The AutismSpectrum Quotient (AQ): evidence from Asperger Syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists and mathematicians (2001)

by S Baron-Cohen, S Wheelwright, R Skinner, J Martin, E Clubley
Venue:Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Add To MetaCart
Results 1 - 10 of 364

Screening adults for Asperger Syndrome using the AQ: a preliminary study of its diagnostic validity in clinical practice

by M. R. Woodbury-smith, J. Robinson, S. Wheelwright, S. Baron-cohen - J Autism Dev Disord
"... The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) has been developed to measure the degree to which an adult with normal intelligence has autistic traits. In this paper it is evaluated for its potential as a screening questionnaire in clinical practice on one hundred consecutive referrals to a diagnostic clinic for ..."
Abstract - Cited by 66 (16 self) - Add to MetaCart
The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) has been developed to measure the degree to which an adult with normal intelligence has autistic traits. In this paper it is evaluated for its potential as a screening questionnaire in clinical practice on one hundred consecutive referrals to a diagnostic clinic for adults suspected of having Asperger Syndrome or high functioning autism (AS/HFA). The results indicate that it has good discriminative validity and good screening properties at a threshold score of 26. The implications of these results are discussed. KEY WORDS: Asperger Syndrome; Autism Quotient; high-functioning autism; screening; diagnosis; validity. Asperger Syndrome (AS) is now widely believed to lie on the autistic spectrum of conditions (Leek-
(Show Context)

Social capital on Facebook: Differentiating uses and users

by Moira Burke , Robert Kraut , Cameron Marlow , 2011
"... ABSTRACT Though social network site use is often treated as a monolithic activity, in which all time is equally "social" and its impact the same for all users, we examine how Facebook affects social capital depending upon: (1) types of site activities, contrasting one-on-one communication ..."
Abstract - Cited by 61 (2 self) - Add to MetaCart
ABSTRACT Though social network site use is often treated as a monolithic activity, in which all time is equally "social" and its impact the same for all users, we examine how Facebook affects social capital depending upon: (1) types of site activities, contrasting one-on-one communication, broadcasts to wider audiences, and passive consumption of social news, and (2) individual differences among users, including social communication skill and self-esteem. Longitudinal surveys matched to server logs from 415 Facebook users reveal that receiving messages from friends is associated with increases in bridging social capital, but that other uses are not. However, using the site to passively consume news assists those with lower social fluency draw value from their connections. The results inform site designers seeking to increase social connectedness and the value of those connections.
(Show Context)

Autistic traits in the general population: a twin study

by John N. Constantino, Md Richard, D. Todd - Archives of General Psychiatry , 2003
"... tism is not a discrete disorder and that family members of autistic probands have an increased likelihood of ex-hibiting autistic symptoms with a wide range of sever-ity, often below the threshold for a diagnosis of an au-tism spectrum disorder. Objective: To examine the distribution and genetic str ..."
Abstract - Cited by 60 (3 self) - Add to MetaCart
tism is not a discrete disorder and that family members of autistic probands have an increased likelihood of ex-hibiting autistic symptoms with a wide range of sever-ity, often below the threshold for a diagnosis of an au-tism spectrum disorder. Objective: To examine the distribution and genetic structure of autistic traits in the general population us-ing a newly established quantitative measure of autistic traits, the Social Responsiveness Scale (formerly known as the Social Reciprocity Scale). Methods: The sample consisted of 788 pairs of twins aged 7 to 15 years, randomly selected from the pool of participants in a large epidemiologic study (the Mis-souri Twin Study). One parent of each pair of twins com-pleted the Social Responsiveness Scale on each child. The

The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ)-Adolescent version

by Simon Baron-cohen, Rosa A. Hoekstra, Rebecca Knickmeyer, Sally Wheelwright - J. AutismDev. Dis , 2006
"... The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) quantifies autistic traits in adults. This paper adapted the AQ for children (age 9.8–15.4 years). Three groups of participants were assessed: Group 1: n=52 adolescents with Asperger Syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA); Group 2: n=79 adolescents with clas ..."
Abstract - Cited by 45 (8 self) - Add to MetaCart
The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) quantifies autistic traits in adults. This paper adapted the AQ for children (age 9.8–15.4 years). Three groups of participants were assessed: Group 1: n=52 adolescents with Asperger Syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA); Group 2: n=79 adolescents with classic autism; and Group 3, n=50 controls. The adolescents with AS/ HFA did not differ significantly from the adolescents with autism but both clinical groups scored higher than controls. Approximately 90 % of the adolescents with AS/HFA and autism scored 30+, vs. none of the controls. Among the controls, boys scored higher than girls. The AQ can rapidly quantify where an adolescent is situated on the continuum from autism to normality. KEY WORDS: AQ; adolescents; screening; autistic spectrum; Asperger Syndrome.
(Show Context)

Baron-Cohen S: Defining the broader, medium and narrow autism phenotype among parents using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Mol Autism 2010

by Sally Wheelwright, Bonnie Auyeung, Carrie Allison, Simon Baron-cohen
"... Background: The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) is a self-report questionnaire for quantifying autistic traits. This study tests whether the AQ can differentiate between parents of children with an autism spectrum condition (ASC) and control parents. In this paper, the use of the AQ to define the broa ..."
Abstract - Cited by 44 (8 self) - Add to MetaCart
Background: The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) is a self-report questionnaire for quantifying autistic traits. This study tests whether the AQ can differentiate between parents of children with an autism spectrum condition (ASC) and control parents. In this paper, the use of the AQ to define the broader, medium and narrow autism phenotypes (BAP, MAP, NAP) is reported, and the proportion of parents with each phenotype is compared between the two groups. Methods: A sample of 571 fathers and 1429 mothers of children with an ASC completed the AQ, along with 349 fathers and 658 mothers of developing typically children. Results: Both mothers and fathers of the diagnosed children scored higher than the control parents on total AQ score and on four out of five of the subscales. Additionally, there were more parents of diagnosed children with a BAP, MAP or NAP. Conclusions: The AQ provides an efficient method for quantifying where an individual lies along the dimension of autistic traits, and extends the notion of a broader phenotype among first-degree relatives of those with ASC. The AQ is likely to have many applications, including population and clinical screening, and stratification in genetic studies.
(Show Context)

The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) in Japan: A crosscultural comparison

by Akio Wakabayashi, Simon Baron-cohen, Sally Wheelwright, Yoshikuni Tojo - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 2006
"... The AQ (Autism-Spectrum Quotient) is a self-administered instrument for measuring the degree to which an adult with normal intelligence has the traits associated with the autistic spectrum. The AQ was administered in Japan to test whether the UK results would generalize to a very different culture. ..."
Abstract - Cited by 40 (8 self) - Add to MetaCart
The AQ (Autism-Spectrum Quotient) is a self-administered instrument for measuring the degree to which an adult with normal intelligence has the traits associated with the autistic spectrum. The AQ was administered in Japan to test whether the UK results would generalize to a very different culture. Three groups of subjects, adults with AS or HFA (n=57), adult controls (n=194), and University students (n=1050) were assessed. The adults with AS/HFA had a mean AQ score which was significantly higher than both the controls and the University students. Among the controls, males scored significantly higher than females. The similarity of results in both the general population and the clinical group across the two cultures was remarkable.
(Show Context)

The Cambridge mindreading (CAM) face-voice battery: Testing complex emotion recognition in adults with and without Asperger syndrome

by Ofer Golan, Simon Baron-cohen, Jacqueline Hill - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 2006
"... Adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS) can recognise simple emotions and pass basic theory of mind tasks, but have difficulties recognising more complex emotions and mental states. This study describes a new battery of tasks, testing recognition of 20 complex emotions and mental states from faces and vo ..."
Abstract - Cited by 36 (7 self) - Add to MetaCart
Adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS) can recognise simple emotions and pass basic theory of mind tasks, but have difficulties recognising more complex emotions and mental states. This study describes a new battery of tasks, testing recognition of 20 complex emotions and mental states from faces and voices. The battery was given to males and females with AS and matched controls. Results showed the AS group performed worse than controls overall, on emotion recognition from faces and voices and on 12/20 specific emotions. Females recognised faces better than males regardless of diagnosis, and males with AS had more difficulties recognising emotions from faces than from voices. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to social functioning in AS. KEY WORDS: Emotion recognition; complex emotions; face perception; voice perception; theory of mind; Asperger Syndrome; autism spectrum; psychometrics. The ability to understand people’s emotional and other mental states, also known as ‘‘theory of mind’’ or ‘‘mindreading’ ’ (Wellman, 1992) underlies funda-mental social skills. This ability is also sometimes
(Show Context)

Mind-reading and metacognition: Narcissism, not actual competence, predicts selfestimated ability

by Daniel R. Ames, Lara K. Kammrath - Journal of Nonverbal Behavior , 2004
"... ABSTRACT: In this paper, we examine the relationship between people’s actual interpersonal sensitivity (such as their ability to identify deception and to infer intentions and emotions) and their perceptions of their own sensitivity. Like prior scholars, we find the connection is weak or non-existen ..."
Abstract - Cited by 22 (1 self) - Add to MetaCart
ABSTRACT: In this paper, we examine the relationship between people’s actual interpersonal sensitivity (such as their ability to identify deception and to infer intentions and emotions) and their perceptions of their own sensitivity. Like prior scholars, we find the connection is weak or non-existent and that most people overestimate their social judgment and mind-reading skills. Unlike previous work, however, we show new evidence about who misunderstands their sensitivity and why. We find that those who perform the worst in social judgment and mindreading radically overestimate their relative competence. We also find origins of these self-estimates in general narcissistic tendencies toward self-aggrandizement. We discuss evidence from two studies, one involving the Interpersonal Perception Task (the IPT-15) and another focusing on inferences about partners after a faceto-face negotiation exercise. In both cases, actual performance did not predict self-estimated performance but narcissism did. KEY WORDS: empathic accuracy; interpersonal sensitivity; metacognition; mindreading; narcissism.
(Show Context)

The Adult Asperger Assessment (AAA): A Diagnostic Method

by Simon Baron-cohen, Sally Wheelwright, Janine Robinson - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 2005
"... All in-text references underlined in blue are linked to publications on ResearchGate, letting you access and read them immediately. ..."
Abstract - Cited by 21 (5 self) - Add to MetaCart
All in-text references underlined in blue are linked to publications on ResearchGate, letting you access and read them immediately.
(Show Context)

A genetically mediated bias in decision making driven by failure of amygdala control.

by Jonathan P Roiser , Benedetto De Martino , Geoffrey C Y Tan , Dharshan Kumaran , Ben Seymour , Nicholas W Wood , Raymond J Dolan - J Neurosci , 2009
"... Genetic variation at the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) is associated with altered amygdala reactivity and lack of prefrontal regulatory control. Similar regions mediate decision-making biases driven by contextual cues and ambiguity, for example the "framing effect. ..."
Abstract - Cited by 21 (0 self) - Add to MetaCart
Genetic variation at the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) is associated with altered amygdala reactivity and lack of prefrontal regulatory control. Similar regions mediate decision-making biases driven by contextual cues and ambiguity, for example the "framing effect." We hypothesized that individuals hemozygous for the short (s) allele at the 5-HTTLPR would be more susceptible to framing. Participants, selected as homozygous for either the long (la) or s allele, performed a decision-making task where they made choices between receiving an amount of money for certain and taking a gamble. A strong bias was evident toward choosing the certain option when the option was phrased in terms of gains and toward gambling when the decision was phrased in terms of losses (the frame effect). Critically, this bias was significantly greater in the ss group compared with the lala group. In simultaneously acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging data, the ss group showed greater amygdala during choices made in accord, compared with those made counter to the frame, an effect not seen in the lala group. These differences were also mirrored by differences in anterior cingulateamygdala coupling between the genotype groups during decision making. Specifically, lala participants showed increased coupling during choices made counter to, relative to those made in accord with, the frame, with no such effect evident in ss participants. These data suggest that genetically mediated differences in prefrontal-amygdala interactions underpin interindividual differences in economic decision making.
(Show Context)