Social cognition is a broad construct that refers to the fundamental abilities to perceive, store, analyze, process, categorize, reason with, and behave towards other conspecifics (Pelphrey & Carter, 2008). Two important aspects of social cognition are the ability to perceive and interpret body movements (biological motion perception) and the ability to infer the mental states of others (theory of mind reasoning) (Allison, Puce & McCarthy, 2000). In my thesis, these and other aspects of social cognition are explored in a group known to be at high risk for poor social outcomes, namely children born prematurely at very low birth weight (VLBW: < 1500 grams). Results showed that 8-11 year old VLBW children had difficulties processing both realistic and stylized life motion displays. These impairments were associated with increased evidence of autistic-like traits. Finally, poor performance on tests requiring life motion perception was linked to complications related to premature birth. These results could inform the development of screening, diagnostic, and intervention tools.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MANITOBA/oai:mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca:1993/23585 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Williamson, Kathryn E. |
| Contributors | Jakobson, Lorna (Psychology), Marotta, Jonathan (Psychology) Wilson, Linda (Psychology) Kriellaars, Dean (Medical Rehabilitation) Magill-Evans, Joyce (University of Alberta) |
| Publisher | Development and Psychopathology, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry |
| Source Sets | University of Manitoba Canada |
| Detected Language | English |
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