1. Inter-correlation of
Social Cognition Measures
for Adults
with Asperger Syndrome
Fleur-Michelle Coiffait Dr Dougal Julian Hare
School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester
Dr Rhiannon Corcoran
Institute of Neuroscience, University of Nottingham
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Monday, 14 May 2012

2. Overview
• Social cognition and impaired Theory of
Mind in psychosis and Asperger syndrome
• Measurement and validity issues
• Method and results of current study
• Limitations
• Clinical implications
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3. Social Cognition
• Thinking about and making sense other
people’s behaviour, thoughts and actions
• Theory of Mind [ToM]
• Mentalisation, meta-representation,
perspective taking, reasoning
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4. So What?
• Impaired social interaction one of the core
features of autistic spectrum disorders
(Wing, 1979)
• One of the most debilitating features of
ASD (Bowler, 2007)
• Also a feature of psychosis
• Chris Frith (1992) posits that the underlying
cognitive deficits in both are similar
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5. Social Cognition in Psychosis
• Corcoran, Frith and colleagues have
highlighted ToM deficits in individuals
experiencing acute psychotic episodes
• A battery of measures have been
developed by Corcoran and colleagues
that focus on several aspects of ToM
• These have consistently highlighted
transient social cognitive deficits in this
clinical group
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6. Social Cognitive Theory of Psychosis
• Paranoid delusions, thought disorder and
negative symptoms thought to arise from a
difficulty representing one’s own and
others’ thoughts (Frith, 1992).
• Evidence that those in remission do not
exhibit social cognitive deficits (Corcoran,
Cahill, & Frith, 1997).
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7. Corcoran’s (2000; 2001)
Account of Mentalisation
• Based upon a series of studies that support
Frith’s (1992) claim that ToM impairments
underlie some psychotic features
• Autobiographical information retrieved,
conditional reasoning assesses similarities
and differences between current and
recalled situations
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8. How is this relevant to Asperger
Syndrome?
• Corcoran and Frith (2003) suggest that
those with difficulties in social functioning
(e.g. people with psychosis or on the
autistic spectrum) rely upon general
cognitive skills to draw inferences about
others’ mental states.
• Frith (1992) suggests that the similarities
merit further exploration
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9. Measuring Social Cognition
• Measures employed by Corcoran and
colleagues highlighted social cognition
deficits in adults with psychosis (Corcoran,
1999; 2003; Corcoran et al., 1995; 1997;
Corcoran & Frith, 2005).
• Although high ecological and face validity,
external and concurrent validity of
measures not yet been explored.
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10. Aims of the Study
• To determine the validity of the measures
within a different clinical population: adults
with Asperger syndrome
• To compare performances of adults with
Asperger syndrome with neurotypical
adults
• To explore the concurrent validity of the
measures
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11. Method
• Mixed design employing both within-group
and between-group comparisons
• AS group: recruited via non-NHS local
voluntary support services (N= 12, 11
males and 1 female)
• NT group: NAS staff and acquaintances
(N= 36, 23 males and 13 females)
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12. Social Cognition Measures
• Battery of measures administered via
interview or in online, web-based format:
- ToM Jokes (plus slapstick jokes)
- Hints Task (plus control task)
- PET Mets (plus control task)
- Thematic Reasoning Task
- Projective Imagination Task
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13. ToM and Slapstick Jokes
Corcoran, Cahill and Frith (1997)
• Idea that an understanding of the intention
of the person who generated a joke is
needed in order to appreciate humour
• Two different types of cartoon jokes:
(1)ToM jokes based on characters’
thoughts/intentions/behaviour
(2)Slapstick jokes based on physical/
concrete properties of the situations
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14. Example of ToM Joke
“Can you explain to me what is
happening in this picture?”
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15. Hints Task and Aha Control Task
Corcoran, Mercer and Frith (1995)
• Understanding hints requires the ability to
infer what the person really means
• E.g. “Its really hot in here.”
• The control task involved identifying an
object or animal from indirect information
• E.g. “The antelope ran away when it saw
the spots move.”
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16. PET Mets and Control Task
Corcoran (1999)
• Originally developed for PET study of
metaphor comprehension vs. literal
sentence comprehension
• Short statements given and plausibility
judged, e.g.
“This job is a jail.” (plausible metaphor)
“The man used stones as paperweights.”
(plausible literal statement)
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17. Thematic Reasoning Task
Corcoran and Frith (2005)
• Developed from principles of the Wason
(1966) Selection Task (e.g. “if p..., q...”)
• Four vignettes with rule to be checked:
• (1) Social Familiar
• (2) Non-Social Familiar
• (3) Social Unfamiliar
• (4) Non-Social Unfamiliar
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18. Projective Imagination Test [PIT]
Blackshaw et al. (2001)
• Four ambiguous pictured scenarios
• Uncued responses elicited by asking:
“What is happening in this picture?”
• Cued responses then elicited by asking:
“What do you think they might be thinking
or feeling?”
• Focus on no. mental states generated
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19. Example of PIT Item
“What is happening in
this picture?
Please describe, in your
own words, what you
think might be the story
depicted in this
drawing.” [uncued]
“What do you think the
woman might be thinking
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20. Results
Significant Between Group Differences
Hints Task U = 18.5 **
Aha Sentences U = 20.0 *
ToM Jokes U = 17.5 **
Physical Jokes U = 22.5 *
Metaphors Task U = 74.0 ***
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* p < 0.05 ** p < 0.01 *** p < 0.005
Monday, 14 May 2012

21. Results
% of Each Group Giving Correct
Answers on Thematic Reasoning Items
Non-social Non-social Social Social
Unfamiliar Familiar Unfamiliar Familiar
NT Group 46.7 60 73.3 80
AS Group 66.7 50 50 50
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22. Results
Significant Correlational Relationships
NT Group:
• All four thematic reasoning domains
correlated with one another
• Cued and uncued domains of PIT
correlated with one another
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23. Results
Significant Correlational Relationships
AS Group:
• Thematic reasoning domains correlated
• PIT cued responses negatively associated
with non-social thematic reasoning
responses
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24. Discussion
• Hints task, ToM jokes (plus corresponding
control tests) and metaphors task
differentiated both groups
• As no difference expected on control tasks,
are cognitive task demands differentiating
due to executive function deficits?
• Negative relationships emerged between
cued PIT and non-social reasoning in AS
group
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25. Limitations
• Small sample size, unequal groups
• No measure of ability, although this is next
stage of data collection
• Groups not matched
• PIT responses were not second coded, this
is ongoing
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Monday, 14 May 2012

26. Clinical Implications
• Underlines the subtlety of the difficulties
experienced by adults with AS
• Difficulties with indirect language
• Suggests possible alternative strategies for
understanding social information (e.g.
cueing in social situations)
• Need for measures with greater sensitivity
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27. Fleur.M.Coiffait@student.manchester.ac.uk
Dougal.Hare@manchester.ac.uk
Combining the strengths of UMIST and
The Victoria University of Manchester
Monday, 14 May 2012