Keywords

Asperger's syndrome in adolescence, Philosophy of mind

Abstract

Individuals diagnosed with Asperger‟s Syndrome (AS) have marked impairments in social interaction, including difficulty expressing and perceiving thoughts, emotions, and intentions. This deficit may be due in part to a delayed or underdeveloped Theory of Mind (ToM). The previous research investigating ToM in individuals with AS has been inconclusive. The purpose of this study was to compare three Theory of Mind (ToM) tasks, presented via three different modalities, to evaluate the recognition of complex emotions and mental states in adolescents with AS compared to typically developing adolescents. Participants in this study included twenty adolescents: 10 adolescents with AS and 10 typically developing adolescents matched by age and gender. Participants were administered three ToM tasks differing in mode of stimuli presentation: a visual mentalizing (VM) task; an auditory mentalizing (AM) task; and, a visual+auditory mentalizing (VAM) task. . Results were analyzed utilizing a factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA). No significant difference was found between the groups overall, or between the groups by task. A pairwise analysis of the data revealed non-significant differences between visual only (VM) compared to auditory only (AM) presentation of stimuli; however significant differences were found between visual only (VM) stimuli compared to the combination of visual + auditory (VAM) stimuli, and between auditory only (AM) stimuli compared to the combination of visual + auditory (VAM) stimuli. These results indicated that the recognition of complex emotions and mental states increased when the stimuli were presented through the combined visual and auditory channels. Clinical implications of these findings were discussed. Recommendations were made for future research investigating ToM in individuals with AS.

Graduation Date

2011

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Schwartz, Jamie

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Health and Public Affairs

Department

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0003714

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0003714

Language

English

Release Date

4-1-2014

Length of Campus-only Access

3 years

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Health and Public Affairs, Health and Public Affairs -- Dissertations, Academic

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