R Asaad Baksh1,2,3, Sharon Abrahams2,3, Maya Bertlich2, Rebecca Cameron2, Sharon Jany2, Terin Dorrian2, Simon Baron-Cohen4, Carrie Allison4, Paula Smith4, Sarah E MacPherson2,3, Bonnie Auyeung2,4. 1. Centre for Dementia Prevention, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. 2. Human Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Philosophy, Psychology, and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. 3. Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology (CCACE), University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. 4. Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Abstract
Objective: Many existing tests of social cognition are not appropriate for clinical use, due to their length, complexity or uncertainty in what they are assessing. The Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT) is a new test of social cognition that assesses affective and cognitive Theory of Mind as well as inter- and intrapersonal understanding of social norms using animated interactions.Method: To support the development of the ESCoT as a clinical tool, we derived cut-off scores from a neurotypical population (n = 236) and sought to validate the ESCoT in a sample of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; n = 19) adults and neurotypical controls (NC; n = 38) matched on age and education. The ESCoT was administered alongside established tests and questionnaire measures of ASD, empathy, systemizing traits and intelligence. Results: Performance on the subtests of the ESCoT and ESCoT total scores correlated with performance on traditional tests, demonstrating convergent validity. ASD adults performed poorer on all measures of social cognition. Unlike the ESCoT, performance on the established tests was predicted by verbal comprehension abilities. Using a ROC curve analysis, we showed that the ESCoT was more effective than existing tests at differentiating ASD adults from NC. Furthermore, a total of 42.11% of ASD adults were impaired on the ESCoT compared to 0% of NC adults.Conclusions: Overall these results demonstrate that the ESCoT is a useful test for clinical assessment and can aid in the detection of potential difficulties in ToM and social norm understanding.
Objective: Many existing tests of social cognition are not appropriate for clinical use, due to their length, complexity or uncertainty in what they are assessing. The Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT) is a new test of social cognition that assesses affective and cognitive Theory of Mind as well as inter- and intrapersonal understanding of social norms using animated interactions.Method: To support the development of the ESCoT as a clinical tool, we derived cut-off scores from a neurotypical population (n = 236) and sought to validate the ESCoT in a sample of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; n = 19) adults and neurotypical controls (NC; n = 38) matched on age and education. The ESCoT was administered alongside established tests and questionnaire measures of ASD, empathy, systemizing traits and intelligence. Results: Performance on the subtests of the ESCoT and ESCoT total scores correlated with performance on traditional tests, demonstrating convergent validity. ASD adults performed poorer on all measures of social cognition. Unlike the ESCoT, performance on the established tests was predicted by verbal comprehension abilities. Using a ROC curve analysis, we showed that the ESCoT was more effective than existing tests at differentiating ASD adults from NC. Furthermore, a total of 42.11% of ASD adults were impaired on the ESCoT compared to 0% of NC adults.Conclusions: Overall these results demonstrate that the ESCoT is a useful test for clinical assessment and can aid in the detection of potential difficulties in ToM and social norm understanding.
Entities:
Keywords:
Autism Spectrum Disorder; Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT); social cognition; theory of mind; understanding social norms
Authors: Suma Jacob; Evdokia Anagnostou; Eric Hollander; Roger Jou; Nora McNamara; Linmarie Sikich; Russell Tobe; Declan Murphy; James McCracken; Elizabeth Ashford; Christopher Chatham; Susanne Clinch; Janice Smith; Kevin Sanders; Lorraine Murtagh; Jana Noeldeke; Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele Journal: Mol Autism Date: 2022-06-11 Impact factor: 6.476