Do adults with autism have a specific difficulty reading complex mental states from the eyes?
Contemporary study: Baron-Cohen et al. (1997), Another advanced test of theory of mind (the Eyes Task). Aim, method, results and conclusions, evaluation, and links to the individual differences area and Freud.
An OCR A-Level Psychology answer to the contemporary individual differences study, Baron-Cohen et al. (1997) Eyes Task. Covers the aim, the quasi-experiment comparing autism, Tourette and control groups, the theory-of-mind findings, evaluation, real-world application, and links to Freud and the individual differences area.
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What this dot point is asking
Baron-Cohen et al. (1997) is the contemporary study in the individual differences area for the theme "understanding disorders", paired with Freud. You must know its aim, method, results and conclusions, evaluate it, and explain what it adds to the individual differences area and how it compares with Freud.
The answer
Aim and method
Results and conclusions
Evaluation
- Objectivity. The standardised, quantitative Eyes Task is objective and replicable.
- Controls. A Tourette clinical control plus a typical control isolate the effect to autism, and the gender task rules out a general perceptual problem, strengthening validity.
- Sample. The autism sample was small (16), limiting generalisability.
- Ecological validity. A forced choice between two words may not reflect real social understanding.
- Measurement. The test was later revised (2001), suggesting the original had limitations.
Examples in context
Example 1. Why this study fits the individual differences area. The individual differences area studies how people differ, including in cognition and clinical conditions. Baron-Cohen measures a specific difference (theory of mind) between adults with autism and others, explaining an aspect of the condition. This focus on a measurable difference between groups places it firmly in the individual differences area.
Example 2. The contrast with Freud. Freud used a subjective, in-depth case study of one child interpreted through unfalsifiable theory; Baron-Cohen uses an objective, standardised test with clinical and typical control groups. Comparing them shows how the study of disorders moved from interpretation to measurement, the classic-contemporary comparison the exam asks for, and lets you contrast falsifiable and unfalsifiable approaches.
Try this
Q1. Name the task used by Baron-Cohen et al. [1 mark]
- Cue. The Reading the Mind in the Eyes task (judging mental states from photographs of the eye region).
Q2. State how the autism group performed compared with the controls on the Eyes Task. [2 marks]
- Cue. The autism/Asperger group scored significantly lower (about 16.3 out of 25) than the typical controls (about 20.3) and the Tourette group (about 20.4).
Q3. Explain what the inclusion of a Tourette control group adds. [3 marks]
- Cue. Tourette is a clinical condition matched on age and IQ; if the Tourette group scored normally, the Eyes Task deficit is specific to autism rather than a result of having any disorder, strengthening the validity of the conclusion.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR 202010 marksDescribe the method and results of Baron-Cohen et al.'s (1997) Eyes Task study. [10 marks]Show worked answer →
A description item testing method and results (AO1).
Method: a quasi-experiment comparing three groups: 16 high-functioning adults with autism or Asperger syndrome, 50 typical (general population) controls, and 10 adults with Tourette syndrome (a matched clinical control group of similar age and IQ). Participants completed the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" task: 25 black-and-white photographs of the eye region, each presented with two mental-state words (for example "concerned" versus "unconcerned"), choosing which best described what the person was thinking or feeling. They also did control tasks (recognising gender from the eyes, and basic emotion recognition).
Results: the autism/Asperger group scored significantly lower on the Eyes Task (a mean of about out of ) than the controls (about ) and the Tourette group (about ), but performed normally on the gender-recognition control task. Within groups, females tended to score slightly higher than males.
Markers reward the quasi-experimental three-group design (autism, control, Tourette), the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task with the control tasks, and the key results (autism group lower on the Eyes Task but not the control task).
OCR 202212 marksDiscuss what Baron-Cohen et al.'s (1997) study tells us about theory of mind in autism, including its strengths and weaknesses. [12 marks]Show worked answer →
Tests interpretation plus evaluation (AO1 and AO3).
What it tells us: adults with autism or Asperger syndrome have a specific difficulty inferring complex mental states from the eyes (an impaired "theory of mind"), even when intelligence is high and basic perception is intact, because they were impaired on the Eyes Task but not the gender-recognition control. This supports the idea that autism involves a particular social-cognitive deficit rather than a general intellectual one.
Strengths: the standardised, quantitative Eyes Task is objective and replicable; using a Tourette clinical control plus a typical control isolates the effect to autism rather than to having any disorder; and the control tasks rule out a general perceptual problem, strengthening validity.
Weaknesses: the autism sample was small (16), limiting generalisability; choosing between two words is a forced-choice task that may not reflect real-life social understanding (ecological validity); and the test was later refined (the 2001 revised version), suggesting the original had measurement limitations.
A strong answer concludes that the study gives strong, controlled evidence for a specific theory-of-mind deficit in autism with useful applications, but the small sample and artificial task qualify it. Markers reward the theory-of-mind interpretation plus balanced evaluation.
Related dot points
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An OCR A-Level Psychology answer to the contemporary biological study, Casey et al. (2011) on the neural correlates of delay of gratification. Covers the aim, the longitudinal follow-up of Mischel's marshmallow participants, the go/no-go task and fMRI, the prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum findings, evaluation, and links to Sperry and the biological area.
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Sources & how we know this
- OCR Level 3 Advanced GCE in Psychology (H567) specification — OCR (2015)