Theory of mind abilities in young siblings of children with autism

Michal Shaked, Ifat Gamliel, Nurit Yirmiya*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Deficits in theory of mind (ToM), evident in most individuals with autism, have been suggested as a core deficit of autism. ToM difficulties in young siblings of children with autism (SIBS-A) compared to siblings of typically developing children (SIBS-TD) would place the former within the broad phenotype. We examined ToM's possible associations with measures of language, cognition, and daily living skills. Participants comprised 24 SIBS-A and 24 matched SIBSTD aged 4.6 years. They completed the false belief and the strange stories tasks. We also collected measures of verbal and cognitive ability and daily living skills. Non-significant differences emerged between the groups on both ToM tasks. Differences did emerge in within-group associations between ToM ability and receptive language. The conclusion is that SIBS-A show resilience in ToM abilities. Possibly, these deficits are not genetically transferred to siblings, at least as measured in laboratory-based ToM tasks.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)173-187
Number of pages15
JournalAutism
Volume10
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2006

Keywords

  • Autism
  • Broad phenotype
  • Cognition
  • Daily living skills
  • Language
  • Siblings
  • Theory of mind

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Theory of mind abilities in young siblings of children with autism'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this