Au-sm. Repor-ng what fic-ve characters see, feel, think and say in narra-ves evidence from children with au-sm and typically developing children

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1 Repor-ng what fic-ve characters see, feel, think and say in narra-ves evidence from children with au-sm and typically developing children Elisabeth Engberg- Pedersen LaCPI seminar, April Au-sm Problems with social cogni-on harder to recognize emo-ons by facial expressions harder to pass false- belief tasks è Individuals with au-sm can be expected to pay less aoen-on to or have greater problems imagining what story characters perceive, feel, think, intend and say, and thus to talk less about these maoers when genera-ng a story 2 1

2 The main ques-on What characterizes narra-ves told by children with au-sm compared with typically developing children in the areas of communica-on, percep-on, emo-on, and thoughts and inten-ons, that is, mental states and ac-vi-es? 3 Overview 1. Par-cipants and procedure 2. The seman-c- pragma-c relevance index 3. Expressions of communica-on, percep-ons, emo-ons, and thoughts and inten-ons mental states and ac-vi-es 4. Conclusions 4 2

3 Par-cipants 27 children with au-sm (ASD), 23 male 30 typically developing children (TD), 16 male - matched on chronological age (10;6-13;6) vocabulary comprehension (PPVT) grammar comprehension (TROG- 2) nonverbal ability (Matrices/WNV) 5 Diagnoses Children with au-sm from special schools CCC- 2 (Bishop 2003): parents reports 20 children nega-ve values on the Index of Social Interac-on (ISI), iden-fied as having a communica-ve profile characteris-c of au-sm 3 children posi-ve, but low values on ISI 2 children a few answers were missing, no ISI 2 children no reports 6 3

4 False- belief tasks Unexpected loca-on ASD: 2 failed, 25 passed TD: 30 passed Unexpected content ASD: 1 failed, 26 passed TD: 1 failed, 29 passed 7 The story A story about a boy who goes fishing with his dog. In a pond he sees a frog. Afer several unsuccessful aoempts to catch the frog, also involving the dog in the hunt, the boy and the dog give up and go home. The frog follows their footsteps and arrives in the boy s bathroom where the boy is taking a bath with the dog. The frog joins them. 4

5 Procedure Leaf through the wordless picture book and tell the story to the experimenter while looking at the pictures The experimenter turned his/her back to the child so that I can beoer concentrate on listening to your story. 9 The seman-c- pragma-c relevance index Norbury, Gemmell & Paul uoerances : 1. There was a boy and a dog 2. at a pond. 3. Boy or boy and dog are going fishing or frog catching 4. with a net and a bucket 2 points if all the underlined elements 1 point if some of the underlines elements 10 5

6 Group comparison ASD TD: t(39.50) = 2.65, p = 0.012, r = 0.34 Seman-c- pragma-c relevance score (max. 66) ASD (n = 27) TD (n = 30) p 36.7 (SD 9.62) 42.2 (SD 5.30) range Background variables ASD only: posi-ve correla-on with vocabulary comprehension, r(25) = , p = No correla-on with the scores on the Index of Social Interac-on of CCC

7 The seman-c- pragma-c relevance index Norbury et al. (2014): ASD, LI and TD ² no difference between ASD and LI or TD ² matched on non- verbal ability, vocabulary, language fundamentals (CELF- 4) ² age range 6;6-15;8 ² less varia-on in the ASD group and more in the TD group ² lower means than in the LaCPI study No difference because of the age varia-on? 13 A similar seman-c index Norbury & Bishop (2003): four groups, including ASD and TD, a different picture book ² no group differences on the seman-c index ² ² ² substan-al within group varia-on ASD had significantly lower vocabulary and grammar comprehension ages

8 The LaCPI study More homogeneous age groups Matched on vocabulary and grammar comprehension Possibly greater isola-on of the sociocogni-ve difference? But no correla-on with the Index of Social Interac-on (CCC- 2) 15 Correla-on with vocabulary comprehension? Problems with finding words to describe the episodes? 5 ASD and 6 TD show problems of finding an appropriate word Unwillingness to par-cipate in the experiment? But then we would expect correla-on with all tests Some deeper link between low scores on vocabulary comprehension and problems with extrac-ng and/or genera-ng a coherent story? 16 8

9 Representa-ons of mental states and ac-vi-es Four main seman-c categories of mental states and acivi-es Communica-on Percep-ons Emo-ons Thoughts and inten-ons Within each: gramma-cal dis-nc-ons 17 Gramma-cal dis-nc-ons Non- clause- like drengen råber af frøen the boy is shou-ng at the frog Clause- like og han råber 0l frøen at den skal komme 0lbage and he shouts at the frog that it should come back så drengen beder hunden om at gå hen på den ene side af træet so the boy asks the dog to go to one side of the tree 18 9

10 Examples within the emo-ons category Non- clause- like og frøen ser meget sur ud and the frog looks very mad Clause- like og frøen er glad for at den kunne slippe væk and the frog is happy that it could get away 19 All examples and clause- like examples only No group difference when all expressions of communica-on, percep-ons, emo-ons, and thoughts and inten-ons are included. No clause- like en--es ASD: 6 out of 27 children TD: 1 out of 30 Fisher s Exact Probability test: p =

11 The four main seman-c categories Public: communica-on Non- public: percep-ons, emo-ons, thoughts and inten-ons 21 Communica-on preference index For each child, all instances of clause- like communica-on as a propor-on of all clause- like instances of communica-on, percep-ons, emo-ons, and thoughts and inten-ons the children with no clause- like en--es were lef out. ASD had stronger a significantly stronger preference for communica-on than TD. Mann- Whitney, U = 415, z = , p = 0.031, r = 0.31 ASD: mean 0.58 (SD 0.36) TD: mean 0.37 (SD 0.31) 22 11

12 Why so? Communica-on: public mental states and ac-vi-es What is perceived, the reasons for emo-ons, thoughts and inten-ons: non- public, can t be directly perceived by others, only inferred more or less intui-vely. 23 Communica-on for inten-ons and emo-ons TD: han vil række ud for at fange frøen for han vil jo gerne have frøen fange frøen ja, men frøen den hoppede bare væk he is about to reach out to catch the frog for he wants the frog catch the frog yes, but the frog just jumped away ASD: han siger kom så her {hur0gt, vred stemme}, men frøen siger kvæk. Drengen siger oj he says do come here {fast, in an angry voice}, but the frog says croak. The boy says oj 24 12

13 Direct and indirect speech Direct speech så siger drengen 0l hunden du går den vej - then the boy says to the dog you go that way Indirect speech drengen siger at hunden skal gå den ene vej - the boy says that the dog must go one way 25 Direct speech preference index For each child, all instances of direct speech as a propor-on of all instances of communica-on (direct speech + indirect speech) ASD had a significantly stronger preference for direct speech than TD. Mann- Whitney, U = 297, z = , p = 0.049, r =

14 When a child with au-sm - - wants to talk about the mental states and ac-vi-es of the characters in a story, (s)he tends to choose to talk about what the characters say rather than what they perceive, feel, think or intend and tends to choose the gramma-cal form of direct speech rather than indirect speech. 27 Why direct speech? Direct speech one perspec-ve, that of the original speaker (imita-on of the original speech act): så sagde drengen 0l hunden du går den vej - then the boy said to the dog you go that way Indirect speech two perspec-ves, the original speaker s ideas and the repor-ng speaker s choice of words: drengen sagde at hunden skulle gå den ene vej - the boy says that the dog must go one way è Indirect speech is more difficult to produce than direct speech because it combines two perspec-ves

15 Also direct speech about thoughts og nu tænker vist drengen nok det var dråben. nu vil jeg hellere have fang- nu vil jeg fange den frø her and now the boy is probably thinking that was the last straw. now I d rather have cau- now I ll catch that frog here og nu tænker vist drengen nok at det er for meget, og at han så/nu? vil fange frøen and now the boy is probably thinking that that is too much, and that he will catch the frog then/now? 29 Alterna-ve explana-on Children s books have much direct speech. ASD tend to imitate the style found in children s books to a higher extent than TD? 30 15

16 Conclusions ASD compared TD matched for chronological and mental age and for vocabulary and grammar comprehension men-oned significantly fewer relevant elements of the story (the seman-c- pragma-c relevance index) and the seman-c- pragma-c relevance scores correlated with the scores on vocabulary comprehension for ASD only. 31 Significantly more ASD than TD had no clausal- like representa-ons of mental states and ac-vi-es. The ASD that used clause- like representa-ons of mental states and ac-vi-es had a significantly stronger preference for communica-on, i.e. for public representa-ons of mental states, than for represen-ng inner experiences of emo-ons and percep-ons, and thoughts and inten-ons. The ASD who used reported speech had a significantly stronger preference for direct speech than indirect speech, which require the combina-on of two perspec-ves in one clause

17 33 Chronological age (months) ASD (n = 27) TD (n = 30) p (8.14) (8.69) 0.51 range Vocabulary comprehension (PPVT) (12.31) (13.59) 0.58 range Grammar comprehension (TROG- 2) 101 (13.23) (9.81) 0.79 range Nonverbal ability (Matrices/WNV) (9.60) (10.60) 0.35 range

18 The seman-c- pragma-c relevance index 33 episodes ² 8 about emo-ons ² ² 4 about inten-ons 2 about communica-on, one of them of an emo-onal type Are the low scores due to problems with expressing communica-on, emo-ons and inten-ons? 35 18