Introducing MASC: A Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition

Abstract

In the present study we introduce a sensitive video-based test for the evaluation of subtle mindreading difficulties: the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC). This new mindreading tool involves watching a short film and answering questions referring to the actors' mental states. A group of adults with Asperger syndrome (n = 19) and well-matched control subjects (n = 20) were administered the MASC and three other mindreading tools as part of a broader neuropsychological testing session. Compared to control subjects, Asperger individuals exhibited marked and selective difficulties in social cognition. A Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis for the mindreading tests identified the MASC as discriminating the diagnostic groups most accurately. Issues pertaining to the multidimensionality of the social cognition construct are discussed.

Approximating Implicit and Explicit Mentalizing with Two Naturalistic Video-Based Tasks in Typical Development and Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…In contrast, explicit video-based tasks are less structured and thus provide a more sensitive assessment of social cognitive impairments in high-functioning individuals with ASD. Using a moviebased task, Dziobek et al (2006) found that individuals with ASD were less accurate at answering explicit questions referring to the actors' mental states compared to TD controls. Moreover, the movie-based task was more sensitive in picking up mentalizing difficulties of individuals with ASD than static tasks such as the Strange Stories test or the RMET.…”

“…''overmentralizing''), e.g., interpreting a mistake as intentional rather than accidental; (B) mental state inferences that are ''insufficient'' (i.e. ''undermentalizing''), e.g., underestimating the consequences of disrespectful behavior; and (C) non-mental state inferences, i.e., the inferences are not directly related to the mental states of the protagonists in the previous interaction (for a similar approach, see Dziobek et al 2006).…”

“…In those direct mentalizing tasks, participants are asked to infer a protagonist's mental state from stories (Happé 1993(Happé , 1994Moran et al 2011), photographs of persons' eye regions , or from film scenes displaying social interactions (Dziobek et al 2006).…”

“…In contrast, naturalistic movie-based tasks may have the potential to produce the required amount of variability in the performance of typically developed (TD) adults, making it possible to investigate individual differences in mentalizing. Since the deficits of individuals with ASD are more pronounced in unstructured real life social situations (Volkmar et al 2004) than in experimental settings, naturalistic video-based tasks approximating real life scenarios are more sensitive in picking up mentalizing deficits of individuals with ASD than standard, static tasks (Dziobek et al 2006).…”

The typical developmental trajectory of social and executive functions in late adolescence and early adulthood.

“…Total test scores range from 0 to 25. We also selected the Movie for Assessment of Social Cognition (Dziobek et al, 2006) to provide an ecologically valid measure of dynamic social cognition in naturalistic settings (Heavey, Phillips, Baron-Cohen & Rutter, 2000). The MASC consists of a 15 minute film depicting social interaction between four adults and is paused 45 times with participants answering questions about a character's feelings, thoughts and intentions.…”