ERIC Number: EJ1260619
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1088-8438
EISSN: N/A
Theory of Mind as a Mediator of Reading Comprehension Differences between Chinese School-Age Children with Autism and Typically Developing Peers
Tong, Shelley Xiuli; Wong, Ruby Wing Yan; Kwan, Joyce Lok Yin; Arciuli, Joanne
Scientific Studies of Reading, v24 n4 p292-306 2020
This study examined the relation between Theory of Mind (ToM) and reading comprehension in 42 7- to 9-year-old Hong Kong Chinese children with autism and 55 typically developing peers (TD) who were comparable in age, nonverbal intelligence, and working memory. Relative to their TD peers, children with autism exhibited difficulties with reading comprehension and advanced ToM tasks, but not word reading and basic ToM tasks. After controlling for nonverbal intelligence, working memory, word reading, and vocabulary knowledge, ToM partially mediated the relation between group status (autistic or not) and reading comprehension. This mediation was significant for non-literal comprehension skills (i.e., those involving inference, evaluation, and mentalization) but not for literal comprehension skills (i.e., those involving simple recall and recognition of textually explicit information). These findings indicate that ToM partially explains the differences in non-literal reading comprehension between children with autism and their TD peers.
Descriptors: Theory of Mind, Reading Comprehension, Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Correlation, Children, Foreign Countries, Students with Disabilities, Elementary School Students, Intelligence Tests, Short Term Memory, Vocabulary Development, Reading Difficulties
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Hong Kong
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A