Baron-Cohen et al. (1997)

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Title of the study?
'Another advanced test of Theory of mind: evidence from very high functioning adults with autism or Aspergers Syndrome'
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Context of the study?
Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Theory of Mind (TOM) and Previous Research
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What is Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD)?
A possible spectrum with autism one end and Aspergers the other, they all share certain characteristics (e.g. lack of emotional + social skills and desire for sameness)
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What is Theory of Mind (TOM)?
The ability to infer in other people a range of mental states, (beliefs, desires, intentions, imaginations and emotions)
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What did Baron-Cohen previously test?
Using the Sally-Anne test the demonstrated that children with autism lack TOM.
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What did other studies show?
Adults can pass Sally-Anne test because it's designed for children
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2 aims of the study?
To assess the mindreading abilities of high-functioning ASD adults using a new test designed for adults called The Eyes Task and To support past findings linking autism to a lack of TOM.
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How many groups were in the sample?
3 groups of P's
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Group 1?
16 (13 male, 3 female) P's with autism/AS and had normal intelligence
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Sampling methodology of Group 1?
Self-selected drawn from an advert in National Autistic Society magazine as well as through doctors.
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Group 2?
50 normal adults age matched with individuals in group 1
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Sampling methodology of Group 2?
Random sample from general population of Cambridge drawn from a subject panel at Cambridge University.
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Group 3?
10 (8 males, 2 females) P's with Tourette's syndrome.
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Sampling methodology of Group 3?
Self-selected from a clinic in London.
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Which groups were controls?
2+3 to see if 'normal' adults + adults with other disorders (TS) could cope with tasks.
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2 strengths of the sample?
Included control groups and included AS adults so they could show that adults lack TOM as well as children
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2 weaknesses of the sample?
Many P's were volunteers (Biased) and small sample so difficult to generalise
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Research method of the study?
Quasi experiment using independent measures design and Snapshot study
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Independent variables?
ASD group, 'normal' control group and TS control group
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Dependent variables?
Performance on Eyes Task (and other tasks)
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Appropriate hypothesis?
P's in group 1 do less well on Eyes task than the other 2 groups of P's.
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2 strengths of the research method?
Objective testing reduces bias and independent measures so avoids any possible order effects.
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2 weaknesses of the research method?
Cannot claim that IV effected DV in Quasi and Hard to replicate
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What were the tasks? (4 tasks)
Eyes task, Strange stories task, Gender recognition of eyes, Basic emotion recognition task
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What was the Eyes task?
25 different faces showing eye region (male + female) shown for 3 secs and P had to select between 2 mental state terms printed below (foil e.g. unconcerned, Indecisive and target e.g. concerned, decisive)
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How were the photos standardised?
Same size (15x10cm), All Black and white, All of same region of face
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What was the Strange stories task?
AS and TS P's asked Q's on what the characters in the story were thinking + Q's about physical events
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What was the Gender recognition of eyes?
A control task where AS P's identified gender of eyes - involved face perception, NOT mindreading
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What was the Basic Emotion Recognition of eyes?
A control task where AS P's identified basic emotions in whole faces to demonstrate they could recognise emotional states in a simple test
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Findings of Eyes Task?
Mean scores: AS group - 16.3/25, Normal - 20.3/25, TS - 20.4/25. Range of scores: AS: 13-23, Normal+TS: 16-25
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Were there any ceiling effects? If so why?
Yes on eyes task because some people in 'normal' and TS groups scored full marks.
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Findings of Strange Stories task?
AS group had more difficulty than TS group 3 - Supports validity of eyes task as a test for autism
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Findings of Control tasks 3+4?
Group 1 performed normally on Gender recognition of eyes + basic emotion recognition task
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What does this show?
They could perceive facial features + could identify basic emotion from eyes BUT couldn't interpret what this means in terms of internal state.
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What do the results show? (2 details)
Adults with autism/Aspergers lack TOM and within normal population females do better on TOM tests than men
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Context of the study?

Back

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Theory of Mind (TOM) and Previous Research

Card 3

Front

What is Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD)?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What is Theory of Mind (TOM)?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What did Baron-Cohen previously test?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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