Elsevier

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Volume 3, Issue 3, July–September 2009, Pages 797-808
Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Inference processing in adolescents with Asperger syndrome: Relationship with theory of mind abilities

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2009.03.003Get rights and content

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of theory of mind competence in inference processing in adolescents with Asperger syndrome (AS). We sought to pinpoint the level at which AS individuals experience difficulty drawing inferences and identify the factors that account for their inference-drawing problems. We hypothesized that this difficulty could be related to a theory of mind (ToM) deficit. To test this hypothesis, we conducted an experiment investigating the processing of causal, predictive and pragmatic inferences. Participants also performed a second-order false-belief task. Ten adolescents with AS and ten controls matched for age, sex and verbal IQ took part in the study. Results indicated that the individuals with AS had greater difficulty processing inferences (both semantic and pragmatic) than the controls and that ToM could subtend inference-drawing. The findings are discussed in the light of the two main psychological theories: theory of mind and weak central coherence.

Section snippets

Participants

Ten adolescents diagnosed with AS (10M/0F) were recruited via a local association (APIPA 51: Parents’ Association for the integration of individuals with AS and high-functioning autism). Their diagnosis had been made by a team of qualified clinicians (child neuropsychologists and a pediatrician), using DSM-IV criteria (1994). The participants included in the study had no reported hearing difficulties and were free of other neuropsychiatric disorders (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder,

Semantic inference tasks

A one-way ANOVA on the mean number of correct responses was conducted to assess differences between the Asperger and control participants. Group was treated as a between-participants factor, while type of semantic inference was treated as a within-participants factor (causal vs. predictive inference) (Fig. 1).

As expected, results indicated that the Asperger individuals drew fewer inferences (both causal and predictive) than controls (F(1,18) = 14.52, p < .001). The number of correct responses given

Discussion

Significant differences between the adolescents with AS and their controls were found in performances on inference processing and on the theory-of-mind task. First, as expected, results indicated that, compared with their matched controls, Asperger individuals had greater difficulty drawing semantic (both causal and predictive) and pragmatic (both simple and complex) inferences. Second, our results indicated that AS participants, like their matched controls, performed less well on the pragmatic

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank all the adolescents and their families who gave of their time for this research. Thanks are extended to the APIPA 51 (parent's association for integration of individuals with Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism), in particular Anne Viallèle for her assistance in recruiting the Asperger syndrome participants in this study.

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