Dept. of Linguistics, University of Aarhus, Bygning 1410, Bartholins Allé, 16, 3. 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
Brain Lang. 2010 May;113(2):65-72. doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2010.01.009. Epub 2010 Feb 25.
Why do people with right hemisphere damage (RHD) have difficulty with pragmatics and communication? One hypothesis has been that pragmatic impairment in RHD is the result of an underlying impairment in Theory of Mind (ToM): the ability to infer the mental states of others. In previous studies evaluating ToM abilities in people with RHD, researchers have used judgment tasks based on story or still cartoon stimuli. However, ToM is likely to draw on kinetic information as well, and these tasks ignore this aspect. The aim of this study was to assess ToM abilities in people with RHD using participants' evaluations of animated films with moving geometric shapes. Participants were presented with eight films of animated triangles. Four of the films represented the triangles as intentional agents with mental states, while the other four represented the triangles as simply inanimate, though moving, objects. Films were evaluated by both button-press response and by oral descriptions. Analysis of the transcriptions revealed that participants with RHD had a reduced ability to discriminate between the film categories, and a bias toward reduced mental-state ascription in the ToM condition.
为什么右脑损伤（RHD）的人在语用学和交流方面有困难？有一种假设认为，RHD 中的语用障碍是心理理论（ToM）的潜在损伤的结果：推断他人心理状态的能力。在之前评估 RHD 患者 ToM 能力的研究中，研究人员使用了基于故事或静态卡通刺激的判断任务。然而，ToM 可能也会利用运动信息，而这些任务忽略了这一方面。本研究旨在使用参与者对具有移动几何形状的动画电影的评估来评估 RHD 患者的 ToM 能力。参与者观看了八段动画三角形的电影。其中四个电影将三角形表现为具有心理状态的有意主体，而另外四个电影则将三角形表现为简单的无生命的、尽管在移动的物体。参与者通过按钮响应和口头描述进行了电影评估。对转录本的分析表明，RHD 患者在区分电影类别方面的能力下降，并且在 ToM 条件下，对心理状态的归因减少。
