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Empathy and Cognition in High‐Functioning Children with Autism
Author(s) -
Yirmiya Nurit,
Sigman Marian D.,
Kasari Connie,
Mundy Peter
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1992.tb03603.x
Subject(s) - psychology , autism , empathy , cognition , developmental psychology , association (psychology) , perspective (graphical) , theory of mind , perspective taking , cognitive development , child development , social cognition , typically developing , psychiatry , psychotherapist , artificial intelligence , computer science
This study compares the ability of nonretarded autistic children (9–16 years of age) with the ability of normally developing children (9–14 years of age) to discriminate between various emotional states, to take the perspective of another regarding emotional states, and to respond affectively. The children's understanding of conservation was also assessed. While the children with autism did surprisingly well on the empathy‐related measures, they performed less well than the normal children on these measures and on conservation. There was a closer association between cognitive abilities and affective understanding in the group of autistic children than in the control group.