The Relationship between Theory of Mind and Pragmatic Language Skills in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Children with Typical Development

Year 2024, Volume: 25 Issue: 1, 33 - 49, 01.03.2024

Gamze Ünözkan Aksu , Mehmet Emrah Cangi

https://doi.org/10.21565/ozelegitimdergisi.1099297

Abstract

Introduction: An outstanding research question is whether the interaction between theory of mind (ToM) and pragmatic language skills differs in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and typical development. This study investigated the relationship between ToM and pragmatics in individuals with ASD and children with typical development (CTD) and between these skills and Test of Language Development (TOLD-TR) scores which were determined as a participant criterion.
Method: Sixteen individuals with ASD with TOLD-TR test equivalent age 7;0-8;11 and 46 CTD aged 6;0-8;11 were included. Child Form of Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), Strange Stories Test, and Pragmatic Language Skills Inventory (PLSI) were used.
Findings: PLSI and RMET scores as well as PLSI and Strange Stories scores did not significantly correlate in the ASD group. Nevertheless, in CTD, there were many weak-to-moderate level significant relationships between Strange Stories and PLSI subtest scores. In both groups, there were significant relationships between all TOLD-TR subtest scores and Strange Stories scores, except for TOLD-TR Syntactic Understanding in the ASD group. Numerous weak-to-strong correlations between TOLD-TR and PLSI scores as well as between TOLD-TR and ToM scores were found in the CTD group. In the ASD group, however, moderate-to-strong relationships between Strange Stories and the TODIL composite, between Sentence Comprehension and Morpheme Completion, and between RMET and Morpheme Completion.
Discussion: It emerged that groups could have different patterns of interaction between these variables. The lack of correlation between ToM and pragmatics in ASD may be explained by the relatively small sample size and the fact that the norm group of the PLSI was largely composed of CTD. Additionally, the importance of sentence and syntax comprehension in ToM was revealed.

Keywords

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder, children with typical development, theory of mind, pragmatic language skills

Otizm Spektrum Bozukluğu Olan Bireylerde ve Tipik Gelişen Çocuklarda Zihin Kuramı ve Pragmatik Dil Becerileri Arasındaki İlişkinin İncelenmesi

Abstract

Giriş: Otizm spektrum bozukluğu (OSB) ve tipik gelişimde zihin kuramı (ZK) ve pragmatik beceriler arasındaki etkileşimin farklılaşıp farklılaşmadığı önemli bir araştırma sorusudur. Çalışmada OSB olan ve tipik gelişen grupta ZK ve pragmatik beceriler arasındaki ilişki incelenmiş ve bu beceriler ile bir katılımcı dahil etme kriteri olan Türkçe Okul Çağı Dil Gelişim Testi (TODİL) puanlarının ilişkisi araştırılmıştır.
Yöntem: Çalışmaya TODİL dil eşdeğer yaşı 6;0-8;11 olan 16 OSB’li ve 7;0-8;11 yaş aralığında tipik gelişim gösteren 46 katılımcı dahil edilmiştir. Çalışmada Çocuklar İçin Gözlerden ZK testi (Gözlerden ZK), Garip Hikayeler ve Pragmatik Dil Becerileri Envanteri (PDBE) kullanılmıştır.
Bulgular: OSB’li grupta PDBE testleri (toplam puan ve alt testler) ile Gözlerden ZK ve Garip Hikayeler arasında anlamlı ilişki bulunmamıştır. Oysa tipik gelişen grupta Garip Hikayeler ile PDBE testleri arasında zayıf veya orta düzeyde anlamlı ilişkiler vardır. İki grupta, OSB’de Cümle Anlama hariç, TODİL alt testleri ile Garip Hikayeler arasındaki ilişkiler anlamlı bulunmuştur. Tipik gelişen grupta TODİL Dilbilgisi bileşke ve alt test puanları ile, PDBE testleri ve ZK testleri arasında çok sayıda zayıf ile güçlü arasında değişen anlamlı ilişki bulunmuştur. Oysa OSB’de yalnızca Garip Hikayeler ile TODİL bileşke, Cümle Anlama ve Biçimbirim Tamamlama arasında ve Gözlerden ZK ile Biçimbirim Tamamlama arasında orta ile güçlü arasında değişen ilişki vardır.
Tartışma: İki grup arasında ZK ve pragmatik becerilerin etkileşiminde farklı bir örüntü olabileceği görülmüştür. OSB’de ZK ile pragmatik beceriler arasında ilişki olmaması katılımcı grubunun görece küçük olması ve PDBE’nin adaptasyon çalışmasının büyük ölçüde tipik gelişen çocuklardan oluşmasıyla açıklanabilir. Ayrıca ZK becerilerinde cümle ve ek anlamanın önemi ortaya çıkmıştır.

Keywords

Otizm spektrum bozukluğu olan çocuklar, tipik gelişen çocuklar, zihin kuramı, pragmatik dil becerileri

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