title: Mentalising and social problem solving in adults with Asperger's syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is well established that autistic spectrum disorder is linked to difficulties with mentalising, but the ways in which this affects everyday behaviour is less well understood. This study explored the nature and extent of difficulties in everyday social functioning in adults with Asperger's syndrome (AS), since increased understanding can enhance the development of more effective intervention strategies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Individuals with AS (n=21) were compared with healthy control participants (n=21) on three tests of social cognition: the Mentalistic Interpretation task, which assesses interpretation of sarcasm and actions; the Social Problem Fluency task, which assesses ability to generate problem solutions; and the Social Problem Resolution task, which assesses judgement in selecting problem solutions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Comprehension of both sarcastic remarks and actions was impaired in those with AS on the mentalistic interpretation task. Participants with AS showed difficulties in identifying the awkward elements of everyday social scenarios, and they were also impaired in generating problem solutions but not in judging alternative solutions on the social problem fluency and resolution tasks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These tasks potentially provide a means of profiling strengths and weaknesses in social processing, which in turn has implications for informing clinical evaluation and training.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences , University College London , London , UK.
authors.forename: Shelley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Channon
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.forename: Danuta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Orlowska
authors.forename: Nimmi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Parikh
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Thoma
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D032882:Comprehension; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011340:Problem Solving; D012919:Social Behavior; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult