TY - JOUR
T1 - Brief Report
T2 - Theory of Mind, Relational Reasoning, and Social Responsiveness in Children With and Without Autism: Demonstration of Feasibility for a Larger-Scale Study
AU - Pruett, John R.
AU - Kandala, Sridhar
AU - Petersen, Steven E.
AU - Povinelli, Daniel J.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank Derek C. Penn, Keith Holyoak, John N. Constantino, Dorothy K. Grange, Lawrence McEvoy, and Victoria Sorrentino for their significant contributions to this work. Britt Gott assisted with manuscript preparation. Funding included K12 EY016336 (Pruett), JSMF Centennial Fellowship (Povinelli), and The Drs. John R. (Sr.) and Patricia O. Pruett Fund (for research in Theory of Mind and for undergraduate training).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2015/7/19
Y1 - 2015/7/19
N2 - Understanding the underpinnings of social responsiveness and theory of mind (ToM) will enhance our knowledge of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We hypothesize that higher-order relational reasoning (higher-order RR: reasoning necessitating integration of relationships among multiple variables) is necessary but not sufficient for ToM, and that social responsiveness varies independently of higher-order RR. A pilot experiment tested these hypotheses in n = 17 children, 3–14, with and without ASD. No child failing 2nd-order RR passed a false belief ToM test. Contrary to prediction, Social Responsiveness Scale scores did correlate with 2nd-order RR performance, likely due to sample characteristics. It is feasible to translate this comparative cognition-inspired line of inquiry for full-scale studies of ToM, higher-order RR, and social responsiveness in ASD.
AB - Understanding the underpinnings of social responsiveness and theory of mind (ToM) will enhance our knowledge of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We hypothesize that higher-order relational reasoning (higher-order RR: reasoning necessitating integration of relationships among multiple variables) is necessary but not sufficient for ToM, and that social responsiveness varies independently of higher-order RR. A pilot experiment tested these hypotheses in n = 17 children, 3–14, with and without ASD. No child failing 2nd-order RR passed a false belief ToM test. Contrary to prediction, Social Responsiveness Scale scores did correlate with 2nd-order RR performance, likely due to sample characteristics. It is feasible to translate this comparative cognition-inspired line of inquiry for full-scale studies of ToM, higher-order RR, and social responsiveness in ASD.
KW - Analogical reasoning
KW - Autism
KW - Cognition
KW - Relational reasoning
KW - Social responsiveness
KW - Theory of mind
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84931570018&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10803-015-2357-1
DO - 10.1007/s10803-015-2357-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 25630898
AN - SCOPUS:84931570018
SN - 0162-3257
VL - 45
SP - 2243
EP - 2251
JO - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
JF - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
IS - 7
ER -