Emotions

1. Emotions Give this PowerPoint (or handout format) to students to complete as they come in, as a settling in task, or while registration is taken, depending on your needs. It is aimed at getting students to see how eyes help to convey emotion.Give this PowerPoint (or handout format) to students to complete as they come in, as a settling in task, or while registration is taken, depending on your needs. It is aimed at getting students to see how eyes help to convey emotion.

2. Eyes task Which of the two emotions do you think each person is feeling? This is a copy of the task used in Baron-Cohen et al.�s study. Students have to pick which of two emotions each pair of eyes is expressing. Obviously there are some ethical issues of people not being able to do the task, and the implications of this. So finding a way for students to choose the emotion without everyone knowing it may be an good idea. This could be done within the core study PowerPoint presentation when the eyes task is reached.This is a copy of the task used in Baron-Cohen et al.�s study. Students have to pick which of two emotions each pair of eyes is expressing. Obviously there are some ethical issues of people not being able to do the task, and the implications of this. So finding a way for students to choose the emotion without everyone knowing it may be an good idea. This could be done within the core study PowerPoint presentation when the eyes task is reached.

3. Answers: surprised, angry, fearful Answers: surprised, angry, fearful

4. Answers: sad, happy, disgusted Answers: sad, happy, disgusted

6. 3 Core studyAnother advanced test of theory of mind: evidence from very high functioning adults with autism or Asperger syndrome Simon Baron-Cohen, Joliffe, Mortimore, and Robertson Baron Cohen is a renowned expert on autism and his idea about Theory of Mind is tested in many pieces of research. This is one of the more recent. You could link to Simon Baron-Cohen�s lecture video to show him speaking, Other web links such, as his home page, can be found on the web links page in this pack.Baron Cohen is a renowned expert on autism and his idea about Theory of Mind is tested in many pieces of research. This is one of the more recent. You could link to Simon Baron-Cohen�s lecture video to show him speaking, Other web links such, as his home page, can be found on the web links page in this pack.

7. Background Theory of mind �Theory of mind is being able to put yourself in somebody else's shoes, being able to imagine what's going on in his or her mind.�Baron-Cohen(See �Websites�, p. ii) Ability to do this generally appears at the end of the first year of life. Deficit is believed to be core to an Autism diagnosis. Theory of Mind is key cognitive skill normal children develop. This is a quote from Baron-Cohen which explains it. Could discuss here what autism is, its key features, etc. Some students may have siblings, friends, etc. with autism diagnosis, so needs to be handled sensitively. See web links page in this pack for link to sites on autism.Theory of Mind is key cognitive skill normal children develop. This is a quote from Baron-Cohen which explains it. Could discuss here what autism is, its key features, etc. Some students may have siblings, friends, etc. with autism diagnosis, so needs to be handled sensitively. See web links page in this pack for link to sites on autism.

8. Previous research Baron-Cohen (1992) found that no participants passed the second-order theory of mind test. Ozonoff et al. (1991) found that adults with �high functioning autism� or Asperger Syndrome passed theory of mind tests. Happ� (1994) used an advanced theory of mind test and found that adults with autism or Asperger�s Syndrome did less well than the matched control group. This slide is an extension activity, not all groups will need this, it is not going to be on assessment, but does place this research in context.This slide is an extension activity, not all groups will need this, it is not going to be on assessment, but does place this research in context.

9. Aim To use an adult test of theory of mind competence You could highlight the difference between the dolls used in Sally-Anne Test Baron-Cohen has used previously, but as this will not be assessed, the students need to understand that they shouldn�t learn the Sally Anne Test.You could highlight the difference between the dolls used in Sally-Anne Test Baron-Cohen has used previously, but as this will not be assessed, the students need to understand that they shouldn�t learn the Sally Anne Test.

10. The �Eyes task� Participants look at photographs of the eye region of face. They have a forced choice of two words to describe what the person in the photograph might be feeling or thinking. Emotions are �basic�, e.g. happy, sad, angry; or �complex�, e.g. arrogant, scheming. Refer back to the eyes test that was used as introductory task or introduce it nowRefer back to the eyes test that was used as introductory task or introduce it now

11. Procedure Photographs of the eye region of 25 different faces (male and female) were used. same size 15 � 10 cm black and white same regions midway along nose to just above eyebrow

12. This is example from the original study.This is example from the original study.

13. Participants There were three groups of participants. All had normal (>85) intelligence on Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test. 16 Adults with High functioning autism/Asperger�s Syndrome 13 males: 3 females recruited by advert and clinics 10 adults with Tourette�s Syndrome age matched 8 males: 2 females 50 normal adults (from Cambridge) 25 males: 25 females assumed normal intelligence Participants details, not equal sizes, but stats tests can cope with this. Tourette�s Syndrome used to ensure Theory of Mind deficit is not common to all disorders, but specifically to autism. Participants details, not equal sizes, but stats tests can cope with this. Tourette�s Syndrome used to ensure Theory of Mind deficit is not common to all disorders, but specifically to autism.

14. Why did Baron-Cohen use participants with Tourette�s Syndrome? Tourettes participants were used as Tourette�s Syndrome and autism are similar and using both would control some of the extraneous variables. Both Tourette�s Syndrome and autism participants: had normal intelligence suffered with disorder from childhood had disorders that disrupted schooling and peer relations had disorders supposed to originate in frontal lobe abnormalities. Participants in both clinical groups had passed Theory of Mind tests based on 6-year-old Theory of mind skills. The two conditions are very similar in onset, effect, and so on. There was some Theory of Mind in both groups, but tested using a basic child�s test.The two conditions are very similar in onset, effect, and so on. There was some Theory of Mind in both groups, but tested using a basic child�s test.

15. Method and design The Eyes task, Strange Stories task and two control tasks were presented in random order to all subjects. Subjects were tested in a quiet room either at home, in clinic or in a laboratory. Independent design. Strange stories test and control tasks will be detailed later. Discuss need to present randomly.Strange stories test and control tasks will be detailed later. Discuss need to present randomly.

16. Independent and dependent variables Independent variables: autism Tourette�s Syndrome normal gender in normal group Dependent variables: correct identification of emotion correct identification of gender

17. Hypotheses Patients with Tourette�s Syndrome would be unimpaired on this advanced theory of mind test, but the subjects with autism or Asperger�s Syndrome would show a significant impairment on this test. Subjects who had difficulties when completing the Eyes task or Strange Stories task should also have difficulties when completing the other task. Normal females may be superior to normal males in emotion perception. These are the three questions being tested. What would students predict that the findings might be? These are the three questions being tested. What would students predict that the findings might be?

18. Eyes task Words were generated by the panel and tested. Each word was presented with a �foil� or opposite. e.g. serious vs playful The method of using the eyes only was chosen as no context/planning skills are required. This should ensure that the emotions offered a choice that is quite easily identified. As people with autism might find context difficult to cope with, method isolates one feature.This should ensure that the emotions offered a choice that is quite easily identified. As people with autism might find context difficult to cope with, method isolates one feature.

19. Strange Stories task This had already been linked to theory of mind (Joliffe 1997). It was carried out to validate Eyes task. It found that Tourette�s Syndrome group made no errors, autism/Asperger�s Syndrome group made a significant number of errors. This gives the Eyes task concurrent validity. In order to validate (concurrent validity) the Eyes task as a Theory of Mind task, subjects in the two clinical groups were also tested on Happ�s (1994a) Strange Stories. If the Eyes task was indeed tapping Theory of Mind, then performance on the Eyes task should correlate with performance on Happ�s Strange stories. On Happ�s Strange Stories, no subjects with TS made any errors, but the subjects with autism or AS made errors on this task, and were significantly impaired on this task, relative to controls.In order to validate (concurrent validity) the Eyes task as a Theory of Mind task, subjects in the two clinical groups were also tested on Happ�s (1994a) Strange Stories. If the Eyes task was indeed tapping Theory of Mind, then performance on the Eyes task should correlate with performance on Happ�s Strange stories. On Happ�s Strange Stories, no subjects with TS made any errors, but the subjects with autism or AS made errors on this task, and were significantly impaired on this task, relative to controls.

20. Control tasks Basic emotion recognition task looking at whole faces and judging emotions Gender recognition task looking at two sets of eyes and identifying gender On the two control tasks, there were no differences between the groups. (a) Gender Recognition Task: this involved looking at the same sets of eyes in the experimental task, but this time identifying the gender of person in each photograph. This is a social judgment without involving mind reading, and allowed us to check if any deficits on the Eyes task could be attributed to general deficits in face perception, perceptual discrimination, or social perception. This naturally had a maximum score of 25. (b) Basic Emotion Recognition Task: (Emotion Task): this involved judging photographs of whole faces displaying the basic emotions. This was to check whether any deficits on the Eyes task could be attributed to a deficit in basic emotion expression recognition. Six faces were used, testing the following basic emotions: happy, sad, angry, afraid, disgust, and surprise. The basic emotion recognition task gives information from the whole face, whereas the Eyes task only had information from the eyes alone. The fact that there are no difference between the groups shows that there are no deficits in emotion perception.(a) Gender Recognition Task: this involved looking at the same sets of eyes in the experimental task, but this time identifying the gender of person in each photograph.

21. Results for Eyes task Using Independent t test:- Difference between autism/Asperger�s Syndrome and normal isp = .0001 Difference between autism/Asperger�s Syndrome and Tourette�s Syndrome is p = .001 No significant difference between Tourette�s Syndrome and normal This slide shows the mean number of correct answers on the Eyes test out of a possible 25. This shows clearly that the autism/Asperger�s Syndrome group made more errors and when tested with t test the difference is significant. However, lack of Theory of Mind is not a feature of Tourette�s Syndrome as there is no significant difference in errors between the normal and Tourette�s Syndrome group.This slide shows the mean number of correct answers on the Eyes test out of a possible 25. This shows clearly that the autism/Asperger�s Syndrome group made more errors and when tested with t test the difference is significant. However, lack of Theory of Mind is not a feature of Tourette�s Syndrome as there is no significant difference in errors between the normal and Tourette�s Syndrome group.

22. Other results In normal groups, females performed significantly better than males. Comparing normal males with autism/Asperger�s Syndrome group, normal males performed significantly better. If 15/25 = chance results 8/16 Asperger�s Syndrome above chance 10/10 Tourette�s Syndrome above chance 50/50 Normal above chance This supported the hypothesis that males are worse at perceiving emotions than females. Even when compared with normal males, there are still significant more errors by autism group. By assuming chance would be 15/25 right, then Tourette�s Syndrome and normal all show better than chance, but only half of the autism/Asperger�s Syndrome group were better than chance. You have to ask about the ones who were better than chance. Not all people with autism showed Theory of Mind deficit, so can deficit be seen as core feature of autism?This supported the hypothesis that males are worse at perceiving emotions than females. Even when compared with normal males, there are still significant more errors by autism group. By assuming chance would be 15/25 right, then Tourette�s Syndrome and normal all show better than chance, but only half of the autism/Asperger�s Syndrome group were better than chance. You have to ask about the ones who were better than chance. Not all people with autism showed Theory of Mind deficit, so can deficit be seen as core feature of autism?

23. Conclusions Adults with autism/Asperger�s Syndrome were impaired on the Theory of Mind test. As only autism/Asperger�s Syndrome made errors on both the Eyes task and the Strange Stories task, this validates the Eyes task. Normal females better than normal males on Theory of Mind test. Intelligence is not linked with performance (some of the autism group had university degrees). This links with the hypotheses of the study from slide 12, plus the conclusion about IQ.This links with the hypotheses of the study from slide 12, plus the conclusion about IQ.