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Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Gepubliceerd in:

01-11-2012 | Original Paper

Reasoning on the Basis of Fantasy Content: Two Studies with High-Functioning Autistic Adolescents

Auteurs: Kinga Morsanyi, Simon J. Handley

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | Uitgave 11/2012

Abstract

Reasoning about problems with empirically false content can be hard, as the inferences that people draw are heavily influenced by their background knowledge. However, presenting empirically false premises in a fantasy context helps children and adolescents to disregard their beliefs, and to reason on the basis of the premises. The aim of the present experiments was to see if high-functioning adolescents with autism are able to utilize fantasy context to the same extent as typically developing adolescents when they reason about empirically false premises. The results indicate that problems with engaging in pretence in autism persist into adolescence, and this hinders the ability of autistic individuals to disregard their beliefs when empirical knowledge is irrelevant.

vorige artikel Comparison of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder with and Without Schizophrenia Spectrum Traits: Gender, Season of Birth, and Mental Health Risk Factors

volgende artikel A Two-Year Longitudinal MRI Study of the Corpus Callosum in Autism

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Here we would like to note that our study included contrary-to-fact materials, rather than counterfactual materials, which is an important distinction. Whereas contrary-to-fact materials refer to empirically false fantasy content (e.g., flying pigs), counterfactual materials refer to alternatives to past events which, although they are not true, could be true (e.g., in the Sally-Anne task, the marble could be in the basket, rather than in the box). Although some classic studies in the literature (most notably, studies by Dias and Harris, and Scott and colleagues) used the two terms interchangeably, a growing body of evidence from recent studies suggests that the developmental trajectories of the two abilities differ (e.g., Beck et al. 2006; Beck and Guthrie 2011).

Given that the proportion of males and females was unequal in the two groups, we have compared our male and female participants in each sample across all the measures that we used In order to check if this could affect our results regarding differences between the autistic and control groups. We have found no significant gender differences across any of the tasks (ts < 1.25, ps > .22).

The availability of each participant was determined by external circumstances, and it did not reflect their individual characteristics.

Given that the proportion of males and females was unequal in the two groups (similarly to Experiment 1), we have compared our male and female participants in each sample across all the measures that we used. We have found no significant gender differences across any of the tasks (ts < 1.36, ps > .18).

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Titel: Reasoning on the Basis of Fantasy Content: Two Studies with High-Functioning Autistic Adolescents
Auteurs: Kinga Morsanyi
Simon J. Handley
Publicatiedatum: 01-11-2012
Uitgeverij: Springer US
Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders / Uitgave 11/2012
Print ISSN: 0162-3257
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-3432
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1477-0

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