Abstract
Theory of Mind (ToM), the process by which an individual imputes mental states to himself and others, is presently considered as a multidimensional cognitive domain, with two main facets (i.e., cognitive and affective ToM) accounting, respectively, for the ability to understand others’ intention (intention attribution-IA) and emotions (emotion attribution-EA). Despite the large amount of literature investigating the behavioural and neural bases of mentalizing abilities in neurological conditions, there is still a lack of validated neuropsychological tools specifically designed to assess such skills. Here, we report the normative data of the Story-Based Empathy Task (SET), a non-verbal test developed for the assessment of intention and emotion attribution in the neurodegenerative conditions characterized by the impairment of social–emotional abilities. It is an easy-to-administer task including 18 stimuli, sub-grouped into two experimental conditions assessing, respectively, the ability to infer others’ intentions (SET-IA) and emotions (SET-EA), compared to a control condition of causal inference (SET-CI). Normative data were collected in 136 Italian subjects pooled across subgroups homogenous for age (range 20–79 years), sex, and education (at least 5 years). The results show a detrimental effect of age and a beneficial effect of education on both the global score and each subscale, for which we provide correction grids. This new task could be a useful tool to investigate both affective and cognitive aspects of ToM in the course of disorders of socio-emotional behaviour, such as the fronto-temporal dementia spectrum.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1907-1912 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Neurological Sciences |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 14 2015 |
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Keywords
- Affective ToM
- Cognitive ToM
- Empathy
- Italian standardization
- Mentalizing
- Social cognition
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Neurology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Dermatology
Cite this
A novel task assessing intention and emotion attribution : Italian standardization and normative data of the Story-based Empathy Task. / Dodich, Alessandra; Cerami, Chiara; Canessa, Nicola; Crespi, Chiara; Iannaccone, Sandro; Marcone, Alessandra; Realmuto, Sabrina; Lettieri, Giada; Perani, Daniela; Cappa, Stefano F.
In: Neurological Sciences, Vol. 36, No. 10, 14.06.2015, p. 1907-1912.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - A novel task assessing intention and emotion attribution
T2 - Italian standardization and normative data of the Story-based Empathy Task
AU - Dodich, Alessandra
AU - Cerami, Chiara
AU - Canessa, Nicola
AU - Crespi, Chiara
AU - Iannaccone, Sandro
AU - Marcone, Alessandra
AU - Realmuto, Sabrina
AU - Lettieri, Giada
AU - Perani, Daniela
AU - Cappa, Stefano F.
PY - 2015/6/14
Y1 - 2015/6/14
N2 - Theory of Mind (ToM), the process by which an individual imputes mental states to himself and others, is presently considered as a multidimensional cognitive domain, with two main facets (i.e., cognitive and affective ToM) accounting, respectively, for the ability to understand others’ intention (intention attribution-IA) and emotions (emotion attribution-EA). Despite the large amount of literature investigating the behavioural and neural bases of mentalizing abilities in neurological conditions, there is still a lack of validated neuropsychological tools specifically designed to assess such skills. Here, we report the normative data of the Story-Based Empathy Task (SET), a non-verbal test developed for the assessment of intention and emotion attribution in the neurodegenerative conditions characterized by the impairment of social–emotional abilities. It is an easy-to-administer task including 18 stimuli, sub-grouped into two experimental conditions assessing, respectively, the ability to infer others’ intentions (SET-IA) and emotions (SET-EA), compared to a control condition of causal inference (SET-CI). Normative data were collected in 136 Italian subjects pooled across subgroups homogenous for age (range 20–79 years), sex, and education (at least 5 years). The results show a detrimental effect of age and a beneficial effect of education on both the global score and each subscale, for which we provide correction grids. This new task could be a useful tool to investigate both affective and cognitive aspects of ToM in the course of disorders of socio-emotional behaviour, such as the fronto-temporal dementia spectrum.
AB - Theory of Mind (ToM), the process by which an individual imputes mental states to himself and others, is presently considered as a multidimensional cognitive domain, with two main facets (i.e., cognitive and affective ToM) accounting, respectively, for the ability to understand others’ intention (intention attribution-IA) and emotions (emotion attribution-EA). Despite the large amount of literature investigating the behavioural and neural bases of mentalizing abilities in neurological conditions, there is still a lack of validated neuropsychological tools specifically designed to assess such skills. Here, we report the normative data of the Story-Based Empathy Task (SET), a non-verbal test developed for the assessment of intention and emotion attribution in the neurodegenerative conditions characterized by the impairment of social–emotional abilities. It is an easy-to-administer task including 18 stimuli, sub-grouped into two experimental conditions assessing, respectively, the ability to infer others’ intentions (SET-IA) and emotions (SET-EA), compared to a control condition of causal inference (SET-CI). Normative data were collected in 136 Italian subjects pooled across subgroups homogenous for age (range 20–79 years), sex, and education (at least 5 years). The results show a detrimental effect of age and a beneficial effect of education on both the global score and each subscale, for which we provide correction grids. This new task could be a useful tool to investigate both affective and cognitive aspects of ToM in the course of disorders of socio-emotional behaviour, such as the fronto-temporal dementia spectrum.
KW - Affective ToM
KW - Cognitive ToM
KW - Empathy
KW - Italian standardization
KW - Mentalizing
KW - Social cognition
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84942504255&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84942504255&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10072-015-2281-3
DO - 10.1007/s10072-015-2281-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 26072203
AN - SCOPUS:84942504255
VL - 36
SP - 1907
EP - 1912
JO - Neurological Sciences
JF - Neurological Sciences
SN - 1590-1874
IS - 10
ER -