This RCT investigated whether participants' sibling configuration moderated the effect of a Theory of Mind (ToM) intervention for children with autism. Children with autism aged 8-13 years (n = 141) were randomized over a waitlist control or treatment condition. Both having more siblings, as well as having an older sibling were related to better…

White and Remington (2019) found that autistic people may have increased anthropomorphic tendencies to ascribe human-like attributes to non-human agents. However, it was unclear from their study whether this relationship holds after accounting for socio-demographic variables known to be associated with anthropomorphism. The psychometric properties…

This study describes the development and psychometric evaluation of a new self-report measure of social cognition: the Theory of Mind Inventory:Self-Report--Adult (ToMI:SR-Adult). Adults with autism (or a suspicion of autism; n = 111) and typically developing adults (n = 109) completed a demographic questionnaire and the ToMI:SR-Adult online. Both…

This study examined the cognitive correlates of reciprocity in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A total of 59 children with ASD were assessed with the Interactive Drawing Task, Theory of Mind Task Battery, Children's Card Change Sort Task, and Children's Gambling Task respectively for their reciprocity, theory of mind, cool executive…

The link between autistic people having a mind that is difficult to read (by neurotypical participants) and being perceived unfavorably was investigated. Videoed Autistic and neurotypical targets from Sheppard et al. (PLOS ONE 7(11):e49859, 2016) were scored for how readable they were when reacting to a distinctive greeting from the experimenter.…

'Theory of Mind' (ToM) is the ability to attribute mental states to others to make sense of their behaviour. ToM research has informed understanding of (a)typical social behaviour, including the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This began with research on ToM in autistic children and there has been a noticeable increase in the study of…

We delineate the sequence that typically developing infants pass tasks that assess different early social cognitive skills considered precursors to theory-of-mind abilities. We compared this normative sequence to performance on these tasks in a group of autistic (AUT) children. 86 infants were administered seven tasks assessing "intention…

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is one of the most common comorbidities in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. However, the clinical implications of the co-occurrence of these two disorders are still poorly understood. Based on a preregistered protocol (PROSPERO CRD42020193880), this systematic review identified 34 articles,…

The present study examined individual differences in theory of mind (ToM) among a group of 60 children (7-11 years-old) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and average intelligence. Using open-ended and structured tasks to measure affective ToM, cognitive ToM, and spontaneous social attribution, we explored the nature of ToM and assessed whether…

The similarities between high functioning autism (HFA) and schizotypal-schizoid personality disorder (SSPD) in terms of social cognition and interpersonal deficits may lead to confusion in symptom interpretation, and consequently result in misdiagnosis. Thus, this study aims to investigate differences in mentalizing with particular interest on the…

Background: Many individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exhibit social cognitive impairments in the development of theory of mind (ToM), or the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others. ToM has been shown to relate to reading comprehension for children and adolescents with typical development (TD) and with ASD. This study…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) show significant impairments in social skills and theory of mind (ToM). The aim of this study was to evaluate ToM and social information processing abilities in 52 children with ASD compared to 55 typically developing (TD) children. A mediation analysis evaluated whether social information…

We explore the relationship between the "theory of mind" (ToM) and "central coherence" difficulties of autism. We introduce covariation between hierarchically-embedded categories and social information--at the local level, the global level, or at both levels simultaneously--within a category confusion task. We then ask…

Performance of a group of 35 youth and adults with High-Functioning Autism (HFA) was compared with a typical developing (TD) group on three Advanced Theory of Mind tests. The distinction between the social-cognitive and social-perceptual components of Theory of Mind was also explored. The HFA group had more difficulties in all tasks. Performance…

This pilot study explored the efficacy of a social-cognitive intervention program for adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Seven adolescents with ASD (mean age = 12.57 years) attended a school-based 10-week program. Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scales, Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS), and Theory of Mind Inventory were…