The Japanese Journal of Psychology 2002, Vol. 73, No. 1, Reading mind from pictures of eyes: Theory of mind, language ability, general intellect

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1 The Japanese Journal of Psychology 2002, Vol. 73, No. 1, Reading mind from pictures of eyes: Theory of mind, language ability, general intellectual ability, and autism Atsushi Senju (Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo ), Yoshikuni Tojo (Section of Education for Children with Autism, National Institute of Special Education, Midoricho, Musashino ), Michiko Konno (Clinical Center for Developmental Disorders, Shirayuri College, Midorigaoka, Chofu ), Hitoshi Dairoku (Faculty of Human Studies, Musashino Women's University, Shimmachi, Nishi-Tokyo ) and Toshikazu Hasegawa (Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo ). Some researchers have claimed that theory of mind or 'mind reading' ability, necessary for inferring the mental states of others, depends on language ability. However, previous tests of theory of mind were verbally demanding, and high correlations found might have been an artifact. This paper reports the performance of 22 children with autism, with varying degrees of dysfunction, on a test devised by Baron-Cohen, Jolliffe, Mortimore, and Robertson (1997), based on a relatively nonverbal theory of mind. The test involved inference of mental states from photographs of human eyes. Results indicated that mind reading ability was independent of language ability, general intelligence, or mental age. Test scores were, however, strongly related to the severity of autistic disorder. These results suggest both the independence of mind-reading ability from language ability and general intelligence, and a strong relationship between theory of mind deficit and the autistic disorder. Key words: autism, theory of mind, intelligence quotient, verbal ability, behavioral deficit.

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ToMM Kanner, L., Kanner, L., ; - early infantile autism Kanner, L., ; autism autistische psychopathie Asperger,H., Asperger, H., ; -

Theory of Mind Mechanism:ToMM Shared Attention Mechanism:SAM SAM ToMM SAM SAM ToMM SAM ToMM Theory of Mind Mechanism:ToMM ToMM SAM ToMM ToMM Kanner, L., Kanner, L., ; - early infantile autism Kanner, L.,