Individual Differences: Baron-Cohen

Question 1

Background

Answer 1

> individuals with autism lack a theory of mind leading to issues with communication
previous TOM test have a developmental ceiling so adults pass them any way

Question 2

method

Answer 2

quasi

Question 3

IV

Answer 3

type of pp- adults with autism/asperges, adults with Tourette’s or ‘normal’

Question 4

sample group 1

Answer 4

16 adults with autism or asperges, 13 male 3 female, normal intelligence, recruited through ad in national autism magazine and clinical resources

Question 5

sample group 2

Answer 5

50 normal age-matched adults, 25 male 25 female, random sample drawn from Cambridge uni subject panel

Question 6

sample group 3

Answer 6

10 adults with Tourette’s, age matched, 8m 2f, normal intelligence, recruited from London

Question 7

procedure-eyes test

Answer 7

> photos of eye region taken fro magazines
all standardised to same region, b+w, same size
each pic shown for 3s with forced choice between 2 mental states
max score 25
target word selected as opposing word
8 judges blind-tested the words and 100% agree

Question 8

procedure

Answer 8

> eyes test, strange stories, gender recognition of eyes test and basic emotion recognition test presented to pps in random order
pps tested individually in own home or researcher’s clinic or lab at Cambridge

Question 9

findings

Answer 9

> ‘normal’ females perform better than normal males on eyes test
autism group made more errors on strange stories than any other group
no difference on gender recognition test between any of the groups

Question 10

conclusions

Answer 10

> adults with autism have an impaired theory of mind
theory of mind deficits are independent of intelligence level