Verbal memory and performance IQ predict theory of mind and emotion recognition ability in children with autistic spectrum disorders and in psychiatric control children

This study was designed to examine the developmental and cognitive correlat es of theory of mind (ToM) and emotion recognition ability in children with autism (N = 20), with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise speci fied (PDD-NOS) (N = 20), and in psychiatric control children (N = 20). The diagnostic groups were person-to-person matched on age and verbal IQ. The a ge of the children was between 8 and 18 years; their Full Scale IQ was at l east 65. The test battery included tasks for the matching and the context r ecognition of emotional expressions, and a set of first- and second-order T oM tasks. The relationships between composite domain scores and the subject s' age, Verbal IQ, Performance IQ, verbal memory, visual memory, and gender were examined in bivariate and multivariate analyses. Further, the subject s who reliably and consistently passed the tasks of a domain and those who could not were compared on developmental and cognitive characteristics. Ove rall, the results of the various analyses converged and indicated that verb al memory, Performance IQ, age and gender were the best predictors of socia l cognitive ability.