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Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Inter-correlation of Social Cognition Measures
for Adults with Asperger Syndrome
Fleur-Michelle Coiffait Dr Dougal Julian HareSchool of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester
Dr Rhiannon CorcoranInstitute of Neuroscience, University of Nottingham
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Overview
• Social cognition and impaired Theory of Mind in psychosis and Asperger syndrome
• Measurement and validity issues• Method and results of current study• Limitations• Clinical implications
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Social Cognition
• Thinking about and making sense other people’s behaviour, thoughts and actions
• Theory of Mind [ToM] • Mentalisation, meta-representation,
perspective taking, reasoning
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
So What?
• Impaired social interaction one of the core features of autistic spectrum disorders (Wing, 1979)
• One of the most debilitating features of ASD (Bowler, 2007)
• Also a feature of psychosis• Chris Frith (1992) posits that the underlying
cognitive deficits in both are similar
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Social Cognition in Psychosis
• Corcoran, Frith and colleagues have highlighted ToM deficits in individuals experiencing acute psychotic episodes
• A battery of measures have been developed by Corcoran and colleagues that focus on several aspects of ToM
• These have consistently highlighted transient social cognitive deficits in this clinical group
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Social Cognitive Theory of Psychosis
• Paranoid delusions, thought disorder and negative symptoms thought to arise from a difficulty representing one’s own and others’ thoughts (Frith, 1992).
• Evidence that those in remission do not exhibit social cognitive deficits (Corcoran, Cahill, & Frith, 1997).
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Corcoran’s (2000; 2001)Account of Mentalisation
• Based upon a series of studies that support Frith’s (1992) claim that ToM impairments underlie some psychotic features
• Autobiographical information retrieved, conditional reasoning assesses similarities and differences between current and recalled situations
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
How is this relevant to Asperger Syndrome?
• Corcoran and Frith (2003) suggest that those with difficulties in social functioning (e.g. people with psychosis or on the autistic spectrum) rely upon general cognitive skills to draw inferences about others’ mental states.
• Frith (1992) suggests that the similarities merit further exploration
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Measuring Social Cognition
• Measures employed by Corcoran and colleagues highlighted social cognition deficits in adults with psychosis (Corcoran, 1999; 2003; Corcoran et al., 1995; 1997; Corcoran & Frith, 2005).
• Although high ecological and face validity, external and concurrent validity of measures not yet been explored.
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Aims of the Study
• To determine the validity of the measures within a different clinical population: adults with Asperger syndrome
• To compare performances of adults with Asperger syndrome with neurotypical adults
• To explore the concurrent validity of the measures
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Method
• Mixed design employing both within-group and between-group comparisons
• AS group: recruited via non-NHS local voluntary support services (N= 12, 11 males and 1 female)
• NT group: NAS staff and acquaintances (N= 36, 23 males and 13 females)
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Social Cognition Measures
• Battery of measures administered via interview or in online, web-based format:
- ToM Jokes (plus slapstick jokes) - Hints Task (plus control task) - PET Mets (plus control task) - Thematic Reasoning Task - Projective Imagination Task
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
ToM and Slapstick JokesCorcoran, Cahill and Frith (1997)
• Idea that an understanding of the intention of the person who generated a joke is needed in order to appreciate humour
• Two different types of cartoon jokes:(1)ToM jokes based on characters’
thoughts/intentions/behaviour(2)Slapstick jokes based on physical/
concrete properties of the situations
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Example of ToM Joke
“Can you explain to me what is happening in this picture?”
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Hints Task and Aha Control Task Corcoran, Mercer and Frith (1995)
• Understanding hints requires the ability to infer what the person really means
• E.g. “Its really hot in here.”• The control task involved identifying an
object or animal from indirect information• E.g. “The antelope ran away when it saw
the spots move.”
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
PET Mets and Control Task Corcoran (1999)
• Originally developed for PET study of metaphor comprehension vs. literal sentence comprehension
• Short statements given and plausibility judged, e.g.
“This job is a jail.” (plausible metaphor) “The man used stones as paperweights.” (plausible literal statement)
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Thematic Reasoning TaskCorcoran and Frith (2005)
• Developed from principles of the Wason (1966) Selection Task (e.g. “if p..., q...”)
• Four vignettes with rule to be checked:• (1) Social Familiar• (2) Non-Social Familiar• (3) Social Unfamiliar• (4) Non-Social Unfamiliar
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Projective Imagination Test [PIT]Blackshaw et al. (2001)
• Four ambiguous pictured scenarios• Uncued responses elicited by asking:
“What is happening in this picture?”• Cued responses then elicited by asking:
“What do you think they might be thinking or feeling?”
• Focus on no. mental states generated
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Example of PIT Item “What is happening in
this picture? Please describe, in your
own words, what you think might be the story depicted in this drawing.” [uncued]
“What do you think the woman might be thinking
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Results
Hints Task U = 18.5 **
Aha Sentences U = 20.0 *
ToM Jokes U = 17.5 **
Physical Jokes U = 22.5 *
Metaphors Task U = 74.0 ***
* p < 0.05 ** p < 0.01 *** p < 0.005
Significant Between Group Differences
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Results
Non-social Unfamiliar
Non-social Familiar
Social Unfamiliar
Social Familiar
NT Group 46.7 60 73.3 80
AS Group 66.7 50 50 50
% of Each Group Giving Correct Answers on Thematic Reasoning Items
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Results
Significant Correlational RelationshipsNT Group: • All four thematic reasoning domains
correlated with one another• Cued and uncued domains of PIT
correlated with one another
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Results
Significant Correlational RelationshipsAS Group:• Thematic reasoning domains correlated• PIT cued responses negatively associated
with non-social thematic reasoning responses
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Discussion
• Hints task, ToM jokes (plus corresponding control tests) and metaphors task differentiated both groups
• As no difference expected on control tasks, are cognitive task demands differentiating due to executive function deficits?
• Negative relationships emerged between cued PIT and non-social reasoning in AS group
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Limitations
• Small sample size, unequal groups• No measure of ability, although this is next
stage of data collection• Groups not matched• PIT responses were not second coded, this
is ongoing
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
Clinical Implications
• Underlines the subtlety of the difficulties experienced by adults with AS
• Difficulties with indirect language• Suggests possible alternative strategies for
understanding social information (e.g. cueing in social situations)
• Need for measures with greater sensitivity
Monday, 14 May 2012
Combining the strengths of UMIST andThe Victoria University of Manchester
[email protected] [email protected]
Monday, 14 May 2012
