Baron-Cohen et al (1997) Flashcards
(Baron-Cohen et al) Define the term ‘autism’.
“A lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them.”
(Baron-Cohen et al) What are the Triad of Impairments?
- Social Communication
- Social Interaction
- Social Imagination
(Baron-Cohen et al) Explain an example of ‘Social Communication’ in regards to the Triad of Impairments.
Finding it hard to ‘read’ a person’s face or tone of voice; not understanding sarcasm.
(Baron-Cohen et al) Explain an example ‘Social Interaction’ in regards to the Triad of Impairments.
Behaving in ways other people see as inappropriate, such as starting up a conversation ‘out of the blue’.
(Baron-Cohen et al) Explain an example ‘Social Imagination’ in regards to the Triad of Impairments.
Finding it hard to predict what will happen next and/or to anticipate danger.
(Baron-Cohen et al) Define the term ‘Theory of Mind’.
The ability to infer what another person is thinking or feeling.
(Baron-Cohen et al) Define the term ‘ceiling effect’.
When a test places a cap on the level of ability a person is able to show.
(Baron-Cohen et al) Define the term ‘Tourette’s Syndrome’.
A childhood-onset disorder that can cause severe disruption to education and peer relations, the main symptom is tics or involuntary movements.
(Baron-Cohen et al) What are the aims of this study?
- 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.
(Baron-Cohen et al) Describe the ‘autistic’ sample.
- 16 adults aged 18-49 with either autism or Asperger’s syndrome
- 13 male, 3 female
- Recruited via an advert in the National Autistic Society’s Communication magazine or through professional contacts of Baron-Cohon
(Baron-Cohen et al) Describe the ‘control’ sample.
- 50 ‘normal’ adults, aged 18-48
- 25 male, 25 female
- Recruited from the general population of Cambridge, UK, where Baron-Cohen was based
(Baron-Cohen et al) Describe the ‘tourettes’ sample.
- 10 adults with Tourette’s syndrome, aged 18-47
- 8 male, 2 female
- Recruited from a referral centre in London
(Baron-Cohen et al) What were the 2 control tasks?
Gender Recognition
Basic Emotion Recognition
(Baron-Cohen et al) Describe the control task, ‘Gender Recognition’.
Participants were shown black and white images of eyes and asked to determine if the person was male or female.
(Baron-Cohen et al) Describe the control task, ‘Basic Emotion Recognition’.
Participants were shown black and white full face images and asked to determine the basic emotion displayed.
(Baron-Cohen et al) What and why did Baron-Cohen also give participants to confirm if his new test actually measured Theory of Mind?
The ‘Strange Stories’ task as this had already been validated as a test of Theory of Mind.
(Baron-Cohen et al) What was the problem with Baron-Cohen giving his participants the ‘Strange Stories’ task?
It had been developed for use with 8-9 year olds, so there was the risk of it having the ceiling effect with adults - hence the need for a more ‘advanced’ test.
(Baron-Cohen et al) What does the ‘Strange Stories’ task access?
The child’s understanding of: pretence, joke, lie, white lie, misunderstanding, persuasion, appearance/reality, figure of speech, irony, double bluff, contrary emotions, and forgetting.
(Baron-Cohen et al) Where did participants complete the ‘Eyes’ task?
On a computer.
(Baron-Cohen et al) Describe how the ‘Eyes’ task works.
The task shows black and white images of eyes for 3 seconds each. Participants were given 2 opposing words describing the emotion felt by the person within the image from which to select one option.
Each participant was given a score out of 25.
(Baron-Cohen et al) What were the mean findings for each group for ‘The Eyes Task’.
Autistic: 16.3
Control: 20.3
Tourettes: 20.4
(Baron-Cohen et al) What were the mean findings between males and females for ‘The Eyes Task’.
Males: 18.8
Females: 21.8
(Baron-Cohen et al) What are the conclusions from this study?
Autistic adults still have impairments within the Theory of Mind.
Females have better Theory of Mind than males.
(Baron-Cohen et al) How does ecological validity relate to this study?
Figuring out emotions from static, black and white images of eyes is not common.
(Baron-Cohen et al) How does population validity relate to this study?
The sample was diverse in terms of age and gender but lacked diversity in terms of diagnosis and ethnicity.
(Baron-Cohen et al) How does concurrent validity relate to this study?
They compared the new test (eye task) with an established tests (strange stories) to check it was accurate.
(Baron-Cohen et al) How does internal reliability relate to this study?
High number of controls used in the eyes task: same size images, 3 seconds each, black and white, all participants viewed the same images etc.
(Baron-Cohen et al) How does external reliability relate to this study?
Large sample of participants in normal population but sample of autistic/AS participants and Tourette’s participants was fairly small and so may not produce consistent findings.
(Baron-Cohen et al) How does the nature-nurture debate relate to this study?
Nature - identifies Theory of Mind ability as a result of naturally occurring gender and condition.
(Baron-Cohen et al) How does the freewill-determinism debate relate to this study?
Theory of Mind ability most likely is determined by your conditions and/or gender.
(Baron-Cohen et al) How does the individual-situational debate relate to this study?
Individual as the person’s Theory of Mind ability didn’t vary in different test/scenarios.
(Baron-Cohen et al) Give two examples of similarities between this study and Freud.
- Both collected data through self-report.
- Both had high ecological validity by being conducted in their own homes.
(Baron-Cohen et al) Give two examples of differences between this study and Freud.
- Studies use different research methods.
- Studies had samples of different ages.
(Baron-Cohen et al) How HAS this study changed our understanding of the key theme? (4)
- It has told us about a different disorder.
- Shown a different way of explaining disorders.
- Investigated disorders in adults, rather than in a child.
- Shown that different research methods can be used to understand disorders.
(Baron-Cohen et al) How HASN’T this study changed our understanding of the key theme? (2)
- Does not say anything about new phobias.
- Both studies identify disorders are individual.
(Baron-Cohen et al) How has/hasn’t this study changed our understanding of diversity, regarding individual diversity?
HAS: Freud told us about phobias. Baron-Cohen provides insight into the experiences of those with autism/AS.
(Baron-Cohen et al) How has/hasn’t this study changed our understanding of diversity, regarding social diversity?
HAS: Does tell us that males and females differ in their mind reading abilities so could suggest social differences between genders - weren’t tested by Freud.
(Baron-Cohen et al) How has/hasn’t this study changed our understanding of diversity, regarding cultural diversity?
HAS: Carried out in different countries (UK and Australia).
HASN’T: Does not really add to our understanding of cultural diversity because you would expect phobias and autism to exist in different cultures - both studies looked at western cultures.
