Research on theory of mind (TOM) has provided a major contribution to the understanding of developmental disorders characterized by atypical social behaviour. Yet, there is still little consensus relative to TOM abilities in Williams syndrome (WS). This study used visual and verbal tasks to investigate attribution of intentions in individuals with…

Baron-Cohen's [(2002) "Trends in Cognitive Sciences," 6, 248-255] "extreme male brain" theory of autism is investigated by examining the relationships between theory of mind, central coherence, empathising, systemising and autistic-like symptomatology in typical undergraduates. There were sex differences in the expected directions on all tasks.…

This paper explores the neural systems underlying social behaviors as they pertain to autism. It discusses major channels for transmission of social-emotional information, neural pathways subserving social behaviors, and social cognition in autism. A hypothesis of autism based on deviant development of the widely distributed neural system…

This paper reviews the literature describing the pervasive deficits in social relations and pragmatics found in autistic children. It then considers two different psychological theories of these phenomena, the Affective theory and the Cognitive theory, concludes that the Cognitive theory better predicts behavior patterns, and suggests future…