scholarly journals Theory of Mind, Executive Functions, and Syntax in Bilingual Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Maria Andreou ◽  
Ianthi Maria Tsimpli ◽  
Stephanie Durrleman ◽  
Eleni Peristeri
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Sentence Repetition ◽  
Adverbial Clause ◽  
Repetition Task

Impairments in Theory of Mind (ToM) are a core feature of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ToM may be enhanced by various factors, including bilingualism, executive functions (EF), and complex syntax. This work investigates the language-cognition interface in ASD by exploring whether ToM can be enhanced by bilingualism, whether such ToM boosts would be due to EF or syntax, and whether routes to mentalizing would differ between bilinguals and monolinguals on the spectrum. Twenty-seven monolingual Greek-speaking and twenty-nine bilingual Albanian-Greek children with ASD were tested on ToM reasoning in verbal and low-verbal ToM tasks, an executive function 2-back task, and a sentence repetition task. Results revealed that bilingual children with ASD performed better than monolinguals with ASD in the low-verbal ToM and the 2-back tasks. In the sentence repetition task, bilinguals scored higher than monolinguals in complex sentences, and specifically in adverbials and relatives. Regarding the relations between ToM, EF, and sentence repetition, the monolingual group’s performance in the verbal ToM tasks was associated with complement syntax, whereas, for the bilingual children with ASD, performance in both verbal and low-verbal ToM tasks was associated with EF and adverbial clause repetition. The overall pattern of results suggests that mentalizing may follow distinct pathways across the two groups.

scholarly journals Theory of Mind Deficit is Associated with Pretend Play Performance, but not Playfulness, in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping-Chen Chan ◽  
Cheng-Te Chen ◽  
Hua Feng ◽  
Ya-Chen Lee ◽  
Kuan-Lin Chen
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Asd

Objective/Background This study aimed to examine the relationships of theory of mind (ToM) to both pretend play and playfulness in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods Twenty children with ASD aged between 3 years and 7.11 years were assessed with the ToM test, and then placed in a free play condition and a pretend play condition to assess pretend play and playfulness with the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment and Test of Playfulness, respectively. In addition, the children's symptom severities of ASD and verbal abilities were also assessed with the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test—second edition, respectively. Results The results of the regression analysis confirmed that ToM significantly predicted pretend play variables, namely, Number of Object Substitutions (R2 = .158, p = .002) and Number of Imitated Actions (R2 = .175, p = .001), but not playfulness. The CARS score was a significant predictor of the Percentage of Elaborate Pretend Play Actions of pretend play (R2 = .075, p = .034), as well as the internal control (R2 = .125, p = .006) and framing (R2 = .071, p = .039) variables of playfulness. Conclusion The findings support the idea that children with ASD who have better ToM might be able to develop better pretend play, but not better playfulness, which might be more strongly related to their autistic severity.

scholarly journals Referential expressions in monolingual and bilingual children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A study of informativeness and definiteness

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Natalia MEIR ◽  
Rama NOVOGRODSKY
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Referential Use ◽  
Hebrew Language ◽  
Referential Expressions ◽  
Language Universal

Abstract The current study evaluated the separate and combined effects of bilingualism and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on informativeness and definiteness marking of referential expressions. Hebrew-speaking monolingual children (21 with ASD and 28 with typical language development) and Russian–Hebrew-speaking bilingual children (13 with ASD and 30 with typical language development) aged 4–9 years participated. Informativeness, indexed by referential contrasts, was affected by ASD, but not by bilingualism. Definiteness use was non-target-like in children with ASD and in bilingual children, and it was mainly predicted by children’s morpho-syntactic abilities in Hebrew. Language-universal and language-specific properties of referential use are discussed.

scholarly journals Cognitive Underpinnings of Symbolic Pretend Play and Impossible Entity Drawings:  Imaginative Ability in Typical Development and Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Steven Den-Kaat
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Belief Theory

<p>The individual differences in imagination ability in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were tested in a sample of 14 children with ASD and 14 matched typically developing (TD) children. Analysis was conducted on the extent of imagination in symbolic pretend play and impossible entity drawings. Aside from difficulties with imagination, children with ASD showed significant group deficits in executive function (generativity, visuospatial planning and cognitive flexibility) and false belief theory of mind understanding. Amongst children with ASD, executive function abilities (generativity and visuospatial planning) related to imaginative play and drawings. In contrast, amongst participants in the TD group, a mixture of both executive function (cognitive flexibility) and false belief theory of mind understanding predicted imaginative ability. These results are discussed in terms of how executive control plays a broad and important role in imaginative ability across groups, but the contributions appear to be expressed and routed differently in ASD. The discussion also highlights the theoretical implications of not having theory of mind that underpin imagination in ASD.</p>

scholarly journals Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Can Attribute False Beliefs in a Spontaneous-Response Preferential-Looking Task

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Glenwright ◽  
Rose M. Scott ◽  
Elena Bilevicius ◽  
Megan Pronovost ◽  
Ana Hanlon-Dearman
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Figurative Language ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
False Belief Understanding ◽  
Children With Asd

An established body of literature indicates that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulty understanding figurative language due to a deficit in theory of mind, or the ability to consider the beliefs of other people. Children with ASD tend to similarly fail traditional theory of mind tasks, which assess their ability to represent false beliefs. Our claim is, however, that these tasks involve cognitive processing demands that might mask false belief understanding because they require elicited responses. We examined whether children with ASD demonstrate false-belief understanding when tested with a spontaneous-response false belief task that measures children’s eye gaze durations. The two child participant groups were composed of 20 males with ASD (aged 3–9 years) and 20 typically developing males (aged 2–5 years) who were individually matched according to verbal mental age. Children with ASD and typically developing children listened to a change-of-location story accompanied by a book with matching and non-matching pictures. The final page showed the character searching for her object in a location that was either consistent or inconsistent with her belief. Both groups of children looked reliably longer at the belief-consistent picture, regardless of whether the character’s belief was true or false, though children with ASD were slower to do so. We suggest that a spontaneous-response assessment technique can potentially reveal figurative language comprehension in children with ASD in future research.

scholarly journals Developmental trends of hot and cool executive function in school-aged children with and without autism spectrum disorder: Links with theory of mind

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (02) ◽  
pp. 541-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evangelia-Chrysanthi Kouklari ◽  
Stella Tsermentseli ◽  
Claire P. Monks
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Longitudinal Design ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe development of executive function (EF) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been investigated using only “cool”-cognitive EF tasks while there is limited knowledge regarding the development of “hot”-affective EF. Although cool EF development and its links to theory of mind (ToM) have been widely examined, understanding of the influence of hot EF to ToM mechanisms is minimal. The present study introduced a longitudinal design to examine the developmental changes in cool and hot EF of children with ASD (n = 45) and matched (to age and IQ) controls (n = 37) as well as the impact of EF on ToM development over a school year. For children with ASD, although selective cool (working memory and inhibition) and hot (affective decision making) EF domains presented age-related improvements, they never reached the performance level of the control group. Early cool working memory predicted later ToM in both groups but early hot delay discounting predicted later ToM only in the ASD group. No evidence was found for the reverse pattern (early ToM predicting later EF). These findings suggest that improvements in some EF aspects are evident in school age in ASD and highlight the crucial role that both cool and hot EF play in ToM development.

scholarly journals A Review of Language, Executive Function, and Intervention in Autism Spectrum Disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (04) ◽  
pp. 291-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Friedman ◽  
Audra Sterling
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Social Skills ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Clinical Applications ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Asd

AbstractDifficulties with both executive functions and language skills are common but variable in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Executive functions and language skills are related to one another, such that vocabulary, syntax, and pragmatics are related to domains of working memory, shifting, and inhibition in ASD, although the directionality of these relationships remains unclear. Moreover, interventions that target pragmatic ability have been found to improve executive function skills, and conversely, executive function interventions are linked with improvements in social skills in children with ASD. We review the literature on executive functions, language skills, and their relationship in ASD; discuss factors that may be driving inconsistent findings; and explore clinical applications from the research thus far.

scholarly journals Cognitive Underpinnings of Symbolic Pretend Play and Impossible Entity Drawings:  Imaginative Ability in Typical Development and Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Steven Den-Kaat
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Belief Theory

<p>The individual differences in imagination ability in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were tested in a sample of 14 children with ASD and 14 matched typically developing (TD) children. Analysis was conducted on the extent of imagination in symbolic pretend play and impossible entity drawings. Aside from difficulties with imagination, children with ASD showed significant group deficits in executive function (generativity, visuospatial planning and cognitive flexibility) and false belief theory of mind understanding. Amongst children with ASD, executive function abilities (generativity and visuospatial planning) related to imaginative play and drawings. In contrast, amongst participants in the TD group, a mixture of both executive function (cognitive flexibility) and false belief theory of mind understanding predicted imaginative ability. These results are discussed in terms of how executive control plays a broad and important role in imaginative ability across groups, but the contributions appear to be expressed and routed differently in ASD. The discussion also highlights the theoretical implications of not having theory of mind that underpin imagination in ASD.</p>

Comparative Language Development in Bilingual and Monolingual Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily M. Lund ◽  
Theresa L. Kohlmeier ◽  
Lillian K. Durán
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Impact

The prevalence of both bilingual children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is growing rapidly, and early childhood educators may be increasingly likely to encounter bilingual children with ASD in their classrooms. Because ASD significantly affects communication, many parents and professionals may have questions or concerns about the impact of bilingualism on language development in children with ASD. The present article presents a systematic review of the literature comparing monolingual to bilingual development in children with ASD. Seven articles were included, covering a wide variety of languages and involving predominantly young, simultaneously bilingual children with ASD. Results generally showed small, varied differences in both receptive and expressive language outcomes for bilingual and monolingual children with ASD, thus providing tentative support for the idea that bilingualism does not have a consistent or large negative effect on language development in children with ASD. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The Influence of Language Context on Repetitive Speech Use in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 327-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Gladfelter ◽  
Cassidy VanZuiden
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Social Responsiveness ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Language Context

Purpose Although repetitive speech is a hallmark characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the contributing factors that influence repetitive speech use remain unknown. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine if the language context impacts the amount and type of repetitive speech produced by children with ASD. Method As part of a broader word-learning study, 11 school-age children with ASD participated in two different language contexts: storytelling and play. Previously collected language samples were transcribed and coded for four types of repetitive speech: immediate echolalia, delayed echolalia, verbal stereotypy, and vocal stereotypy. The rates and proportions of repetitive speech were compared across the two language contexts using Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests. Individual characteristics were further explored using Spearman correlations. Results The children produced lower rates of repetitive speech during the storytelling context than the play-based context. Only immediate echolalia differed between the two contexts based on rate and approached significance based on proportion, with more immediate echolalia produced in the play-based context than in the storytelling context. There were no significant correlations between repetitive speech and measures of social responsiveness, expressive or receptive vocabulary, or nonverbal intelligence. Conclusions The children with ASD produced less immediate echolalia in the storytelling context than in the play-based context. Immediate echolalia use was not related to social skills, vocabulary, or nonverbal IQ scores. These findings offer valuable insights into better understanding repetitive speech use in children with ASD.

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