AS Psychology: Cognitive
Approach
So far you have considered
1) Loftus & Palmer (1974) –
Reconstruction of automobile
destruction
2) Savage-Rumbaugh et al. (1986) –
Spontaneous Symbol Acquisition and
Communicative Use by Pygmy
Chimpanzees
3) ….

Baron Cohen et al (1997) – Another Advanced Test of
Theory of Mind
Learning Objective Question:
How could you test for Theory of Mind
(TOM) in adults with autism & Asperger
syndrome & what might be the issues?
Baron Cohen et al (1997) – Another Advanced Test of
Theory of Mind
What do you know about
autism?
THINK-PAIR-SHARE (in your group, 1 - 3)
Name:
Task: Understanding Theory of Mind (TOM) in adults with autism & Aspergers syndrome (AS)
Learning Objective Question:
How could we test for a lack of TOM in children?
What about in adults?
How could you test for TOM in
adults with autism & Asperger
syndrome & what might be the
issues?
Success Criteria:
1) Describe autism.
2) Explain who Simon BaronCohen is.
3) Describe TOM.
4) Outline the Sally-Anne test & an
issue with it..
What is Theory of Mind (TOM)?
What are the issues with such a study?
5) Outline the eyes task including
strengths and weaknesses.
Prior Cognitive Knowledge:
Loftus & Palmer (complete) &
Savage-Rumbaugh (started)
Starter:
THINK – PAIR - SHARE
What is autism? You have 2
minutes to mind-map everything you
know about autism (THINK).
Once you have done this work with a
partner to share your ideas. The best
ideas should be written on a post-it
note and stuck on the white-board.
(PAIR – SHARE)
The real Rain Man
(2mins 50sec) ‘get a
grip of yourself’
Who is Simon Baron-Cohen?
Extended learning:
How might you answer this question from the January 2009
(section B)
-
Suggest how your chosen study could be improved. [8]
Outline the implications of the improvements you have
suggested for your chosen study. [8]
Daniel Tammet
Memorised 12,000 books.
Could read two pages at a time
using one eye for each page.
Could recall 98% of everything
that he ever experienced in
perfect detail.
Theory of Mind

“Developing a theory of
mind allows the child to
begin to understand
other people & to
predict what other
people are likely to do
& believe”.
Baron-Cohen, 1997
Professor of
Developmental
Psychopathology at the
University of Cambridge
Baron-Cohen, Leslie and Frith (1985)
The Sally-Anne Test - The autistic child's
inability to employ a theory of mind.

How does this test
work & what is it
exactly testing?
The Sally-Anne Test

The Sally-Anne was for children (up to a
mental age of 6). But what about high
functioning adults with autism and
Asperger syndrome?
Baron Cohen et al (1997) – Another Advanced Test of
Theory of Mind
Learning Objective Question (re-cap):
How could you test for theory of mind in adults
with autism & Asperger syndrome & what
might be the problems?
If you can think of any
good strengths or
weaknesses of the whole
study write it on a post-it
note and put it on the
whiteboard!
Procedure: 4 tasks
1) The Eyes Task (complete today)
2) Strange Stories Task (complete today)
(control tasks)
3) Gender Recognition Task
4) Basic Emotion Recognition Task
Consider these whilst reading the full study
(H/W task)
Group 1
-
-
16 participants with
high functioning
autism or Asperger
syndrome
-
50 normal (agematched) adults
-
25M & 25F
-
Age range 18-48
years
-
-
10 participants
(age-matched) with
Tourette's syndrome
-
8M & 2F (mirroring
the sex ratio of
group 1)
-
Age range 18-47
years
-
Recruited from a
referral centre in
London
-
Normal IQ
13M & 3F
Age range 18-49
years
-
-
Group 3
Group 2
All of normal
intelligence
Recruited using an
advert in the
National Autistic
Society magazine as
well as through
clinics
-
Selected from general
population of
Cambridge (no
students)
No history of any
psychiatric condition
& assumed to have
normal IQ
Was the sample representative of all people with Autism/AS? How does this
affect the conclusions that can be drawn?
Task 2 - Strange Stories Task (Happe, 1994)
Read the following:
Ann's mother has spent a long time cooking Ann's
favourite meal: fish and chips. But when she brings
it in, Ann is watching TV, and she doesn't even
look up or say thank you. Ann's mother is cross
and says ‘Well that's very nice, isn't it! That's what I
call politeness!’
Question 1 - Is it true what Ann's mother says?
Question 2 - Why does Ann's mother say this?
Question 3 – Is any irony experienced?
Why is this a test for TOM & What
results would you expect to see
based on your group?
Task 1 - The Eyes Task
There are 5 photos (in the actual test
there were 25)
 On the bottom of the photos are two
‘mental state’ terms
 You have 3 seconds to look at the
picture and record (A or B) which mental
state the person is displaying

Picture 1
Which word term describes what this person is
thinking or feeling
Serious or Playful
A
B
Picture 2
Which word term describes what this person is
thinking or feeling
Reflective or Unreflective
A
B
Picture 3
Which term best describes what this person is
thinking or feeling
Sympathetic or Unsympathetic
A
B
Picture 4
Which word term describes what this person is
thinking or feeling
Decisive or Indecisive
A
B
Picture 5
Which word term describes what this person is
thinking or feeling
Certain or Uncertain
A
B
Task 1 Answers - The Eyes Task
(answers underlined)
A
B
-
Picture 1 = Serious or Playful
-
Picture 2 = Reflective or Unreflective
-
Picture 3 = Sympathetic or Unsympathetic
-
Picture 4 = Decisive or Indecisive
-
Picture 5 = Certain or Uncertain
-
Group ___ Score: ___/5
Task 1: What results would you expect to see
based on your group?

Findings: out of 25
Eyes Task
Autistic (G1)
Normal (G2)
Tourettes (G3)
Mean
?
?
?
Task 1: What results would you expect to see
based on your group?

Findings: out of 25
Eyes Task
Autistic (G1)
Normal (G2)
Tourettes (G3)
Mean
16.3
20.3
20.4
Eyes task and strange stories task:
-
All groups completed the eyes task
Only groups 1 and 3 the strange stories
Why do you think this would be?
Eyes task and strange stories task:
-
All groups completed the eyes task
Only groups 1 and 3 the strange stories
Why do you think this would be?
It demonstrates validity of the eyes task as a
test for TOM.
If a valid test then the performance of the
eyes task should correlate with the
performance of the strange stories task
(concurrent validity)
Task 1 - The Eyes Task
(questions)

Imagine you had to explain to a friend
what Theory of Mind is. As a group write
a definition for this term.
Task 1 - The Eyes Task
(questions)

In your groups evaluate the task (remember
your level of response should reflect your
target grade!).

Some points to consider:
-
Does it actually test TOM?
What type of data is being collected? What are the
strengths and weaknesses of this?
Is the task ecologically valid? If not what are the
strengths and weaknesses of investigating in a way
that is not representative of everyday situations?
How would you change this task? How might this affect
the outcome and conclusions of study?
-
-
Final thoughts…

If you could ask Baron-Cohen one question
about his work what would it be?

Do you think this study is useful?

What one thing do you want to know about
autism?

Why is this within the cognitive approach?

What could be the cause of autism and
should we try and cure it?
Homework Task:
January 2009 (section B)
Suggest how your chosen study could
be improved. [8]
 Outline the implications of the
improvements you have suggested for
your chosen study. [8]

-
Read the full study
Think about how you would answer
these questions.
Baron Cohen et al (1997) – Another Advanced Test of
Theory of Mind
Learning Objective Question (re-cap):
How could you test for theory of mind in adults
with autism & Asperger syndrome & what
might be the problems?
If you can think of any
good strengths or
weaknesses of the whole
study write it on a post-it
note and put it on the
whiteboard!
Exam Questions:
The Eyes Task
2009 - 2013
January 2009 (section A)

Describe two of these groups. [4]
January 2009 (section B)

Answer the following questions (choice of 3 studies):

Briefly outline the previous research or event which was the
stimulus for your chosen study. [2]

Describe how the sample in your chosen study was selected
and suggest one advantage of using this sample. [6]

Explain why your chosen study can be considered a laboratory
experiment. [6]

Give one advantage and one disadvantage of conducting your
chosen study in a laboratory. [6]

Suggest how your chosen study could be improved. [8]
Outline the implications of the improvements you have
suggested for your chosen study. [8]
- Total 36

May 2009 (section A)

Identify one difference between the
performance of the autistic adults and the
Tourette Syndrome adults. [2]

Outline what this study tells us about
advanced theory of mind. [2]
January 2010 (section A)

The autistic and Asperger Syndrome
participants were found to be
unimpaired on two control tasks:
Describe these two control tasks [4]
June 2010 (section A)

Identify one of the word pairs in the ‘Eyes
Task’. [2]

Outline one finding from the ‘Eyes Task’. [2]
January 2011 (section A)

Describe how two of the groups of
participants were selected. [4]
June 2011 (section A)

Identify the two control groups used. [2]

Explain why one of these control groups
was used. [2]
January 2012 (section A)

Identify the independent variable (IV)
and the dependent variable (DV) in the
Eyes Task. [2]

Explain why this study is considered a
quasi-experiment. [2]
May 2012 (section A)

Outline two of the ways the participants
were tested. [4]
January 2013 (section A)

Explain the term quasi experiment in
relation to this study. [4]