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Advancing Advanced Mind-reading Tests: Empathic Accuracy in Adults with a Pervasive Developmental Disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2001

Herbert Roeyers ,
Ann Buysse ,
Koen Ponnet  and
Bert Pichal
Herbert Roeyers
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Belgium
Ann Buysse
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Belgium
Koen Ponnet
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Belgium
Bert Pichal
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Belgium
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Abstract

Research using advanced but static mind-reading tests with high-functioning adults with a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) provided evidence for subtle social cognitive deficits. In the present study, adults with PDD were unimpaired on such tasks, relative to individually matched normal controls. Significant differences between the two groups were, however, found on a more naturalistic empathic accuracy task developed for this study. Participants viewed two videotaped interactions that both depicted a male and female stranger having an initial conversation and were asked to infer the unexpressed thoughts and feelings of the four targets. Subjects with PDD performed significantly worse on the second video. These findings suggest that the mind-reading deficit of a subgroup of able adults with PDD may only be apparent when a sufficiently complex naturalistic assessment method is being used.

Keywords

Autismsocial cognitionempathic accuracy
Type
Papers
Information
The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines , Volume 42 , Issue 2 , February 2001 , pp. 271 - 278
Copyright
© 2001 Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry

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