Baron Cohen et al (eyes test ) Flashcards
what is theory of mind
the ability to imagine oneself and other peoples mental states and respond appropriately
What are the assumptions of the cognitive approach
1)The way we process information is similar to the way computers process information
input
processing
output
2)Similarities and differences between people can be understood in terms of individual patterns of cognition
for example men struggle with mind reading compared to females
what is the psychology being investigated
from the study by by Baron Cohen et al
ASD - autism spectrum disorder
HFA. - high functioning autism
AS - Asperger syndrome
a person with ASD does not fully develop cognitive processes linked to social interaction.
what is cognitive empathy
imaging another persons thoughts and feelings
what is affective empathy
this is responding appropriately to another persons thoughts and feelings
what is a lack of ToM called
mindblindness
what are autism spectrum disorders
disorders that share similar symptoms but vary in severity
what do people with ASD struggle with
- social sensitivity, they lack a ToM
- socialization , they have narrow interests
- communication, verbal and nonverbal
why did baron et al revise the original eyes test
1) the questions were forced choice with only two options
2) it had more female faces than male faces
3) the response options were semantic opposites e.g happy or sad (so the task was too easy)
4) participants might not have understood the words in the task
5) the emotion in some of the photos could be solved by checking the direction in which the eyes were gazing
how did Baron solve the issues with the original test
- he increased the response options to 4 lowering the performance by chance to 25%
- equal number of male and female facial stimuli
- they used foils of similar emotional valence as target words
- including a glossary of target words where participants could refer for the meanings of the words
- deleting all those items
what is the aim of the study by Baron Cohen et al
to test whether a group of adults with AS/HFA would be impaired in the revised version of the eyes test compared to the normal controls
what are the 5 hypothesis from the study by by Baron Cohen et al
1) the AS/HFA group will score significantly low in the revised eyes test but remain unimpaired in the gender recognition control task
2) females in group 2 and 3 will score significantly higher than males in the eyes test.
3) males in group 3 will score significantly higher than females in the AQ test.
4) scores in the eyes test and the AQ test will be negatively correlated
5) the AS/HFA group will score significantly higher in the AQ test compared to normal controls
list five characteristics of the sample in group 1(AS/HFA group)
- they all had autism or asperger syndrome
- they were all males , it was an androcentric sample
- their mean age was 29.7 years
- it was self-selecting sampling - they were recruited from adverts in the national autistic society magazine (asm)
- they were all given the WAIS-A
- they had a mean of 115 IQ points
- they had all been diagnosed in specialist centres using DSM-iv
list 5 characteristics of the sample in group 2 (normal adults)
- it had 123 individuals
- they were drawn from adult community and education classes in Exeter and the public library users in cambridge
- they had a broad mix of educational level
- they had a broad mix of day time occupations from unemployment , to clerical workers , to professionals
list 5 characteristics of the sample in group 3 (normal students)
- it had 103 students from cambridge university
- 53 males and 50 females
-they were assumed to have a high iq - they had a mean age of 20.8 years
- they were recruited through opportunity sampling
-71 studied sciences and 32 other subjects
list 5 characteristics of the sample in group 4 (IQ method group)-
- they were randomly selected from the general population
- they were IQ matched with group 1witha mean of 116 IQ points
- they had a mean age of 28 years
what type of experiment is the study from Baron Cohen et al
it is a quasi-experiment
it is a natural experiment because the iv is naturally occurring
what is the experimental design in the study by Baron…
independent measures because separate subjects were used in the AS/HFA group and the 3 control groups
what is the iv in the study by Baron…
whether subjects were autistic or normal
what is the dv in the study by Baron..
scores in the eyes test
scores in the Aq test
give 3 controls/standardization used in the study by Baron Cohen et al
all facial stimuli was black and white to mask facial features that would distract the participant
- a glossary of adjectives was provided to minimize comprehension issues that subjects would have
- the AS/HFA group were given the gender recognition task as a control task
from the study by by Baron Cohen et al explain the new criteria that was applied for group 2 and 3
at least 50% of the subjects had to select the target word
no more than 25% would select a foil
items 1 , 2 , 12 and 40 did not meet this criteria and were dropped leaving only 36 faces
Describe how target words and foils were generated in the study by Baron Cohen et al
Target words and their foils were generated by the first two authors (baron cohen and sally wheelwright)
The words were the piloted on a group of 8 judges - 4 male , 4 female
a criteria was used to arrive at the target word; at least 5 of the judges had to agree that the target word was the most suitable description of the image.Not more than 2 judges could pick a foil.
Words that did not meet this criteria were re-piloted
How were items that did not meet the criteria in the study by Baron Cohen et al re-piloted?
New target words were generated and re-piloted with successive groups of judges until the criteria was met for all the 36 items
explain the procedure during testing from the study by by Baron Cohen et al
subjects in all the 4 groups were tested individually in a quiet room in either cambridge or exter
participants in the AS/HFA group were told to judge the gender of each person in each photo as a control task
normal adults were found to be at a ceiling
in the gender recognition task and were asked not to required to take it to save time
participants in group 1,3 and 4 completed the Aq
subjects were asked to read through the glossary and indicate any word meanings they were unsure of.
they were asked to check the meanings and refer back to the glossary at any point during the testing.
from the study by by Baron Cohen et al state two results with data for group 1 - the AS/HFA group
they had a mean correct score of
21.9 - eyes test
34.4 - Aq test
from the study by by Baron Cohen et al state two results with data for group 2 -
adult comparison group
they had a mean correct score of
26.2 - eyes test
from the study by by Baron Cohen et al state two results with data for group 3 - student comparison group
they had a mean correct score of
28.0 - eyes test
18.3 - Aq test
state two results with data for group 4 -
the IQ matched group by Baron Cohen et al
they had a mean correct score of
30.9 - eyes test
18.9 - Aq test
state 4 results without data from the study
by Baron Cohen et al
- there was a strong negative correlation between scores in the eyes test and the aq test
- no participant in any of the conditions checked the glossary for more than two definitions during the test
- participants in the AS/HFA group scored significantly higher than the students in the comparison group
- there was sex differences between males and females in the eyes test although the difference was not statistically significant.
why is the study by Baron Cohen et al from the cognitive approach
the study is investigating a cognition between the AS/HFA group and normal controls. This is consistent with the assumption that to understand behaviour (social sensitivity) we have to investigate patterns of cognition
identify 3 strengths from the study by Baron Cohen at al
1) High internal validity ,
because it is a lab study it employs strict controls over extraneous variables thus making it high
2)Quantitative data
3)Reliability
What are the weaknesses in the study by Baron Cohen et al
Low generalisability
Low ecological validity
Ethics
give an application to everyday life from the study by Baron Cohen et al
the eyes test can be used in hospitals to help with diagnosis of high functioning autism in adults
What are the conclusions from the study by Baron Cohen
People diagnosed with AS/HFA lack a theory of mind, so they find it difficult show empathy/difficult to understand the emotions of others (2 marks)
The Revised ‘Eyes Test’ overcame the problems of the original version making it a valid test of social intelligence (in adults)
