Simple Mindreading Abilities Predict Complex Theory of Mind: Developmental Delay in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Pino, Maria Chiara; Mazza, Monica; Mariano, Melania; Peretti, Sara; Dimitriou, Dagmara; Masedu, Francesco; Valenti, Marco; Franco, Fabia

doi:10.1007/s10803-017-3194-1

Cited by 32 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 57 publications

(76 reference statements)

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“…ASD manifests itself in early childhood and is characterized by a range of deficits in two domains, social communication, and social interaction, in addition to repetitive patterns of behavior (American Psychiatric Association, ). According to leading research in this field (Baron‐Cohen, Leslie, & Frith, ; Happé, Cook, & Bird, ; Mazza et al, ; Pino et al, ), the central core of autism is the impairment of social cognition (SC) abilities. SC is a complex cognitive process that refers to the capacity of people to store, process and apply information about other people and social contexts (Happé et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…SC is a complex cognitive process that refers to the capacity of people to store, process and apply information about other people and social contexts (Happé et al, ). This ability is essential in our lives, as it allows us to predict other people's behavior and to modify our own behavior in response (Pino et al, ; Vetter, Leipold, Kliegel, Phillips, & Altgassen, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We know that during the early months of their lives, individuals with ASD already display impairment of the SC precursors (e.g., emotion processing, sensitivity to ostensive signals, and joint attention, among others (Happé & Frith, ; Warrier & Baron‐Cohen, )). According to recent literature (Mazza et al, ; Pino et al, , ), individuals with ASD are characterized by a delay in the development of SC capacities rather than a total lack of these complex domains/constructs. Indeed, in Typically Developing (TD) children, SC capacities emerge in a specific sequence (Happé & Frith, ; Pino et al, , ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to recent literature (Mazza et al, ; Pino et al, , ), individuals with ASD are characterized by a delay in the development of SC capacities rather than a total lack of these complex domains/constructs. Indeed, in Typically Developing (TD) children, SC capacities emerge in a specific sequence (Happé & Frith, ; Pino et al, , ). Individuals with ASD are characterized by the same sequence in the development of these competencies; however, the competencies develop later than in TD children (Pino et al, , ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, in Typically Developing (TD) children, SC capacities emerge in a specific sequence (Happé & Frith, ; Pino et al, , ). Individuals with ASD are characterized by the same sequence in the development of these competencies; however, the competencies develop later than in TD children (Pino et al, , ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the social cognition network in young adults with autism spectrum disorder using graph analysis

et al. 2020

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Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by an impairment in social cognition (SC). SC is a cognitive construct that refers to the capacity to process information about social situations. It is a complex network that includes distinct components. Exploring how SC components work together leads to a better understanding of how their interactions promote adequate social functioning. Our main goal was to use a novel statistical method, graph theory, to analyze SC relationships in ASD and Typically Developing (TD) individuals. Methods We applied graph theory to SC measures to verify how the SC components interact and to establish which of them are important within the interacting SC network for TD and ASD groups. Results The results showed that, in the TD group, the SC nodes are connected; their network showed increased betweenness among nodes, especially for the Theory of Mind. By contrast, in the SC network in the ASD group the nodes are highly disconnected, and the efficient connection among the components is absent. Conclusion ASD adults do not show SC competencies and functional communication among these skills. Under this regard, specific components are crucial, suggesting they could represent critical domains for ASD SC.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the social cognition network in young adults with autism spectrum disorder using graph analysis

et al. 2020

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Cool Executive Function and Verbal Comprehension Mediate the Relation of Hot Executive Function and Theory of Mind in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Tsai

et al. 2020

Autism Research

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Impaired executive function (EF), verbal comprehension, and theory of mind (ToM) may contribute to social difficulties in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The linkage between cool (cognitive) EF and ToM has been widely investigated, but the relations between hot (affective) EF and ToM remain largely unknown. The roles of cool EF and verbal comprehension have not been previously explored together to address hot EF–ToM relations. This study applied mediation analysis to investigate the mediating effects of cool EF and verbal comprehension to further elaborate the link between hot EF and ToM in children with ASD and average intellectual abilities. A total of 97 children with ASD aged from 6 to 12 years participated in this study. Children's cool EF, hot EF, and verbal comprehension were, respectively, measured with the computerized Dimensional Change Card Sort task, Children's Gambling Task, and the verbal comprehension index of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children‐fourth edition. Children's ToM was assessed with the Theory of Mind Task Battery. Partial correlation coefficients indicated that hot EF was significantly related with ToM with age controlled for. The results of the mediation analysis showed that cool EF and verbal comprehension mediated the linkage between hot EF and ToM. These findings highlight not only the connections between hot EF and ToM but also the importance of cool EF and verbal comprehension on hot EF–ToM relations in clinical assessments and interventions for school‐aged children with ASD and average intellectual abilities. Lay Summary Relatively few studies have investigated the hot (affective) executive function (EF)–theory of mind (ToM) relations in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study discovered that hot EF was significantly related to ToM, while cool (cognitive) EF and verbal comprehension mediated the relationship between hot EF and ToM. Therefore, the influence of cool EF and verbal comprehension on hot EF–ToM relations should be considered in studies involving children with ASD. Autism Res 2021, 14: 921–931. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.

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Attribution of intentions in autism spectrum disorder: A study of event‐related potentials

et al. 2022

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by social cognition deficits, including difficulties inferring the intentions of others. Although deficits in attribution of intentions (AI) have been consistently replicated in ASD, their exact nature remains unexplored. Here we registered the electrophysiological correlates of a nonverbal social cognition task to investigate AI in autistic adults. Twenty-one male autistic adults and 30 male neurotypical volunteers performed a comic strips task depicting either intentional action (AI) or physical causality with or without human characters, while their electroencephalographic signal was recorded. Compared to neurotypical volunteers, autistic participants were significantly less accurate in correctly identifying congruence in the AI condition, but not in the physical causality conditions. In the AI condition a bilateral posterior positive event-related potential (ERP) occurred 200-400 ms post-stimulus (the ERP intention effect) in both groups. This waveform comprised a P200 and a P300 component, with the P200 component being larger for the AI condition in neurotypical volunteers but not in autistic individuals, who also showed a longer latency for this waveform. Group differences in amplitude of the ERP intention effect only became evident when we compared autistic participants to a subgroup of similarly performing neurotypical participants, suggesting that the atypical ERP waveform in ASD is an effect of group, rather than a marker of low-task performance. Together, these results suggest that the lower accuracy of the ASD group in the AI task may result from impaired early attentional processing and contextual integration of socially relevant cues. Lay SummaryTo understand why autistic people have difficulties in inferring others' intentions, we asked participants to judge the congruence of the endings of comic strips depicting either intentional actions (e.g., fetching a chair to reach for something) or situations solely following physical rules (e.g., an apple falling on someone's head), while their electrical brain activity was recorded. Autistic individuals had more difficulties in inferring intentions than neurotypical controls, which may reflect impaired attention and contextual integration of social cues.

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Simple Mindreading Abilities Predict Complex Theory of Mind: Developmental Delay in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Cited by 32 publications

References 57 publications

Exploring the social cognition network in young adults with autism spectrum disorder using graph analysis

Exploring the social cognition network in young adults with autism spectrum disorder using graph analysis

Cool Executive Function and Verbal Comprehension Mediate the Relation of Hot Executive Function and Theory of Mind in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Attribution of intentions in autism spectrum disorder: A study of event‐related potentials

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