Mentalizing or submentalizing in a communication task? Evidence from autism and a camera control.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• The director task (DT) is commonly used to study mentalizing, the ability to attribute mental states.
• It is assumed participants use mentalizing to understand the director's perspective.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test whether the DT relies on mentalizing or object-centered spatial coding.
• To investigate the role of mentalizing in adult cognition and in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Main Methods:

• Participants performed the DT with either a human director or a camera.
• Performance was compared between conditions and in participants with autism spectrum disorder versus controls.

Main Results:

• DT performance remained consistent when the director was replaced by a camera.
• Individuals with autism spectrum disorder showed no performance deficits in either condition compared to controls.

Conclusions:

• Findings support a "submentalizing" hypothesis, suggesting DT performance relies on spatial coding, not mentalizing.
• Adults may use mentalizing less frequently in experimental and daily contexts than previously assumed.