I - Baron Cohen Flashcards
Aim
to find out if individuals on the autistic spectrum had deficits with theory of mind. A second aim of the study was to find out if there were gender differences in theory of mind
Background
Some evidence suggests that a TOM deficit is not a core cognitive deficit in autism, However no conclusive evidence has yet shown that individuals such as adults with ‘high-functioning autism’ or Asperger Syndrome (AS) have an intact TOM. This is because usual tests to assess TOM have a ceiling in developmental terms corresponding to a mental age of about six years. Therefore, although existing TOM tests are challenging for six-year-olds, they are far too easy for adults who all pass even though they may not have a fully functioning TOM
Happé (1994) tested adults with autism or Asperger Syndrome on an ‘advanced’TOM task and found her participants had more difficulty with her mental state stories (Happé’s Strange Stories) than matched controls.
Baron-Cohen et al built on Happé’s research by using an adult test to assess theory of mind competence in high-functioning adults with autism or AS.
Method
This was a quasi/natural experiment because the independent variable (IV) - the type of person likely to have TOM deficits (adults with high-functioning autism/AS, normal adults and adults with Tourette Syndrome)- was naturally occurring so could not be manipulated or controlled by the researchers. The dependent variable (DV) was the performance - score out of 25- on the Eyes Task; measured by showing each participant 25, black and white, standardised photographs of the eye region of faces (male and female) and asking them to make a forced choice between two mental state words (target and foil) to best describe what the person in the photograph was feeling or thinking
The study used an independent measures design. All participants were considered to be of normal intelligence.
Sample
Three groups of participants were tested:
Group 1: 16 individuals with high-functioning autism or Asperger Syndrome (HFA = 4, AS = 12). The sex ratio was 13:3(m:f). All were of normal intelligence and were recruited through an advert in the National Autistic magazine and a variety of clinical sources. Group 2: 50 normal age-matched adults (25m:25f), drawn from the subject panel of the university department compromising of the general
population of Cambridge (excluding members of the university). Group 3: 10 adults with Tourette Syndrome also age-matched with groups 1 and 2. The sex ratio was 8:2 (m:f). All were of normal intelligence and were recruited from a tertiary referral centre in London.
Procedure
The Eyes task, the Strange Stories and the two control tasks (Gender Recognition of Eyes Task, Basic Recognition Task) were presented in random order to all participants.
The Gender Recognition Task involved identifying the gender of the eyes used in the Eyes Task. The task controlled for face perception, perceptual discrimination and social perception. The Basic Emotion Recognition Task involved judging photographs of whole faces displaying basic emotions identified by Ekman (1992). The task was done to check whether difficulties on the Eyes Task were due to difficulties with basic emotional recognition. The Strange Stories Task was used to validate the results from the Eyes Task.
Participants were tested individually in a quiet room either in their own home, in the researchers’ clinic or in the researchers laboratory at Cambridge University.
Results
The mean score for adults with TS (20.4) was not significantly different from normal adults (20.3) but both were significantly higher than the autism/AS mean score (16.3).
Results of the Eyes Task (out of 25)
Mean score
Rango
13-23
Normal females performed significantly better than normal males on the Eyes Task (mean 21.8 versus 18.8) but the normal males were significantly better than the autism/AS group (mean 18.8 versus 16.3).
Autistic/AS
16.3
Normal
The autism/AS group made significantly more errors on the Strange Stories task than either of the other groups On the Gender and Emotion control tasks there were no differences between the groups
TS
Gue Feedback to Microsc
0157
- 3
- 4
16-25
16-25
Within the autism/AS group there was no significant correlation between IQ and performance on the Eyes Task.
On Happe’s Strange Stories, no participants with TS made any errors but those with autism/AS were significantly impaired, making many errors.
Conclusions
Contrary to previous research with adults, these results seem to provide evidence that adults with autism/AS do possess an impaired theory of mind.
As some of the autism/AS group hold university degrees and were all of normal intelligence, it is reasonable to suggest that TOM deficits are Independent of general intelligence.
Sampling Bias
