Advanced theory of mind in high-functioning adults with autism

Twenty-four high-functioning adults with autism (16 men) who passed a first -order theory-of-mind task and 24 nonautistic adults (10 men) attributed me ntal states to recordings of various verbal intonations and to photos of pe ople's eyes to assess advanced theory of mind. Participants with autism per formed significantly worse than nonautistic participants on both tasks. Thu s, the previously described inattention to others' eyes exhibited by adults with autism is not solely responsible for their inability to attribute men tal states from eyes, as they also did not correctly attribute mental state s from voices. These findings support the view that a core deficit for peop le with autism lies in their theory of mind, that is, their inability to at tribute mental states to others.