Impaired performance on see-know tasks amongst children with autism: Evidence of specific difficulties with theory of mind or domain-general task factors?

Bowler, Lind, S.E.,*; M., D.

Abstract

It is widely assumed that children with autism have a diminished understanding of the perception-knowledge relationship, as a specific manifestation of a theory of mind (ToM) impairment. However, such a conclusion may not be justified on the basis of previous studies, which have suffered from significant methodological weaknesses. The current study aimed to avoid such problems by adopting more stringent participant matching methods, using a larger sample (N = 80), and implementing a new, more rigorous control task in order to ensure that non-ToM task factors were not confounding results. After excluding children who failed the control task, it was found that children with autism were moderately impaired in their understanding of the perception-knowledge relationship, relative to age- and verbal ability matched comparison children.

Citation

Bowler, L. S., & M., D. (2010). Impaired performance on see-know tasks amongst children with autism: Evidence of specific difficulties with theory of mind or domain-general task factors?. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40(4), 479-484. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0889-y

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Sep 8, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 12, 2010
• Journal: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
• Print ISSN: 0162-3257
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-3432
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 40
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 479-484
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0889-y
• Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder,Control task, Ignorance, Knowledge, Perception, Theory of mind.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1549555
• Publisher URL: http://www.springerlink.com/content/354521164708w077/