Abstract：
Weak theory of mind (ToM) ability is a core deficit in children with autism. A growing body of work has found that there is a close relation between complement syntax and ToM in autistic children. However, researchers have not yet investigated whether other linguistic components may explain the difficulties in ToM reasoning in autistic children.
To determine whether verb factuality (i.e., mental and action verbs) is related to ToM ability, as measured by a false belief understanding (FBU) task after controlling the effect of complement syntax for Mandarin-speaking autistic children.
Participants were verbal autistic children, aged 4-7 years. Their IQ performance (verbal, performance and total IQ) and the comprehension of complement syntax were evaluated. A total of 38 children scoring over 9 points in complement syntax test and 90 points in the verbal IQ test were selected to complete verb factuality and FBU task. The χ2 tests and correlation analyses were carried out on two relations: (1) ToM ability and understanding of verb factuality; and (2) ToM ability and comprehension of complement syntax.
A total of 11 autistic children completed the action verb factuality task, while 14 completed the mental verb factuality task and 13 completed both tasks. Participants performed well on the verb factuality task, and their ToM performance appeared to be related to their linguistic ability, regardless of the type of verb (i.e., action or mental verb). However, complement syntax scores did not significantly predict the success of the FBU task for the autistic children.
The results of this study link weaker ToM ability with the understanding of verb factuality among autistic children aged 4-7 and provide new evidence for the view that the development of language facilitates improvement of ToM skills. The findings shed new light on how language affects or determines social interactions.
What is already known on the subject ToM ability is crucial for social interaction. It has been claimed that mental verb factuality (e.g., think, had thought) may play a role in the development of ToM reasoning in typically developing children, but whether there is a link between the mastery of verb factuality and ToM skills in autistic children is still unclear. What this study adds to existing knowledge Correlational analysis revealed links between verbal ToM measured by unexpected location task and factuality test of mental verbs as well as action verbs. More importantly, this study confirmed the extra role of verb factuality in explaining ToM ability after excluding the influence of the complement syntax. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? This study suggests that the factuality of verbs could serve as a tool for autistic children to infer the mental states of others. Thus, training on this linguistic structure could be taken into consideration when improving the social skills of autistic children.
To determine whether verb factuality (i.e., mental and action verbs) is related to ToM ability, as measured by a false belief understanding (FBU) task after controlling the effect of complement syntax for Mandarin-speaking autistic children.
Participants were verbal autistic children, aged 4-7 years. Their IQ performance (verbal, performance and total IQ) and the comprehension of complement syntax were evaluated. A total of 38 children scoring over 9 points in complement syntax test and 90 points in the verbal IQ test were selected to complete verb factuality and FBU task. The χ2 tests and correlation analyses were carried out on two relations: (1) ToM ability and understanding of verb factuality; and (2) ToM ability and comprehension of complement syntax.
A total of 11 autistic children completed the action verb factuality task, while 14 completed the mental verb factuality task and 13 completed both tasks. Participants performed well on the verb factuality task, and their ToM performance appeared to be related to their linguistic ability, regardless of the type of verb (i.e., action or mental verb). However, complement syntax scores did not significantly predict the success of the FBU task for the autistic children.
The results of this study link weaker ToM ability with the understanding of verb factuality among autistic children aged 4-7 and provide new evidence for the view that the development of language facilitates improvement of ToM skills. The findings shed new light on how language affects or determines social interactions.
What is already known on the subject ToM ability is crucial for social interaction. It has been claimed that mental verb factuality (e.g., think, had thought) may play a role in the development of ToM reasoning in typically developing children, but whether there is a link between the mastery of verb factuality and ToM skills in autistic children is still unclear. What this study adds to existing knowledge Correlational analysis revealed links between verbal ToM measured by unexpected location task and factuality test of mental verbs as well as action verbs. More importantly, this study confirmed the extra role of verb factuality in explaining ToM ability after excluding the influence of the complement syntax. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? This study suggests that the factuality of verbs could serve as a tool for autistic children to infer the mental states of others. Thus, training on this linguistic structure could be taken into consideration when improving the social skills of autistic children.
摘要：
背景：弱智理论（ToM）能力是自闭症儿童的核心缺陷。越来越多的研究发现，自闭症儿童的补语句法与ToM之间存在着密切的关系。然而,研究人员尚未调查其他语言成分是否可以解释自闭症儿童ToM推理的困难。
目的：确定动词真实性(即，心理和动作动词)与ToM能力有关，在控制说普通话的自闭症儿童的补语句法效果后，通过错误的信念理解（FBU）任务来衡量。
方法：参与者是言语自闭症儿童，4-7岁。他们的智商表现(口头，性能和总智商)和对补语句法的理解进行了评估。选择补语句法测试得分超过9分，言语智商测试得分超过90分的38名儿童完成动词事实性和FBU任务。对两个关系进行了χ2检验和相关分析：（1）ToM能力和对动词事实性的理解；（2）ToM能力和对补语句法的理解。
结果：共有11名自闭症儿童完成了动作动词事实任务，14人完成了心理动词真实性任务，13人完成了这两项任务。参与者在动词事实性任务中表现良好，他们的ToM表现似乎与他们的语言能力有关，无论动词的类型如何(即，动作或心理动词)。然而,补语句法评分并不能显著预测自闭症儿童FBU任务的成功.
结论：这项研究的结果将4-7岁自闭症儿童中比较弱的ToM能力与对动词事实性的理解联系起来，并为以下观点提供了新的证据：语言的发展促进了ToM技能的提高。这些发现为语言如何影响或决定社交互动提供了新的思路。
结论：已知的ToM能力对于社交互动至关重要。有人声称心理动词真实性(例如，思考,认为)可能在典型发育儿童的ToM推理发展中发挥作用，但是，自闭症儿童对动词事实性的掌握与ToM技能之间是否存在联系尚不清楚。这项研究增加了现有知识的内容。关联分析揭示了通过意外位置任务测量的言语ToM与心理动词和动作动词的真实性测试之间的联系。更重要的是,这项研究证实了在排除补语句法的影响后，动词事实在解释ToM能力中的额外作用。这项工作的潜在或实际临床意义是什么？这项研究表明，动词的事实性可以作为自闭症儿童推断他人精神状态的工具。因此，在提高自闭症儿童的社交技能时，可以考虑对这种语言结构的培训。
目的：确定动词真实性(即，心理和动作动词)与ToM能力有关，在控制说普通话的自闭症儿童的补语句法效果后，通过错误的信念理解（FBU）任务来衡量。
方法：参与者是言语自闭症儿童，4-7岁。他们的智商表现(口头，性能和总智商)和对补语句法的理解进行了评估。选择补语句法测试得分超过9分，言语智商测试得分超过90分的38名儿童完成动词事实性和FBU任务。对两个关系进行了χ2检验和相关分析：（1）ToM能力和对动词事实性的理解；（2）ToM能力和对补语句法的理解。
结果：共有11名自闭症儿童完成了动作动词事实任务，14人完成了心理动词真实性任务，13人完成了这两项任务。参与者在动词事实性任务中表现良好，他们的ToM表现似乎与他们的语言能力有关，无论动词的类型如何(即，动作或心理动词)。然而,补语句法评分并不能显著预测自闭症儿童FBU任务的成功.
结论：这项研究的结果将4-7岁自闭症儿童中比较弱的ToM能力与对动词事实性的理解联系起来，并为以下观点提供了新的证据：语言的发展促进了ToM技能的提高。这些发现为语言如何影响或决定社交互动提供了新的思路。
结论：已知的ToM能力对于社交互动至关重要。有人声称心理动词真实性(例如，思考,认为)可能在典型发育儿童的ToM推理发展中发挥作用，但是，自闭症儿童对动词事实性的掌握与ToM技能之间是否存在联系尚不清楚。这项研究增加了现有知识的内容。关联分析揭示了通过意外位置任务测量的言语ToM与心理动词和动作动词的真实性测试之间的联系。更重要的是,这项研究证实了在排除补语句法的影响后，动词事实在解释ToM能力中的额外作用。这项工作的潜在或实际临床意义是什么？这项研究表明，动词的事实性可以作为自闭症儿童推断他人精神状态的工具。因此，在提高自闭症儿童的社交技能时，可以考虑对这种语言结构的培训。
