Linking theory of mind and central coherence bias in autism and in the general population.
Three experiments investigated whether 2 characteristic aspects of the psychological profile of autism, theory-of-mind deficits and weak central coherence, might be functionally related. Experiment 1 showed that in the general population, performance on a proposed test of theory of mind was inversely related to speed on the Embedded Figures Test, a measure of central coherence bias. Experiments 2 and 3 confirmed that poor theory-of-mind performance was linked to weak central coherence among typically developing children and among children with autism; however, the correlations between these measures were reliable only after accounting for differences in individuals' verbal mental ages. This pattern of results is interpreted in terms of a relationship between individual differences in theory of mind and central coherence bias, a relationship that is separate from any developmental differences in these domains.
Jarrold
C
C
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, United Kingdom. C.Jarrold@bristol.ac.uk
Butler
D W
DW
Cottington
E M
EM
Jimenez
F
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D001364:Awareness; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time; D012016:Reference Values; D012951:Socialization