Eigsti Inge-Marie, Irvine Christina A
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut.
Lang Acquis. 2021;28(2):195-213. doi: 10.1080/10489223.2021.1877705. Epub 2021 Feb 1.
This study tests the role of verbal mediation during theory of mind processing in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Adolescents with ASD or typical development completed a false belief task while simultaneously performing a verbal or nonverbal load task. There was no group difference in false belief ; however, under verbal load, the ASD group was relatively less , with slower reaction times, in false belief compared to true belief trials. Faster false belief task performance under verbal but not nonverbal load was associated with pragmatic language ability for the ASD group only. Results were consistent with the theory that there are two (implicit, nonverbal and explicit, verbal) processes that support cognitive reasoning about other people's minds (Apperly & Butterfill, 2009), and that people with ASD rely more on the explicit system. Verbal mediation may be critical for false belief understanding in individuals with ASD, but not typical development.
本研究测试了言语中介在自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）心理理论加工过程中的作用。患有ASD或发育正常的青少年完成了一项错误信念任务，同时执行言语或非言语负荷任务。在错误信念方面没有组间差异；然而，在言语负荷下，与真实信念试验相比，ASD组在错误信念方面相对较差，反应时间较慢。仅对于ASD组而言，言语而非非言语负荷下更快的错误信念任务表现与语用语言能力相关。结果与以下理论一致：存在两种（隐性、非言语和显性、言语）过程支持对他人心理的认知推理（阿珀利和巴特菲尔，2009），并且患有ASD的人更多地依赖显性系统。言语中介对于患有ASD的个体理解错误信念可能至关重要，但对于发育正常的个体则不然。
