Baron-Cohen et al (1997)

Question 1

(Baron-Cohen et al) Define the term ‘autism’.

Answer 1

“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.”

Question 2

(Baron-Cohen et al) What are the Triad of Impairments?

Answer 2

1. Social Communication
2. Social Interaction
3. Social Imagination

Question 3

(Baron-Cohen et al) Explain an example of ‘Social Communication’ in regards to the Triad of Impairments.

Answer 3

Finding it hard to ‘read’ a person’s face or tone of voice; not understanding sarcasm.

Question 4

(Baron-Cohen et al) Explain an example ‘Social Interaction’ in regards to the Triad of Impairments.

Answer 4

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

Question 5

(Baron-Cohen et al) Explain an example ‘Social Imagination’ in regards to the Triad of Impairments.

Answer 5

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

Question 6

(Baron-Cohen et al) Define the term ‘Theory of Mind’.

Answer 6

The ability to infer what another person is thinking or feeling.

Question 7

(Baron-Cohen et al) Define the term ‘ceiling effect’.

Answer 7

When a test places a cap on the level of ability a person is able to show.

Question 8

(Baron-Cohen et al) Define the term ‘Tourette’s Syndrome’.

Answer 8

A childhood-onset disorder that can cause severe disruption to education and peer relations, the main symptom is tics or involuntary movements.

Question 9

(Baron-Cohen et al) What are the aims of this study?

Answer 9

• 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 10

(Baron-Cohen et al) Describe the ‘autistic’ sample.

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

(Baron-Cohen et al) Describe the ‘control’ sample.

Answer 11

• 50 ‘normal’ adults, aged 18-48
• 25 male, 25 female
• Recruited from the general population of Cambridge, UK, where Baron-Cohen was based

Question 12

(Baron-Cohen et al) Describe the ‘tourettes’ sample.

Answer 12

• 10 adults with Tourette’s syndrome, aged 18-47
• 8 male, 2 female
• Recruited from a referral centre in London

Question 13

(Baron-Cohen et al) What were the 2 control tasks?

Answer 13

Gender Recognition
Basic Emotion Recognition

Question 14

(Baron-Cohen et al) Describe the control task, ‘Gender Recognition’.

Answer 14

Participants were shown black and white images of eyes and asked to determine if the person was male or female.

Question 15

(Baron-Cohen et al) Describe the control task, ‘Basic Emotion Recognition’.

Answer 15

Participants were shown black and white full face images and asked to determine the basic emotion displayed.

Question 16

(Baron-Cohen et al) What and why did Baron-Cohen also give participants to confirm if his new test actually measured Theory of Mind?

Answer 16

The ‘Strange Stories’ task as this had already been validated as a test of Theory of Mind.

Question 17

(Baron-Cohen et al) What was the problem with Baron-Cohen giving his participants the ‘Strange Stories’ task?

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

(Baron-Cohen et al) What does the ‘Strange Stories’ task access?

Answer 18

The child’s understanding of: pretence, joke, lie, white lie, misunderstanding, persuasion, appearance/reality, figure of speech, irony, double bluff, contrary emotions, and forgetting.

Question 19

(Baron-Cohen et al) Where did participants complete the ‘Eyes’ task?

Answer 19

On a computer.

Question 20

(Baron-Cohen et al) Describe how the ‘Eyes’ task works.

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

(Baron-Cohen et al) What were the mean findings for each group for ‘The Eyes Task’.

Answer 21

Autistic: 16.3
Control: 20.3
Tourettes: 20.4

Question 22

(Baron-Cohen et al) What were the mean findings between males and females for ‘The Eyes Task’.

Answer 22

Males: 18.8
Females: 21.8

Question 23

(Baron-Cohen et al) What are the conclusions from this study?

Answer 23

Autistic adults still have impairments within the Theory of Mind.
Females have better Theory of Mind than males.

Question 24

(Baron-Cohen et al) How does ecological validity relate to this study?

Answer 24

Figuring out emotions from static, black and white images of eyes is not common.

Question 25

(Baron-Cohen et al) How does population validity relate to this study?

Answer 25

The sample was diverse in terms of age and gender but lacked diversity in terms of diagnosis and ethnicity.

Question 26

(Baron-Cohen et al) How does concurrent validity relate to this study?

Answer 26

They compared the new test (eye task) with an established tests (strange stories) to check it was accurate.

Question 27

(Baron-Cohen et al) How does internal reliability relate to this study?

Answer 27

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.

Question 28

(Baron-Cohen et al) How does external reliability relate to this study?

Answer 28

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.

Question 29

(Baron-Cohen et al) How does the nature-nurture debate relate to this study?

Answer 29

Nature - identifies Theory of Mind ability as a result of naturally occurring gender and condition.

Question 30

(Baron-Cohen et al) How does the freewill-determinism debate relate to this study?

Answer 30

Theory of Mind ability most likely is determined by your conditions and/or gender.

Question 31

(Baron-Cohen et al) How does the individual-situational debate relate to this study?

Answer 31

Individual as the person’s Theory of Mind ability didn’t vary in different test/scenarios.

Question 32

(Baron-Cohen et al) Give two examples of similarities between this study and Freud.

Answer 32

1. Both collected data through self-report.
2. Both had high ecological validity by being conducted in their own homes.

Question 33

(Baron-Cohen et al) Give two examples of differences between this study and Freud.

Answer 33

• Studies use different research methods.
• Studies had samples of different ages.

Question 34

(Baron-Cohen et al) How HAS this study changed our understanding of the key theme? (4)

Answer 34

• 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.

Question 35

(Baron-Cohen et al) How HASN’T this study changed our understanding of the key theme? (2)

Answer 35

• Does not say anything about new phobias.
• Both studies identify disorders are individual.

Question 36

(Baron-Cohen et al) How has/hasn’t this study changed our understanding of diversity, regarding individual diversity?

Answer 36

HAS: Freud told us about phobias. Baron-Cohen provides insight into the experiences of those with autism/AS.

Question 37

(Baron-Cohen et al) How has/hasn’t this study changed our understanding of diversity, regarding social diversity?

Answer 37

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.

Question 38

(Baron-Cohen et al) How has/hasn’t this study changed our understanding of diversity, regarding cultural diversity?

Answer 38

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.