title: A new test of advanced theory of mind: The "Strange Stories Film Task" captures social processing differences in adults with autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: Real-life social processing abilities of adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) can be hard to capture in lab-based experimental tasks. A novel measure of social cognition, the "Strange Stories Film task' (SSFt), was designed to overcome limitations of available measures in the field. Brief films were made based on the scenarios from the Strange Stories task (Happé) and designed to capture the subtle social-cognitive difficulties observed in ASD adults. Twenty neurotypical adults were recruited to pilot the new measure. A final test set was produced and administered to a group of 20 adults with ASD and 20 matched controls, alongside established social cognition tasks and questionnaire measures of empathy, alexithymia and ASD traits. The SSFt was more effective than existing measures at differentiating the ASD group from the control group. In the ASD group, the SSFt was associated with the Strange Stories task. The SSFt is a potentially useful tool to identify social cognitive dis/abilities in ASD, with preliminary evidence of adequate convergent validity. Future research directions are discussed. Autism Res 2017. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1120-1132. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, SE5 8AF, London.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, SE5 8AF, London.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.affiliation: Bradford Dementia Group, School of Health Studies, University of Bradford, Richmond Road, Bradford, BD7 1DP, UK.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cunnane
authors.affiliation: Acute Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit, Wellington Hospital, NW8 9LE, London.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.affiliation: MRC Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, SE5 8AF, London.
authors.forename: Debbie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spain
authors.affiliation: Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment and Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, SE5 8AF, London.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gillan
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Genetics Clinic and Adult Autism Service, Behavioural and Developmental Psychiatry Clinical Academic Group, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, SE5 8AZ, London.|National Autism Unit, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Bethlem Royal Hospital, Bromley, Kent, BR3 3BX, London.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hammond
authors.affiliation: Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment and Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, SE5 8AF, London.|Behavioural Genetics Clinic and Adult Autism Service, Behavioural and Developmental Psychiatry Clinical Academic Group, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, SE5 8AZ, London.|National Autism Unit, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Bethlem Royal Hospital, Bromley, Kent, BR3 3BX, London.
authors.forename: Declan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: MRC Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, SE5 8AF, London.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Happé
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004645:Empathy / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009040:Motion Pictures; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: adults; advanced theory of mind; alexithymia; autism spectrum disorder; empathy; mentalising; social cognition