Theory of mind and central coherence in adults with high-functioning autism or Asperger syndrome

被引:40
作者
Beaumont, Renae [1 ]
Newcombe, Peter [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Queensland, Sch Psychol, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia
关键词
Asperger syndrome; central coherence; high-functioning autism; theory of mind;
D O I
10.1177/1362361306064416
中图分类号
B844 [发展心理学(人类心理学)];
学科分类号
040202 ;
摘要
The study investigated theory of mind and central coherence abilities in adults with high-functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger syndrome (AS) using naturalistic tasks. Twenty adults with HTA/AS correctly answered significantly fewer theory of mind questions than 20 controls on a forced-choice response task. On a narrative task, there were no differences in the proportion of mental state words between the two groups, although the participants with HFA/AS were less inclined to provide explanations for characters' mental states. No between-group differences existed on the central coherence questions of the forced-choice response task, and the participants with HTA/AS included an equivalent proportion of explanations for non-mental state phenomena in their narratives as did controls. These results support the theory of mind deficit account of autism spectrum disorders, and suggest that difficulties in mental state attribution cannot be exclusively attributed to weak central coherence.
引用
收藏
页码:365 / 382
页数:18
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