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Theory of Mind in Williams Syndrome Assessed Using a Nonverbal Task

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Abstract

This study examined Theory of Mind in Williams syndrome (WS) and in normal chronological age-matched and mental age-matched control groups, using a picture sequencing task. This task assesses understanding of pretence, intention and false belief, while controlling for social-script knowledge and physical cause-and-effect reasoning. The task was selected because it is entirely non-verbal, so that the WS individuals could not rely on their good verbal skills when performing the task. Results indicated a specific deficit in understanding of false belief within the WS group. There was also evidence of heterogeneity in the WS group, with the false belief impairment restricted to only a particular subgroup of WS individuals identified originally by Porter, M., & Coltheart, M. (2005). Cognitive heterogeneity in Williams syndrome. Developmental Neuropsychology, 27(2), 275–306.

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Notes

  1. According to Tager-Flusberg (1999), people with PWS are characterized by salient food-related characteristics including hyperphagia (overeating) and assiduous food seeking behaviors. PWS involves either a deletion on chromosome 15 derived from the father or maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 15. Physical features are apparent including facial features, short stature, and small hands and feet. People with PWS typically show higher intelligence than that seen in other genetic disorders, with a mean IQ around 70. There is a hint of uneven academic performance within PWS with strengths in reading and a weakness in arithmetic. There is no universal PWS cognitive profile, though cognitively some authors suggest strengths in spatial-perceptual organization and visual processing and a weakness in short term memory.

  2. The change in location task runs as follows: Participant (P) is shown two boxes. Experimenter 1 (E1) hides an object in Box A, Experimenter 2 (E2) leaves the room, E1 moves object to Box B and asks P three questions: “When E2 comes back where will E2 look for the object?”, “Where is the object really?”, and “Where does E2 think it is?”. The change in contents task runs as follows: P is shown a packet of M & Ms (or a local equivalent) and asked what is inside. Most Ps give the reply: “M & Ms.”. E1 then shows P that this packet does not actually contain M & Ms, but small pencils. P is then asked what another child, a classmate, who has not yet seen the contents, will reply when shown the packet. P’s task is (1) to differentiate between the mental representation she or he has of the actual contents of the packet (pencils) and the mental representation that the other child will have of its contents as a result of expectancies from world knowledge (M & Ms), and (2) to predict that the other child’s response will be based on her or his mental state (what she or he thinks it contains) and not on the actual contents known to P.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by an Ian Scott Fellowship from the Australian Rotary Health Research Fund, Sydney, NSW, Australia awarded to Melanie Porter. Special thanks are due to the participants in the study and their families.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

    Melanie A. Porter, Max Coltheart & Robyn Langdon

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  1. Melanie A. Porter
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  2. Max Coltheart
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  3. Robyn Langdon
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Correspondence to Melanie A. Porter.

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Porter, M.A., Coltheart, M. & Langdon, R. Theory of Mind in Williams Syndrome Assessed Using a Nonverbal Task . J Autism Dev Disord 38, 806–814 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0447-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0447-4

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