TY - JOUR
T1 - The Relation between Theory of Mind and Rule Use
T2 - Evidence from Persons with Autism-Spectrum Disorders
AU - Zelazo, Philip David
AU - Jacques, Sophie
AU - Burack, Jacob A.
AU - Frye, Douglas
PY - 2002/6
Y1 - 2002/6
N2 - Cognitive complexity and control (CCC) theory, which is a theory of executive function and its development, provides a metric for comparing task demands across domains. This metric allowed us to examine the relation between theory of mind (ToM) and one aspect of executive function, rule use, in 22 individuals with autism-spectrum disorders, including 12 severely impaired (VIQ≤40; mean VMA = 4.07 years; mean CA = 17.47) and 10 mildly impaired (VIQ>40; mean VMA = 6.15 years; mean CA = 10.30) individuals. For severely impaired individuals, ToM performance was unrelated to rule use, r = -0.40, p>0.05). However, for mildly impaired individuals, the correlation between ToM and rule use was high, r = 0.82, p<0.01). This latter finding challenges the hypothesis of a domain-specific, ToM module, and suggests instead that poor performance on ToM tasks may be attributed to a more general difficulty using higher order rules to integrate 2 incompatible perspectives into a single system of inferences.
AB - Cognitive complexity and control (CCC) theory, which is a theory of executive function and its development, provides a metric for comparing task demands across domains. This metric allowed us to examine the relation between theory of mind (ToM) and one aspect of executive function, rule use, in 22 individuals with autism-spectrum disorders, including 12 severely impaired (VIQ≤40; mean VMA = 4.07 years; mean CA = 17.47) and 10 mildly impaired (VIQ>40; mean VMA = 6.15 years; mean CA = 10.30) individuals. For severely impaired individuals, ToM performance was unrelated to rule use, r = -0.40, p>0.05). However, for mildly impaired individuals, the correlation between ToM and rule use was high, r = 0.82, p<0.01). This latter finding challenges the hypothesis of a domain-specific, ToM module, and suggests instead that poor performance on ToM tasks may be attributed to a more general difficulty using higher order rules to integrate 2 incompatible perspectives into a single system of inferences.
KW - Autism
KW - Executive function
KW - Rule use
KW - Theory of mind
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0036386413&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1002/icd.304
DO - 10.1002/icd.304
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0036386413
SN - 1522-7227
VL - 11
SP - 171
EP - 195
JO - Infant and Child Development
JF - Infant and Child Development
IS - 2
ER -