Baron-Cohen (Autism) Flashcards
What area does this study belong to
Individual differences area
What is the background
Previous research suggest that people with autism lack theory of mind
Children tested using sally Anne test
What is theory of mind
The ability to understand that other people have independent minds of their own
Allows people to understand other people and predict what other people are likely to do or believe
What was the aim
To investigate if the eyes task is a valid advanced test for theory of mind and if high functioning autistics / people with Asperger’s syndrome would find it difficult
What type of experiment was it
It was a quasi experiment because the iv is naturally occurring
What was the independent variable
Whether the adults had
High functioning autism / AS
Tourette’s
Or were normal
What was the dependant variable
How was it measured
The performance score out of 25 on the eyes task
Showing each participant 25 black and white standardised photographs of the eye Region of faces and asking them to make a choice between 2 mental state words to describe the feelings / thoughts of the person in the photo
What was the design
Matched participants design
They were matched on age and intelligence
Those with AS selected for being normal intellinges (scoring more than 45 on WAIS-R test )
Those with Tourette’s took shorter versions of that test but had to score normal intelligence too
What did it mean to be a high functioning autistic
No learning difficulties like other people but have difficulties understanding and processing language
Describe the sample of high functioning autistic (3)
16 with highly functioning autism / AS
13 male
3 female
Recruited through an advert in National Autistic Magazine and clinical sources
Describe the sample of the adults with tourettes syndrome (3)
10 adults (age matched with other 2 groups)
8 male and 2 female
Recruited from tertiary referral centre in London
Describe the sample of the normal adults (3)
50 normal age matched adults
25 male and 25 female
Recruited from subject panel of university department in Cambridge (didn’t include members of uni)
Why were adults with Tourette’s syndrome used
If the tourettes adults passed the eyes task it would show that processing emotions from the eyes is linked to autism and no order disorder has that neurological basics so it increases internal validity
Describe the procedure of the study
Participants took part in all 4 tasks (in a random order)
Eyes task
Gender recognition task
Happe’s strange stories
Basic emotion recognition task
In a quiet room at home, in researchers clinic or in researchers lab at Cambridge uni
What was the Eyes task
Participants shown 25 pictures in black and white of the eye region
They had 2 words to choose from (foil and target)
The picture was shown for 3 seconds
