Mind Reading in Films Task to Assess Social Cognitive Deficits in Autism Spectrum Conditions

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-100
Author(s):  
Soraya TAHAZADEH ◽  
Usha BARAHMAND ◽  
Fereshteh YAGHOOTI ◽  
Mohamad Ali NAZARI
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
High Functioning Autism ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Autism Spectrum Conditions ◽  
Mind Reading ◽  
Eyes Task

"Background and Objectives. Various tasks with a variety of stimuli have been devised to measure aspects of theory of mind. In the present study, with due consideration of Iranian culture, we introduce a sensitive video-based test, called Mind Reading in Films Task (Films Task), for the evaluation of complex emotions and mental states. This new social ecological task for mindreading comprises several short film scenes, some measuring cognitive theory of mind and some measuring affective theory of mind. Method. This study included two experiments. In experiment 1, the validity of the newly devised Films Task was investigated by comparing the responses of 342 students to the Films Task and to the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (Eyes Test). In experiment 2, the predictive power and sensitivity of the Films Task was assessed. Twenty adults with high functioning autism spectrum conditions (ASC) were compared with 20 matched healthy controls in terms of their responses to the Eyes Task, Films Task and Empathy Quotient questionnaire. The ROC curve was used to determine the best cut-off point and the diagnostic value. Results. Our findings substantiate the discriminative capacity of the Films Task to distinguish individuals with autism spectrum conditions from their healthy non-clinical counterparts. Limitations: Intelligence and comorbid psychiatric conditions were not controlled, limiting the utility of the measure. Conclusions. Results imply the potential utility of the Films Task as a viable alternative to the Eyes Task in measuring individual differences in social cognitive ability in the general population."

scholarly journals Relations between intensionality, theory of mind and complex syntax in autism spectrum conditions and typical development

2021 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 101071
Author(s):  
Kristen Schroeder ◽  
Stephanie Durrleman ◽  
Derya Çokal ◽  
Annabel Sanfeliu Delgado ◽  
Adela Masana Marin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Autism Spectrum Conditions ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Complex Syntax

scholarly journals A retrospective case-control service evaluation of CAARMS scores of patients with autism in York EIP, compared to age matched controls

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S59-S60
Author(s):  
Daniel Whitney ◽  
Stephen Wright
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Mean Difference ◽  
Autism Spectrum Conditions ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Retrospective Case ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Early Intervention In Psychosis

AimsStudies show the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Conditions in Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) populations is 3.6-3.7%, compared to approximately 1-1.5% in the general population. The CAARMS (Comprehensive Assessment of At Risk Mental States) is a national tool used by EIP services as a screening tool to bring patients into services and stratify their symptoms to determine what pathway may be most appropriate (First Episode Psychosis pathway (FEP) or At Risk Mental State pathway (ARMS)). As far as we are aware the CAARMS has not been validated in an autistic population. It is our view that several of the questions in the CAARMS may be interpreted differently by people with autism, thus affecting the scores. The aim of this evaluation was to identify whether CAARMS scores differ between patients diagnosed with autism and matched controls in York EIP.MethodFrom their mental health records, we identified all patients in the service with a diagnosis of autism. We then compared the CAARMS scores, at the time of referral, to those of age matched controls (matched by being in the age range 16-30) without an autism diagnosis, using continuous sampling by date of referral.Result14 patients in the service had a diagnosis of autism and had completed a CAARMS. CAARMS domains are all scored between 0 and 6 (indicating increasing severity or frequency). Compared to the age matched controls, autistic patients had a higher mean difference in their scores for ‘Non-Bizarre Ideas’ (mean difference of 0.86 for severity and 0.57 for frequency) and ‘Disorganised Speech’ (mean difference of 0.28 for severity and 0.57 for frequency). These results did not reach statistical significance which was unsurprising given the sample size. The gender split between groups was similar.ConclusionOur evaluation suggests a difference in CAARMS scores between patients in our service with a diagnosis of autism and those without. A larger study would be needed to confirm a statistically significant difference and multicentre results would be needed as evidence of generalisability. However, if such a difference were confirmed it might question the validity of CAARMS in autistic patients or suggest that modifications, perhaps in the form of reasonable adjustments to the questions or scoring, were needed to increase the validity in this population. We would suggest that spending extra time checking the patient has understood the intended meaning of the questions in the CAARMS may increase validity, particularly in the ‘Non-Bizarre Ideas’ domain.

scholarly journals Reduced Volume of the Arcuate Fasciculus in Adults with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Conditions

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel L. Moseley ◽  
Marta M. Correia ◽  
Simon Baron-Cohen ◽  
Yury Shtyrov ◽  
Friedemann Pulvermüller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Functioning Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Autism Spectrum Conditions ◽  
Arcuate Fasciculus ◽  
High Functioning ◽  
Reduced Volume

Chimps, Dogs, and Us

Reading Minds ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 98-112
Author(s):  
Henry M. Wellman
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Social Understanding ◽  
Mind Reading ◽  
Theories Of Mind ◽  
Almost All

This chapter addresses how animal studies are a crucial way to discover what makes people, and our theories of mind, uniquely human. Chimpanzee social understanding falls far short of human children’s. Nevertheless, people’s human theory of mind reflects beginnings owed to nonhuman ancestors. At the same time, human theory of mind is distinctive. It is broad, impacting almost all of human cognition and social interaction. It is fundamentally developmental, requiring more and more advanced mind-reading insights over an entire human life. It is also helpful and communicative. Even infants deploy their social–cognitive insights to help, communicate with, and learn about others. As such, while people sprang from animal ancestors, it is their advanced, rapidly developing social understanding that makes them uniquely human.

scholarly journals Neural correlates of theory-of-mind are associated with variation in children’s everyday social cognition

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 579-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cora E Mukerji ◽  
Sarah Hope Lincoln ◽  
David Dodell-Feder ◽  
Charles A Nelson ◽  
Christine I Hooker
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Mental States ◽  
False Belief ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Cognitive Behavior ◽  
School Age ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
False Belief Reasoning

ABSTRACT Theory of mind (ToM), the capacity to reason about others’ mental states, is central to healthy social development. Neural mechanisms supporting ToM may contribute to individual differences in children’s social cognitive behavior. Employing a false belief functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm, we identified patterns of neural activity and connectivity elicited by ToM reasoning in school-age children (N = 32, ages 9–13). Next, we tested relations between these neural ToM correlates and children’s everyday social cognition. Several key nodes of the neural ToM network showed greater activity when reasoning about false beliefs (ToM condition) vs non-mentalistic false content (control condition), including the bilateral temporoparietal junction (RTPJ and LTPJ), precuneus (PC) and right superior temporal sulcus. In addition, children demonstrated task-modulated changes in connectivity among these regions to support ToM relative to the control condition. ToM-related activity in the PC was negatively associated with variation in multiple aspects of children’s social cognitive behavior. Together, these findings elucidate how nodes of the ToM network act and interact to support false belief reasoning in school-age children and suggest that neural ToM mechanisms are linked to variation in everyday social cognition.

scholarly journals Neural Mechanisms of Theory of Mind in Autism and Schizophrenia: A Review of fMRI Studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-46
Author(s):  
M. Iosifyan ◽  
E.A. Mershina ◽  
D.A. Bazhenova ◽  
V.E. Sinitsyn ◽  
O.M. Larina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Implicit Theory ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Psychiatric Impairments ◽  
Attribution Of Intentions

Theory of mind is a cognitive ability, which enables to understand intentions, emotions and beliefs of another person. Because of theory of mind, people are able to interpret behavior of others and adapt to it. Numerous psychiatric impairments are associated with damaged theory of mind and communication with others. The present review analyses the impairments of theory of mind as laying on a continuum from hypermentalization (over-attribution of intentions to others) to hypomentalization (under-attribution of intentions to others) in autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. FMRI paradigm of different subprocesses of theory of mind is described (perceptual mind-reading, cognitive theory of mind, “hot” theory of mind and implicit theory of mind). Neural mechanisms of these subprocesses and their impairments in autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia analyzed.

Animation, Theory of Mind and Humanoid Robots: Creating a Social Robot Video Task

Leonardo ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Ziggy O’Reilly ◽  
David Silvera-Tawil ◽  
Ionat Zurr ◽  
Diana Tan
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Social Robot ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Robot Assisted

Abstract Theory of Mind (ToM) —a social cognitive ability commonly under-developed in autistic individuals— is necessary to attribute mental states to oneself and others. Research into robot-assisted interventions to improve ToM ability in autistic children has become increasingly popular. However, no appropriate task currently exists to measure the degree of efficacy of robot-assisted interventions targeting ToM ability. In this paper, the authors demonstrate how animation techniques and principles can be leveraged to develop and produce videos of humanoid robots interacting, which could selectively measure ToM.

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