Exploring different explanations for performance on a theory of mind task in Williams syndrome and autism using eye movements

Jo Van Herwegen; Tim J Smith; Dagmara Dimitriou

doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2015.07.024

Exploring different explanations for performance on a theory of mind task in Williams syndrome and autism using eye movements

Res Dev Disabil. 2015 Oct-Nov:45-46:202-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2015.07.024. Epub 2015 Aug 7.

Authors

Jo Van Herwegen¹, Tim J Smith², Dagmara Dimitriou³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Kingston University, United Kingdom.
² Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, United Kingdom.
³ Lifespan Learning and Sleep Laboratory, UCL, Institute of Education, United Kingdom. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 26263406
DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2015.07.024

Abstract

The current study explored the looking behaviours of young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Williams syndrome (WS), and typically developing (TD) children while they were administered a low-verbal Theory of Mind (ToM) task. Although ToM performance in both clinical groups was impaired, only participants with WS showed small differences in looking behaviour at the start of the video. Furthermore, while TD children who passed the ToM task looked longer at the original hiding place there was no such contrast in the clinical groups. This shows that looking behaviour in ASD and WS is not necessarily atypical when saliency aspects such as language, background, and colour are removed and that differences in looking behaviour cannot explain ToM performance.

Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorders; Eye movements; Theory of mind; Williams syndrome.

MeSH terms

Autism Spectrum Disorder / physiopathology
Autism Spectrum Disorder / psychology*
Case-Control Studies
Child
Child, Preschool
Eye Movement Measurements
Face
Facial Recognition / physiology*
Female
Humans
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Theory of Mind*
Williams Syndrome / physiopathology
Williams Syndrome / psychology*