An exploratory study of theory of mind in aphasia, Alzheimer disease and normal aging
Author
Lowe, Christina RachaelIssue Date
2001Keywords
Language, Linguistics.Gerontology.
Health Sciences, Speech Pathology.
Psychology, Developmental.
Psychology, Cognitive.
Advisor
Holland, Audrey L.
Metadata
Show full item recordPublisher
The University of Arizona.Rights
Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.Abstract
Theory of mind has seldom been studied in normal elders (NE) or people with aphasia (APH), and has never been studied in people with Alzheimer Disease (AD). This study, based on Miller (2001), investigated false belief attribution in 10 APH, 10 AD, and 10 NE subjects. Three conditions of the false belief task varied syntactically to probe for an interaction between linguistic demand and false belief performance. Relative to normal elders, AD subjects showed impairment in false belief attribution (p < 0.001); APH subjects did not (p = 1.0). There was no effect of linguistic demand for any group. Potential confounding variables (e.g. immediate memory) were nonsignificant. The data suggest a possible nonlinear relationship between false belief attribution and measures of dementia severity and frontal lobe function. The results also suggest methods for comparing theories of theory of mind in future research.Type
textThesis-Reproduction (electronic)
Degree Name
M.S.Degree Level
mastersDegree Program
Graduate CollegeSpeech and Hearing Sciences