Baron-Cohen details Word Scramble
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| Question | Answer |
| What is the psychology being investigated? | Theory of Mind, Autism and Social Sensitivity |
| What does Theory of Mind mean? | The ability to attribute mental states to others to figure out what they are feeling. |
| What is the Eyes Test? | A test of ToM where participants have to identify the mental state of a person by only looking at a photo of their eyes |
| How did Baron-Cohen measure the type/extent of each participants' autism? | Using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) test, a questionnaire that gives a score out of 50 |
| Identify some issues Baron-Cohen identified with their 1997 original version of the Eyes Test | There were 8 issues identified which can be summarised as follows: the task was too easy so did not differentiate well; there were more female faces than male faces. |
| What is 'high-functioning autism' (HFA)? | A term used to refer to a subset of individuals on the autism spectrum who have cognitive and/or linguistic abilities that are in the average to above average range for their age. |
| What is Asperger's Syndome (AS)? | A term used by some people to describe autistic people with average or above average intelligence |
| What was the aim of this study? | To compare the ToM abilities between those with HFA/AS and 'normal' (neurotypical) controls |
| How many groups were involved in this study? | Four |
| Describe the participants in Group 1 | 15 volunteers with HFA/AS who responded to an ad in the National Autistic Society Magazine |
| Describe the participants in Group 2 | 122 neurotypical adults (55M, 67F) with a range of educational backgrounds |
| Describe the participants in Group 3 | 103 neurotypical adults (53M, 50F) from Cambridge University |
| Describe the participants in Group 4 | 14 random neurotypical adults who were IQ-matched with Group 1 |
| What is the independent variable in this study? | Whether the participant had HFA/AS or were neurotypical |
| What are the dependent variables in this study? There are two | Mean score on the Eyes Test (out of 40), and Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) score |
| How many pairs of eyes were participants shown overall? | 40 |
| How many options were participants given to choose from? | 4 |
| What is meant by a 'foil' in this study? | The three incorrect options |
| How did researchers decide which option was the correct one? | They had 8 judges, and 5/8 had to agree on the correct option. If 2 agreed on the same foil, it was removed |
| Give the mean score on the Eyes Test for each group | Group 1: 21.9; Group 2: 26.2; Group 3: 28; Group 4: 30.9 |
| Give the mean AQ score for each group | Group 1: 34.4; Group 2: not tested; Group 3: 18.3; Group 4: 18.9 |
| What did the researchers conclude from this study? | Those with HFA/AS have a Theory of Mind deficits. There is a negative correlation between AQ and ToM. |
| How does this study support an individual explanation rather than situational? | It suggests that ToM is based on the person's characteristics (AQ, intelligence, HFA/AS) rather than the situation |
Created by:
MrSamBlakeley