Presentation Title
Theory of Mind Differences Between Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder Following Social Story Intervention
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in social interaction and social communication (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). At the core of the social impairment is a likely deficit in the Theory of Mind (ToM). This study uses ToM measures to assess emotion recognition and desire-based emotions pre- and post-intervention in neurotypical and ASD children between the ages of 8 and 12 following nine weeks of social-cognitive intervention (i.e., individualized Social Stories). Results showed that neurotypical children have greater emotion recognition and understanding of desire-based emotion than children with ASD, and that children with ASD exhibit variable improvements in their ToM following social story (SS) intervention.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Patricia Prelock
Faculty/Staff Collaborators
Patricia Prelock (Faculty Mentor)
Status
Undergraduate
Student College
College of Arts and Sciences
Program/Major
Neuroscience
Primary Research Category
Social Sciences
Theory of Mind Differences Between Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder Following Social Story Intervention
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in social interaction and social communication (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). At the core of the social impairment is a likely deficit in the Theory of Mind (ToM). This study uses ToM measures to assess emotion recognition and desire-based emotions pre- and post-intervention in neurotypical and ASD children between the ages of 8 and 12 following nine weeks of social-cognitive intervention (i.e., individualized Social Stories). Results showed that neurotypical children have greater emotion recognition and understanding of desire-based emotion than children with ASD, and that children with ASD exhibit variable improvements in their ToM following social story (SS) intervention.