Abstract
It has long been theorised that there is a direct link between individual differences in social cognition and behaviour. One of the most popular tests of this theory has involved examination of Theory of Mind (ToM) difficulties in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, evidence for associations between ToM and social behaviour is mixed, both when testing the ToM explanation of ASD and when investigating individual differences in ToM in the general population. We argue that this is due to methodological limitations of many ToM measures, such as a lack of variability in task performance, inappropriate non-ToM control tasks, and a failure to account for general mental ability. To overcome these issues, we designed a novel task, which probed individual differences in ToM fluency through mental state attribution in response to cartoons (Cartoons Theory of Mind [CarToM] task). This task, enabling the linear combination of speed and accuracy, was used to quantify ToM ability and its association with self-reported (a)typical social behaviour in adults with and without ASD. In a large sample (N = 237), we found that having an ASD diagnosis and higher autistic traits predicted lower ToM ability, even after accounting for performance on a well-matched non-ToM condition and general mental ability. Overall, our findings provide fresh support for the existence of a link between individual differences in social cognition (specifically, ToM) and behaviour (specifically, autism). This has implications for social-cognitive theory and research, allowing large-scale, online assessment of individual differences in ToM in clinical groups and the general population.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 287-297 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Quarterly journal of experimental psychology |
Volume | 77 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 13 Mar 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 29 Feb 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: L.A.L. was supported by a studentship from the Medical Research Council. F.H. is part-funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. P.S. was supported by a grant from Cauldron Science.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: L.A.L. was supported by a studentship from the Medical Research Council. F.H. is part-funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. P.S. was supported by a grant from Cauldron Science. We thank all the participants who took part in the study and Holly Bainbridge, Bethany Carr, Caitlin Foster, and Joseph Riddell for assisting with data collection and processing. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: L.A.L. was supported by a studentship from the Medical Research Council. F.H. is part-funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. P.S. was supported by a grant from Cauldron Science.
Funders | Funder number |
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Cauldron Science | |
Joseph Riddell | |
King's College London | |
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust | |
Medical Research Council | |
National Institute for Health and Care Research |
Keywords
- accuracy
- adults
- autism
- response time
- social cognition
- Theory of mind
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- General Psychology
- Physiology (medical)