Meta-analyses comparing theory of mind abilities of individuals with autism, individuals with mental retardation, and normally developing individuals.

Abstract

A deficit in theory of mind (ToM) abilities has been described as the core deficit in autism. The authors performed 3 meta-analyses, comparing ToM abilities of individuals with autism, individuals with mental retardation (MR), and normally developing individuals. Results indicated that individuals with autism and MR have impaired TbM abilities. The etiology associated with MR (i.e., Down syndrome, undifferentiated etiology) was found to be an important moderator variable. Chronological age (CA) and verbal mental age (VMA) of the normally developing children and CA, VMA, and performance mental age of individuals with MR, and type of matching between the groups were also found to be moderator variables. Discussion focuses on the implication of the findings and emphasizes the need to consider the specific etiology of comparison groups when studying abilities and impairments of individuals with autism and MR.

Exploring links between language and cognition in autism spectrum disorders: Complement sentences, false belief, and executive functioning

“…Crucially, however, not all children failed at the task, as subsequent studies also confirm (Happé , 1995a,b;Yirmiya, Erel, Shaked, & Solomonica-Levi, 1998;Naito & Nagayama, 2004). Given this state of affairs, a valid question is: What allows a subset of children with autism to pass FB tasks, in particular if ToM is a core deficit of this condition?…”

Matching Procedures in Autism Research: Evidence from Meta-Analytic Studies

“…In a series of three meta-analyses (Yirmiya, Erel, Shaked, & Solomonica-Levi, 1998), we attempted to examine the issues of universality and uniqueness in depth, with a focus on the theory of mind hypothesis. These analyses included three data sets of studies regarding theory of mind abilities-all studies in which individuals with autism were compared to typically developing individuals, all studies in which individuals with autism were compared to individuals with mental retardation (MR), and all studies in which individuals with MR were compared to typically developing individuals.…”

Exploring the Nature of Joint Attention Impairments in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Associated Social and Cognitive Skills

“…The fact that children with ASD are experiencing problems with joint attention, may therefore be due to difficulties with this understanding of intentions (Tomasello, Carpenter, Call, Behne, & Moll, 2005). Given the disturbed ability to infer mental states of others in children with ASD (e.g., Happé, 1995; Baron-Cohen, Leslie, & Frith, 1985;Yirmiya, Erel, Shaked, & Solomonica-Levi, 1998), it is plausible that they also experience problems with the easiest forms of mental states, such as intentions. However, studies that have investigated intention understanding in children with ASD, report contrasting results (e.g., Aldridge, Stone, Sweeney, & Bower, 2000;Carpenter, Pennington, & Rogers, 2001;d'Entremont & Yazbek, 2007), possibly due to different paradigms.…”