title: Brief report: Conveying subjective experience in conversation: production of mental state terms and personal narratives in individuals with high functioning autism.
abstract: Mental state terms and personal narratives are conversational devices used to communicate subjective experience in conversation. Pre-adolescents with high-functioning autism (HFA, n = 20) were compared with language-matched typically-developing peers (TYP, n = 17) on production of mental state terms (i.e., perception, physiology, desire, emotion, cognition) and personal narratives (sequenced retelling of life events) during short conversations. HFA and TYP participants did not differ in global use of mental state terms, nor did they exhibit reduced production of cognitive terms in particular. Participants with HFA produced significantly fewer personal narratives. They also produced a smaller proportion of their mental state terms during personal narratives. These findings underscore the importance of assessing and developing qualitative aspects of conversation in highly verbal individuals with autism.
authors.affiliation: School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, 1266 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, QC, H3G 1A8, Canada. Janet.bang@mail.mcgill.ca
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.forename: Jesse
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.forename: Aparna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nadig
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D003142:Communication; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D033262:Narration; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012660:Semantics; D012951:Socialization; D014705:Verbal Behavior