Role of Two Types of Syntactic Embedding in Belief Attribution in Adults with or without Asperger Syndrome
The role of syntax in belief attribution (BA) is not completely understood in healthy adults and understudied in adults with autism spectrum disorder. Embedded syntax could be useful either for the development of Theory of Mind (ToM) (Emergence account) or more generally over the lifespan (Reasoning...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00743/full |
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| author | Morgane Clémentine Burnel Morgane Clémentine Burnel Marcela Perrone-Bertolotti Stephanie Durrleman Anne C. Reboul Monica Baciu |
| author_facet | Morgane Clémentine Burnel Morgane Clémentine Burnel Marcela Perrone-Bertolotti Stephanie Durrleman Anne C. Reboul Monica Baciu |
| author_sort | Morgane Clémentine Burnel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The role of syntax in belief attribution (BA) is not completely understood in healthy adults and understudied in adults with autism spectrum disorder. Embedded syntax could be useful either for the development of Theory of Mind (ToM) (Emergence account) or more generally over the lifespan (Reasoning account). Two hypotheses have been explored, one suggesting that embedding itself (Relatives and Complement sentences and Metarepresentation account) is important for ToM and another one considering that the embedding of a false proposition into a true one (Complement sentences and Misrepresentation account) is important. The goals of this study were to evaluate (1) the role of syntax in ToM (Emergence vs. Reasoning account), (2) the type of syntax implied in ToM (Metarepresentation vs. Misrepresentation account), and (3) the verbally mediated strategies which compensate for ToM deficits in adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS). Fifty NeuroTypical (NT) adults and 22 adults with AS were involved in a forced-choice task including ±ToM tasks (BA and a control task, physical causation, PC) under four Interference conditions (silence, syllable repetition, relative sentences repetition, and complement sentences repetition). The non-significant ±ToM × Interference interaction effect in the NT group did not support the Reasoning account and thus suggests that syntax is useful only for ToM development (i.e., Emergence account). Results also indicated that repeating complement clauses put NT participants in a dual task whereas repeating relative clauses did not, suggesting that repeating relatives is easier for NT than repeating complements. This could be an argument in favor of the Misrepresentation account. However, this result should be interpreted with caution because our results did not support the Reasoning account. Moreover, AS participants (but not NT participants) were more disrupted by ±ToM tasks when asked to repeat complement sentences compared to relative clause sentences. This result is in favor of the Misrepresentation account and indirectly suggests verbally mediated strategies for ToM in AS. To summarize, our results are in favor of the Emergence account in NT and of Reasoning and Misrepresentation accounts in adults with AS. Overall, this suggests that adults with AS use complement syntax to compensate for ToM deficits. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:05:41Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:05:41Z |
| publishDate | 2017-05-01 |
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| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-2fc3f4eb694642728fec7742ad2d0e212022-12-22T03:32:01ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782017-05-01810.3389/fpsyg.2017.00743246453Role of Two Types of Syntactic Embedding in Belief Attribution in Adults with or without Asperger SyndromeMorgane Clémentine Burnel0Morgane Clémentine Burnel1Marcela Perrone-Bertolotti2Stephanie Durrleman3Anne C. Reboul4Monica Baciu5Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, LPNC UMR 5105Grenoble, FranceUniversité de Lyon, CNRS, Institute for Cognitive Sciences – Marc Jeannerod (UMR 5304)Bron, FranceUniversité Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, LPNC UMR 5105Grenoble, FranceDepartment of Psycholinguistics, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of GenevaGeneva, SwitzerlandUniversité de Lyon, CNRS, Institute for Cognitive Sciences – Marc Jeannerod (UMR 5304)Bron, FranceUniversité Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, LPNC UMR 5105Grenoble, FranceThe role of syntax in belief attribution (BA) is not completely understood in healthy adults and understudied in adults with autism spectrum disorder. Embedded syntax could be useful either for the development of Theory of Mind (ToM) (Emergence account) or more generally over the lifespan (Reasoning account). Two hypotheses have been explored, one suggesting that embedding itself (Relatives and Complement sentences and Metarepresentation account) is important for ToM and another one considering that the embedding of a false proposition into a true one (Complement sentences and Misrepresentation account) is important. The goals of this study were to evaluate (1) the role of syntax in ToM (Emergence vs. Reasoning account), (2) the type of syntax implied in ToM (Metarepresentation vs. Misrepresentation account), and (3) the verbally mediated strategies which compensate for ToM deficits in adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS). Fifty NeuroTypical (NT) adults and 22 adults with AS were involved in a forced-choice task including ±ToM tasks (BA and a control task, physical causation, PC) under four Interference conditions (silence, syllable repetition, relative sentences repetition, and complement sentences repetition). The non-significant ±ToM × Interference interaction effect in the NT group did not support the Reasoning account and thus suggests that syntax is useful only for ToM development (i.e., Emergence account). Results also indicated that repeating complement clauses put NT participants in a dual task whereas repeating relative clauses did not, suggesting that repeating relatives is easier for NT than repeating complements. This could be an argument in favor of the Misrepresentation account. However, this result should be interpreted with caution because our results did not support the Reasoning account. Moreover, AS participants (but not NT participants) were more disrupted by ±ToM tasks when asked to repeat complement sentences compared to relative clause sentences. This result is in favor of the Misrepresentation account and indirectly suggests verbally mediated strategies for ToM in AS. To summarize, our results are in favor of the Emergence account in NT and of Reasoning and Misrepresentation accounts in adults with AS. Overall, this suggests that adults with AS use complement syntax to compensate for ToM deficits.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00743/fullTheory of Mindsyntaxemergencereasoningmetarepresentationmisrepresentation |
| spellingShingle | Morgane Clémentine Burnel Morgane Clémentine Burnel Marcela Perrone-Bertolotti Stephanie Durrleman Anne C. Reboul Monica Baciu Role of Two Types of Syntactic Embedding in Belief Attribution in Adults with or without Asperger Syndrome Frontiers in Psychology Theory of Mind syntax emergence reasoning metarepresentation misrepresentation |
| title | Role of Two Types of Syntactic Embedding in Belief Attribution in Adults with or without Asperger Syndrome |
| title_full | Role of Two Types of Syntactic Embedding in Belief Attribution in Adults with or without Asperger Syndrome |
| title_fullStr | Role of Two Types of Syntactic Embedding in Belief Attribution in Adults with or without Asperger Syndrome |
| title_full_unstemmed | Role of Two Types of Syntactic Embedding in Belief Attribution in Adults with or without Asperger Syndrome |
| title_short | Role of Two Types of Syntactic Embedding in Belief Attribution in Adults with or without Asperger Syndrome |
| title_sort | role of two types of syntactic embedding in belief attribution in adults with or without asperger syndrome |
| topic | Theory of Mind syntax emergence reasoning metarepresentation misrepresentation |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00743/full |
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