Baron-Cohen et al

• Theory of mind refers to the ability of attributing mental states to ourselves and others. It’s also understanding that others may have different beliefs than us.
• People on the autism spectrum (ASD) have difficulties with social interaction and communication
• Problems with the first test:

  • choice of only 2 items
  • 2 options were semantic opposites
  • ceiling effects
  • too small and easy
  • comprehension problems
• Improvements made to the test:

  • number of questions increased to 36
  • 4 options
  • foils have the same emotional valence
  • glossary was provided
• Group 1 was the experimental group. It consisted of 15 male participants with AS/HFA. They were a volunteer sample, recruited via magazine ads and support groups.
• Group 2, 3, and 4 were control groups used for comparison.
• Group 2 consisted of 122 neurotypical adults recruited from classes in Exeter and public libraries in Cambridge. They had a broad mix of education levels and occupations.
• Group 3 consisted of 103 students studying at Cambridge University, therefore they were referred to as the high IQ group.
• Group 4 was 14 randomly selected people who were IQ matched with group 1
• All four groups took the revised Eyes Test individually in a quiet room
• Group 1 was also asked to identify the gender of each actor in the photos as a control task.
• Groups 1, 3 and 4 also did the AQ test, which measured the degree to which someone with an average IQ has autistic traits. It was a self-report questionnaire from 0-50 points. The higher the points, the more autistic an individual is.
• All participants were asked to read through the glossary and ask if they were unsure about anything. They were also allowed to keep the glossary and look back whenever they needed to throughout the experiment.
• Baron Cohen concluded that Group 1 had a specific deficit in a cognitive process that helps them to identify emotions in other individuals, which contributes to a theory of mind. This was proved as they could easily identify the gender of the eyes, but had difficulty identifying the emotion.
• Another conclusion made was that males of the comparison groups showed a pattern with the experimental group. This pattern included low scores on the eyes test and high scores on the AQ test. However, more research is required to fully explain this.