Reasoning Skills in Theory of Mind and Linguistic Tests in the Autistic Population

NCT02465086 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: Protocol-01/2015
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 60
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation and the causality direction between mastering linguistic tests and second-order reasoning tasks in the autistic population. Linguistic tests include two types of tasks: 1. Mastery of multiple embeddings or recursion and 2. Mastery of dialogue particles. Second-order tests include standard false-belief tasks.

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Performance on second-order false-belief tasks

  Performance will be measured in points, given for the correct answers to the test questions.

  The period between the beginning of testing and final testing should not exceed two weeks. Six children will be tested and trained at the same time. The overall period is thus assessed up to 20 weeks.

Study Arms (2)

Training

EXPERIMENTAL

This arm, which is a half of the sample size, will be receiving training of linguistic recursion

Other: Training of linguistic recursion

No training

NO INTERVENTION

The no intervention group, which is a half of the sample size, will not be recieving training in linguistic recursion.

Interventions

Training of linguistic recursion OTHER

Training of recursion comprehension will include cooperative dialogue and feedback on the sentences and small dialogues. The training conditions will be further divided into marking the change of the truth-value.

Also known as: Intervention group

Training

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 7 Years - 15 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder is already established and confirmed. Participants will be recruited by contacting special schools directly, where the established diagnosis is the admission criteria.
• Monolinguals, Danish native speakers.
• Absence of significant impairments in language development.
• Intelligence quotient (IQ): more than 85 (i.e. within the normal range).

You may not qualify if:

• Medical treatment affecting performance (antidepressants, antipsychotic and stimulants).
• Subjects that have been tested with Wechsler Intelligence Scale test during the last 1.5 year.
• Comorbidity (difficult with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, but other psychiatric conditions and brain damage condition of any sort should be excluded).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Roskilde University: lead

Study Sites (1)

School Ellebaekskolen

Koege, Denmark

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: PhD fellow

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 1, 2015
• First Posted: June 8, 2015
• Study Start: September 1, 2015
• Primary Completion: May 1, 2017
• Study Completion: May 1, 2017
• Last Updated: April 6, 2016

Record last verified: 2016-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

DK (1)