19534
Age-Related Improvements in Mind-Reading but Not Parent Reported Empathy in Autism Spectrum Disorders
The Mindblindness theory (Baron-Cohen, 1995) of Autism proposes that individuals with autism are deficit in the normal process of empathizing, relative to mental age. Empathizing has been used as a term to encompass the terms ‘theory of mind’, ‘mind-reading’, ‘and ‘metalizing’. Empathizing involves the (1) ability to attribute mental states (emotions) to oneself and others (theory of mind) (2) to have a response that is appropriate to other person’s mental states. Few studies have examined age-related changes in the empathizing capacities in individuals with autism.
Objectives:
The goals of the present study were to (1) examine the ability to attribute mental states (2) study the empathizing capacities and (3) to investigate whether there are any age-related changes in mind-reading and empathizing capacities in individuals with autism in comparison to typically developing controls.
Methods:
In this study, children with High Functioning Autism (N=28) aged 8-16 years were compared with age and IQ matched typically developing controls (N=28) on the Children ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Task (Eyes Task; Baron-Cohen, 2001) and on the Empathy and Empathy Quotient- Children’s Version (EQ-C; Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright, 2004).
Results:
A two-way ANOVA (group by age) analysis for the total correct for eyes task and ratings on EQ-C were conducted. Both the variables showed significant group effects however; only the Eyes task also showed significant age effects in addition the group effects. Interaction of group and age were non-significant for both the tests. Post hoc comparisons showed significant differences were found in performance on the Eyes task. That is, attribution of mental states was found to be better in older children in comparison to the younger for both HFA and TD groups. No significant differences were found in the reported empathizing capacities of younger and older subgroups for both the groups. Careful comparison of the sample characteristics (gender, verbal IQ, non-verbal IQ) of younger and older HFA groups did not indicate differential sampling.
Conclusions:
Consistent with the ‘Mindblindness’ theory of ASD, empathizing impairments have been found in autism. Even though no differences have been found in the parent-reported empathy of younger and older children with autism, an increase in accuracy of attribution of mental states observed in older children are suggestive of age-related improvements in the ability to attribute mental states. Since, attribution of emotions is one of the aspects of empathizing, it is interesting to note that improvement in attribution of mental states does not accompany improvement in reported empathy. The findings suggest that children with HFA are slow to develop “mind-reading” skills. The findings observed throw light on the difference between performance on a neuropsychological test and everyday functioning in individuals with Autism.