Baron-Cohen (Individual Differences)

Question 1

Baron-Cohen Background

Answer 1

In a previous study, Baron-Cohen (1990) suggested people with autism have a common deficit: theory of mind. Theory of mind is the mental ability to understand mental states and the mental stage of other people. This deficit of theory of mind referred to as mind blindness

Question 2

Baren-Cohen Aim

Answer 2

Baron-Cohen aimed 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

Question 3

Baren-Cohen Method & Design

Answer 3

Quasi-experiment: The indépendant variable was naturally occurring and could not be manipulated by the experimenters
IV: type of person
- adults with Autism/Aspergers
- adults with Tourettes
- ‘Normal’ adults

DV: performance on the eyes task

Question 4

Baren-Cohen Sample & Sampling Method

Answer 4

1. Group 1: 16 individuals with high-functioning autism or Asperger Syndrome (HFA = 4, AS = 12). Ratio 13:3 (male:female). All were of normal intelligence and recruited through an advert in the National Autistic magazine and a variety clinical sources (Volunteer Sampling)
2. Group 2: 50 normal age-matched adults (25 male, 25 female, drawn from the general population of Cambridge (Random Sampling)
3. Group 3. 10 adults with Tourette Syndrome also age matched with groups 1&2. The sex ratio was 8:2 (male:female). All were of normal intelligence and were recruited from a referral centre in London (Snowball Sampling)

Question 5

Baren-Cohen Procedure

Answer 5

All the participants were tested in a quiet environment, which was either their own home or in a lab setting. Baron-Cohen et al presented The Eyes task, the strange stories, the basic emotion recognition task and the gender recognition ask in a randomised order. Participants therefore not be exposed to the same order of tasks (control measure)

Question 6

Baren-Cohen results

Answer 6

Mean Score on the Eyes Task (Out of 25)
1. Autism/AS Group - 16.3
2. ‘Normal’ Adults - 20.3
3. Tourettes Group - 20.4

Normal Males and Females Mean Scores on the Eyes Task
1. Males - 18.8
2. Females - 21.8

Mean Score on the Gender Recognition Task
1. Autism/AS Group - 24.1
2. ‘Normal’ Adults - 23.3
3. Tourettes Group - 23.7

Question 7

Baren-Cohen Conclusions

Answer 7

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 Theory of Mind deficits are independent of general intelligence.