)
A neurodevelopmental disorder on the autism spectrum that affects a person’s social and communication skills and is characterized by difficulties with social interaction, understanding nonverbal cues, and repetitive behaviors.
Theory of Mind
A cognitive ability that enables one person to comprehend that other ppl have separate feelings, beliefs, knowledge, and desires that can be different from their own. It enables one person to detect the emotional state of another person.
Social Sensitivity
The ability to interpret nonverbal cues, specifically those conveyed through the eyes. The studies examine whether individuals with autism have a difference in social sensitivity compared to neurotypical individuals.
Read the Mind in the Eyes Test (Original)
The original test had only two options to choose from, more female faces than male faces, and some basic emotions that were too easy to identify.
Some participants could simply guess the emotion by looking at the direction in which the eyes were gazing.
This made the test too easy, which led to ceiling effects—when everyone gets a high score because the task is too easy.
Only had 25 sets of eyes.
Read the Mind in the Eyes Test (Revised)
Participants were presented with 36 sets of eyes.
Each set consisted of a black and white photo of the eye region of a face.
For each set of eyes, participants were given four words to choose from: one target word (the correct answer) and three foil words (incorrect answers).
Participants were asked to choose the word that best described what the person in the photograph was thinking or feeling.
The foil words were chosen to be similar in valence or intensity to the target word but had different meanings.
Only complex emotions were used.
There were equal no. female/male eye sets.
Ps were also given a glossary
Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ)
This was a self-report questionnaire that measured the degree to which individuals possess autistic traits. The test had 50 statements where participants had to agree or disagree (binary scale). Higher scores suggest the person has more autistic traits. Researchers expect an inverse correlation between scores on the Eyes Test and the AQ.
Aims
To test whether the revised version of the eyes test would work on a group of autistic adults.
To see whether normal non-autistic females would score higher in the revised eyes test than normal males.
To investigate if there would be an inverse (negative) correlation between performance on the Revised Eye Test and scores on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) in a sample of normal adults.
The 5 hypothesis being tested
- Ps with ASD will score significantly lower scores on the revised Eye Test than the control group.
- Ps with ASD will score significantly higher on the AQ measure than the control group.
- Females in the ‘normal’ group (Group 2/3) will score higher on the eyes test than males in those groups.
- Males in the ‘normal group (group 3) would score higher on the AQ measure than females.
- Scores on the AQ and the Eye test would be negatively correlated.
Group : Adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS) or High-Functioning Autism (HFA)
15 male adults with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) or High-Functioning Autism (HFA).
They were recruited through advertisements in the UK National Autistic Society magazine or similar support groups, and were diagnosed at specialist centers using established criteria.
The participants had a mean IQ of 115 with a standard deviation of 16.1, which is within the normal range. Their average age was 29.7 years.
Group 2: General Population Control Group
This group consisted of 122 adults from the general population.
They were recruited from adult community and education classes in Exeter and public library users in Cambridge.
They had a broad mix of occupations and educational backgrounds.
Data on age was available for 88 of these participants. The mean age was 46.5 years.
This group served as a control group to compare the performance of individuals with autism with those without.
This group did not take the (AQ) test.
Group 3: Student Control Group
This group comprised 103 undergraduate students from Cambridge University.
There were 53 males and 50 females in this group.
The students were assumed to have a high IQ due to the stringent entrance requirements of the university, and their IQ was not tested.
The mean age of this group was 20.8 years.
This group was a control group used to compare the experimental group with a group of high IQ individuals.
Group 4: IQ-Matched Control Group
This group consisted of 14 randomly selected adults from the general population whose IQ scores were matched with those of Group 1.
The mean IQ of this group was 116 with a standard deviation of 6.4, which was similar to that of Group 1.
The mean age of this group was 28 years.
This group was included to control for the possible influence of intelligence on theory of mind test performance.
This was a matched-pairs design group.
Design
The 2001 study used a quasi-experimental design with a closed questionnaire, incorporating independent groups and matched pairs, along with a naturally occurring independent variable. This design allowed researchers to investigate the relationship between autism, theory of mind, and social intelligence while controlling for factors such as IQ and gender.
Independent variable
The independent variable (IV) was whether participants had Asperger Syndrome (AS) or High-Functioning Autism (HFA) or were neurotypical.
This was a naturally occurring variable, meaning the researchers did not manipulate it, but rather grouped participants based on their pre-existing condition.
The IV had four levels:
Adults with AS/HFA (Group 1)
Neurotypical adults from the general population (Group 2)
Undergraduate students (Group 3)
IQ-matched controls (Group 4)
Gender was also considered as an independent variable.
Dependent variable
It’s important to understand that while the study aimed to investigate theory of mind, it didn’t measure theory of mind directly.
Instead, the researchers used the scores on the Revised Eye Test (RET) and Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) test as indicators of a participant’s ability to understand the mental states of others.
The RET score represented the number of correct mental state identifications out of 36.
Participants who scored highly on the Revised Eye Test demonstrated good social sensitivity and a well-developed theory of mind.
The AQ test scores represented the degree of autistic traits, with the higher scores indicating more traits.
Procedure
(Development of the Revised Eyes Test)
Two of the experimenters created the target words and foils.
The items were then piloted on eight judges.
For a target word to be considered suitable, at least five out of the eight judges had to agree that it was the most appropriate descriptor for the emotion shown in the eyes.
Additionally, no more than two of the eight judges could pick the foil.
Items that did not meet these criteria were revised by creating new target words and foils.
The revised items were then re-assessed by the judges until the item “passed” the criteria.
This process ensured that the target words were the most appropriate descriptors for the emotions being shown in the eyes and that the foil options were not easily confused with the target.
Administration of Tests
The procedure was designed to measure the ability to recognize and interpret mental states based on cues from the eyes and to assess the level of autistic traits in the participants.
The tests were administered by trained researchers in a standardized way.
The tests were administered individually in a quiet room at either Cambridge or Exeter University.
There was no time limit for completing the tests.
Each participant completed a practice test before starting the main tests
Participants were given a glossary of terms and could ask for clarification. They were allowed to use the glossary during the test.
Gender Identification for Group 1
Group 1 participants had to identify the gender of the person in the eye photographs as a control task.
If they could not do this easy task, the test results might be affected by vision and not theory of mind.
Aim 2: To test if there is an inverse (negative) correlation between performance on the revised Eyes Test and scores on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) in a sample of normal adults.
The study found a significant negative correlation (-0.53) between scores on the Eyes Test and the AQ test across all groups.
This means that participants who scored higher on the AQ test (indicating more autistic traits) tended to score lower on the Eyes Test (indicating difficulty in reading emotions), and vice versa.
Aim 1 : To test if the revised version of the Read the Mind in the Eyes Test would be successful at differentiating participants with AS or HFA (High Functioning Autism) from the general population.
The AS/HFA group scored significantly lower on the Eyes Test compared to the other three groups.
The mean score for the AS/HFA group was 21.9 out of 36, while the control groups had mean scores ranging from 26.2 to 30.97.
This supported the hypothesis that adults with autism have impaired theory of mind and have difficulty identifying emotions from the eye region.
The AS/HFA group did not show any impairment in the gender identification task, indicating that their lower performance on the Eyes Test was not due to problems with basic visual perception.
Aim 3: To test if non-autistic females would score higher on the revised Eyes Test than non-autistic males.
The study found that females scored higher than males on the Revised Eyes Test within the normal adult groups (Groups 2 and 3).
For example, in the student group (Group 3) the mean score for females was 28.6 compared to 27.3 for males.
Conclusion
The revised eyes test (2001) replicated the findings of the original eyes test (1997).
Normal females are able to judge emotions better than normal males.
Males are more likely to develop autistic tendencies than females.
The AQ Test and the eyes test are inversely (negatively) correlated. These findings support the idea that autistic traits are related to impaired theory of mind.
