Weak central coherence and its relations to theory of mind and anxiety in autism.
Recent theory and research suggests that weak central coherence, a specific perceptual-cognitive style, underlies the central disturbance in autism. This study sought to provide a test of the weak central coherence hypothesis. In addition, this study explored the relations between the weak central coherence hypothesis, theory of mind skills, and social-emotional functioning in a group of high functioning children with autism. Results revealed equivocal support for the weak central coherence hypothesis, but found moderate correlations between verbal weak central coherence and theory of mind measures. No significant findings were observed between weak central coherence measures and social-emotional functioning.
Burnette
Courtney P
CP
Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA. cburnette@umiami.edu
Mundy
Peter C
PC
Meyer
Jessica A
JA
Sutton
Steven K
SK
Vaughan
Amy E
AE
Charak
David
D
D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001364:Awareness; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018187:Personal Construct Theory; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012649:Self Concept; D012938:Social Perception; D013223:Statistics as Topic