Dataset Information

Assessing Theory of Mind by Humor: The Humor Comprehension and Appreciation Test (ToM-HCAT).

ABSTRACT: Theory of Mind (ToM) may be defined as the ability to understand the mental states, such as beliefs, desires, intentions, and emotions, of others. Impairment of ToM ability leads to disorders with pathologies in social skills, such as autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. In addition to differences in ToM ability among patient populations, there is variation between neurotypical individuals. Unfortunately, ToM tasks are usually developed for children or patients with cognitive disorders and cannot detect variations in healthy adults. As an alternative tool, humor may be used. Humor plays a role in social communication and requires many different cognitive functions. Humor is believed to represent complex high-order cognitive processes. There are numerous types of humor; the most complex type is considered ToM humor, where an understanding of social/emotional content is necessary. Given the need for a ToM assessment test suitable for healthy adult populations, we developed a test for measuring humor comprehension and appreciation, with and without ToM content (ToM-HCAT). The present ToM-HCAT test is a performance test consisting of cartoons. The test measures perceived funniness, reaction time to perceived funniness decision, and meaning inference. Cartoons were selected after pilot studies involving 44 participants. Subscales were constituted according to expert views and confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis (N = 135). Goodness of fit values for the final 35-item test were acceptable to excellent: GFI = 0.97; AGFI = 0.97; NFI = 0.97; RFI = 0.97, and SRMR = 0.067. Both categories were internally consistent (α1 = 0.84, α2 = 0.94). External validity was assessed against autistic traits. One hundred and three participants completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient and were grouped by +0.5 standard deviations from the mean as high in autistic traits. The meaning-inference scores of the subscale with the ToM cartoons were significantly lower (p = 0.034) for the high autistic traits group, providing evidence of external validity. In conclusion, we developed and validated a test for assessment of ToM by humor comprehension and appreciation. We believe that the present test will be useful for the detection of variations in ToM ability in the healthy adult population.

SUBMITTER: Aykan S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6099116 | biostudies-other | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Assessing Theory of Mind by Humor: The Humor Comprehension and Appreciation Test (ToM-HCAT).

Aykan Simge S Nalçacı Erhan E

Frontiers in psychology 20180813

Theory of Mind (ToM) may be defined as the ability to understand the mental states, such as beliefs, desires, intentions, and emotions, of others. Impairment of ToM ability leads to disorders with pathologies in social skills, such as autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. In addition to differences in ToM ability among patient populations, there is variation between neurotypical individuals. Unfortunately, ToM tasks are usually developed for children or patients with cognitive disorders an ...[more]

PMID: 30150962

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Project description:BackgroundChildren with epilepsy have significant social impairments, yet evidence-based interventions to address these social difficulties are lacking. Emerging research has shown that social difficulties in children with epilepsy relate to underlying impairments in Theory of Mind (ToM). This paper outlines the protocol for a pilot study that will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a novel cognitive behavioural intervention with ToM training for children with epilepsy.MethodsThe intervention will be evaluated in a single-arm case series feasibility study. Ten to 12 children with common forms of epilepsy (8 to 12 years old) will be recruited to participate in 4 small group workshops, held over 4 consecutive weeks. Parents will attend a brief review at the end of each session with their child. Children will complete 4 one-to-one assessments with an investigator assessing ToM and social competence: twice at baseline (4 weeks and 1 day before the intervention), at post-intervention (last day of the intervention) and at follow-up (4 weeks post intervention). Parents will complete online questionnaires at these same 4 time points assessing ToM and social competence of their child. Parents and children will both complete a weekly measure of social competence from baseline 1 to follow-up. Following completion of the intervention, parents will complete two standardised questionnaires assessing treatment acceptability and barriers and facilitators to attendance; children will complete a single questionnaire on treatment acceptability. Information about feasibility outcomes (i.e. recruitment and retention, processing time, suitability of tasks) will be gathered by investigators during the trial. Together, outcomes will be used to refine research methods and make a decision about whether the intervention should be evaluated in a larger scale trial.DiscussionTo our knowledge, this is the first psychosocial intervention to address social competence problems in children with epilepsy. Findings will provide information about a potentially effective treatment that could improve longer term social outcomes for this group.Trial registrationAustralia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register (ANZCTR): ACTRN12618000974202, registered June 8 2018.

Project description:Background: Several meta-analyses highlight pronounced problems in general Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to infer other persons' mental states, in patients with psychosis in comparison to non-clinical controls. In addition, first studies suggest associations between Hyper-ToM, an exaggerated inference of mental states to others, and delusions. Research on different ToM subtypes (Cognitive ToM, Affective ToM, and Hyper-ToM) and symptom clusters of psychosis (positive, negative, and disorganized symptoms) have gathered conflicting findings. Thus, the present study examined group differences between patients with psychosis and non-clinical controls concerning Cognitive ToM/Affective ToM and Hyper-ToM. Further, the association between ToM subtypes and symptom clusters (positive, negative, and disorganized symptoms) were examined. Methods: Patients with psychotic disorders (n = 64, 1/3 with present delusions indicated by a minimum score of four in the PANSS P1 item) and non-clinical controls (n = 21) were examined with assessments of Cognitive ToM and Affective ToM abilities and Hyper-ToM errors using the Frith-Happé animations. Psychopathology was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Results: Patients with psychosis presented more pronounced problems in Cognitive and Affective ToM in comparison to non-clinical controls, whereas there were no group differences with regard to Hyper-ToM errors. Furthermore, deficits in Cognitive ToM were associated with general delusions, whereas problems in Affective ToM were associated with negative and disorganized symptoms. In addition, there was no association between Hyper-ToM errors and any symptoms when controlling for years of education. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that deficits in ToM subtypes might not be directly related to delusions and positive symptoms and are in line with more recently developed cognitive models of delusions. In addition, our results support the well-established finding of associations between ToM alterations and negative or disorganized symptoms. Our results shed light on the role of different dimensions of ToM in specific symptoms of psychosis.

Dataset Information

Assessing Theory of Mind by Humor: The Humor Comprehension and Appreciation Test (ToM-HCAT).

Publications

Assessing Theory of Mind by Humor: The Humor Comprehension and Appreciation Test (ToM-HCAT).

Similar Datasets

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