Successful negotiation of human social interactions rests on having a theory of mind—an understan... more Successful negotiation of human social interactions rests on having a theory of mind—an understanding of how others' behaviors can be understood in terms of internal mental states, such as beliefs, desires, intentions, and emotions. A core theory-of-mind skill is the ability to decode others' mental states on the basis of observable information, such as facial expressions. Although several recent studies have focused on the neural correlates of reasoning about mental states, no research has addressed the question of what neural systems underlie mental state decoding. We used dense-array eventrelated potentials (ERP) to show that decoding mental states from pictures of eyes is associated with an N270–400 component over inferior frontal and anterior temporal regions of the right hemisphere. Source estimation procedures suggest that orbitofrontal and medial temporal regions may underlie this ERP effect. These findings suggest that different components of everyday theory-of-mind...
We examined differences between dysphoric and non-dysphoric adults in their pattern of event-rela... more We examined differences between dysphoric and non-dysphoric adults in their pattern of event-related potentials (ERPs) while reasoning about true- and false-beliefs.
Although we know much about the conditions under which children demonstrate selective social lear... more Although we know much about the conditions under which children demonstrate selective social learning, we have a limited understanding of the cognitive mechanisms by which children's selectivity manifests. Here, we report findings from a brain electrophysiological (ERP) study designed to determine the extent to which words presented by ignorant speakers were later both familiar to children and associated with semantic meaning. Forty-eight children (mean age = 6.5 years) first experienced novel word training from either a knowledgeable or an ignorant speaker. Children's ERPs were subsequently recorded as they heard a recording of the speaker using the novel word, followed by a picture of either the object the word was paired with during training (congruent) or a distractor object that was also present during training (incongruent). Children trained by a knowledgeable speaker showed both N200 and N400 effects to the incongruent word-referent pairings, thereby suggesting that t...
We investigated whether children's inhibitory control (IC) is associated with their ability t... more We investigated whether children's inhibitory control (IC) is associated with their ability to produce irregular past tense verb forms as well as learn from corrective feedback following overregularization errors. Forty-eight 3;6 to 4;5 year old children were tested on the irregular past tense and provided with adult corrective input via models of correct use or recasts of errors following ungrammatical responses. IC was assessed with a three-item battery of tasks that required suppressing a prepotent response in favor of a non-canonical one. Results showed that IC was associated with children's initial production of irregular forms, but not associated with their post-feedback production. Findings are discussed in terms of current theories of past tense use and acquisition.
Abstract Background Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have reduced interest in huma... more Abstract Background Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have reduced interest in human faces and atypical event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in response to face stimuli, suggesting that face processing may be a functional marker of ASD susceptibility. Method This report explored the visual processing of individuals with ASD (n = 50) compared with their first-degree relatives (n = 117) using electroencephalogram (EEG), and associated EEG response with specific polymorphisms in the COMT, OXTR, SLC6A4 and DAT1 genes. Results Polymorphisms in the COMT and OXTR genes were not associated with any specific EEG response; on the other hand, the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism located upstream of SLC6A4 was associated with increased latency of the P1 component of the EEG response, and DAT1 genotype correlated with reduced amplitude of the N170 component in male participants with ASD. Conclusion These results suggest an interaction between DAT1 genotype and male participants with ASD characterized by reduced cognitive performance when processing faces as measured by EEG. Identifying ASD functional markers and grouping individuals with shared genetic biomarkers or endophenotypes may facilitate greater understanding of the heterogeneity underlying ASD leading to improved diagnosis and treatment of ASD.
The current study is the first to examine the relation of childhood abuse and neglect history to ... more The current study is the first to examine the relation of childhood abuse and neglect history to theory of mind decoding accuracy as moderated by depression. Fifty-five young adults with current or lifetime unipolar depression diagnosis and 70 never-depressed young adults completed the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes task,' (RMET). Childhood emotional abuse, physical abuse, and neglect were assessed with a gold-standard contextual interview with standardized, independent ratings. Poorer RMET accuracy was associated with a history of emotional abuse in the depressed group and a history of physical abuse in the non-depressed group. In contrast, across both groups, those with a history of neglect showed significantly enhanced theory of mind decoding accuracy compared to those without. Further, differential accuracy across positive, negative, and neutral valenced stimuli in the RMET was observed in each model. These findings indicate that distinct theory of mind performance result...
Everyday understanding of the social world relies, at least in part, on having a theory of mind—a... more Everyday understanding of the social world relies, at least in part, on having a theory of mind—an understanding of how mental states such as beliefs, desires, and intentions cause human behavior. After introducing the core conceptual distinctions to frame discussion of the issues, we review a wide range of literature pertaining to the development of a range of theory of mind understandings; the cognitive, neurobiological, and experiential factors that contribute to those developments; and how the development of theory of mind affects a variety of social competencies, in typical and atypical development. Finally, we discuss various theories of theory of mind development and broader importance of theory of mind research for the field.
Although we can support Heyes' ca... more Although we can support Heyes' call for more research on mechanisms, we disagree that the problem has been ignored as Heyes suggests. We also doubt that basic learning mechanisms are alone sufficient to account for the broad range of findings in the selective social learning literature. Although phylogenetically shared learning mechanisms must support selective social learning, we believe that they must also be guided by top-down conceptual considerations that may be special to humans. Research to date has been focused on establishing the boundary conditions on selective social learning, with the goal of making generalizations that will constrain theorizing about the character of that special knowledge. This is critical to our understanding of both why and how selective social learning manifests in children.
Successful negotiation of human social interactions rests on having a theory of mind—an understan... more Successful negotiation of human social interactions rests on having a theory of mind—an understanding of how others' behaviors can be understood in terms of internal mental states, such as beliefs, desires, intentions, and emotions. A core theory-of-mind skill is the ability to decode others' mental states on the basis of observable information, such as facial expressions. Although several recent studies have focused on the neural correlates of reasoning about mental states, no research has addressed the question of what neural systems underlie mental state decoding. We used dense-array eventrelated potentials (ERP) to show that decoding mental states from pictures of eyes is associated with an N270–400 component over inferior frontal and anterior temporal regions of the right hemisphere. Source estimation procedures suggest that orbitofrontal and medial temporal regions may underlie this ERP effect. These findings suggest that different components of everyday theory-of-mind...
We examined differences between dysphoric and non-dysphoric adults in their pattern of event-rela... more We examined differences between dysphoric and non-dysphoric adults in their pattern of event-related potentials (ERPs) while reasoning about true- and false-beliefs.
Although we know much about the conditions under which children demonstrate selective social lear... more Although we know much about the conditions under which children demonstrate selective social learning, we have a limited understanding of the cognitive mechanisms by which children's selectivity manifests. Here, we report findings from a brain electrophysiological (ERP) study designed to determine the extent to which words presented by ignorant speakers were later both familiar to children and associated with semantic meaning. Forty-eight children (mean age = 6.5 years) first experienced novel word training from either a knowledgeable or an ignorant speaker. Children's ERPs were subsequently recorded as they heard a recording of the speaker using the novel word, followed by a picture of either the object the word was paired with during training (congruent) or a distractor object that was also present during training (incongruent). Children trained by a knowledgeable speaker showed both N200 and N400 effects to the incongruent word-referent pairings, thereby suggesting that t...
We investigated whether children's inhibitory control (IC) is associated with their ability t... more We investigated whether children's inhibitory control (IC) is associated with their ability to produce irregular past tense verb forms as well as learn from corrective feedback following overregularization errors. Forty-eight 3;6 to 4;5 year old children were tested on the irregular past tense and provided with adult corrective input via models of correct use or recasts of errors following ungrammatical responses. IC was assessed with a three-item battery of tasks that required suppressing a prepotent response in favor of a non-canonical one. Results showed that IC was associated with children's initial production of irregular forms, but not associated with their post-feedback production. Findings are discussed in terms of current theories of past tense use and acquisition.
Abstract Background Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have reduced interest in huma... more Abstract Background Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have reduced interest in human faces and atypical event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in response to face stimuli, suggesting that face processing may be a functional marker of ASD susceptibility. Method This report explored the visual processing of individuals with ASD (n = 50) compared with their first-degree relatives (n = 117) using electroencephalogram (EEG), and associated EEG response with specific polymorphisms in the COMT, OXTR, SLC6A4 and DAT1 genes. Results Polymorphisms in the COMT and OXTR genes were not associated with any specific EEG response; on the other hand, the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism located upstream of SLC6A4 was associated with increased latency of the P1 component of the EEG response, and DAT1 genotype correlated with reduced amplitude of the N170 component in male participants with ASD. Conclusion These results suggest an interaction between DAT1 genotype and male participants with ASD characterized by reduced cognitive performance when processing faces as measured by EEG. Identifying ASD functional markers and grouping individuals with shared genetic biomarkers or endophenotypes may facilitate greater understanding of the heterogeneity underlying ASD leading to improved diagnosis and treatment of ASD.
The current study is the first to examine the relation of childhood abuse and neglect history to ... more The current study is the first to examine the relation of childhood abuse and neglect history to theory of mind decoding accuracy as moderated by depression. Fifty-five young adults with current or lifetime unipolar depression diagnosis and 70 never-depressed young adults completed the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes task,' (RMET). Childhood emotional abuse, physical abuse, and neglect were assessed with a gold-standard contextual interview with standardized, independent ratings. Poorer RMET accuracy was associated with a history of emotional abuse in the depressed group and a history of physical abuse in the non-depressed group. In contrast, across both groups, those with a history of neglect showed significantly enhanced theory of mind decoding accuracy compared to those without. Further, differential accuracy across positive, negative, and neutral valenced stimuli in the RMET was observed in each model. These findings indicate that distinct theory of mind performance result...
Everyday understanding of the social world relies, at least in part, on having a theory of mind—a... more Everyday understanding of the social world relies, at least in part, on having a theory of mind—an understanding of how mental states such as beliefs, desires, and intentions cause human behavior. After introducing the core conceptual distinctions to frame discussion of the issues, we review a wide range of literature pertaining to the development of a range of theory of mind understandings; the cognitive, neurobiological, and experiential factors that contribute to those developments; and how the development of theory of mind affects a variety of social competencies, in typical and atypical development. Finally, we discuss various theories of theory of mind development and broader importance of theory of mind research for the field.
Although we can support Heyes' ca... more Although we can support Heyes' call for more research on mechanisms, we disagree that the problem has been ignored as Heyes suggests. We also doubt that basic learning mechanisms are alone sufficient to account for the broad range of findings in the selective social learning literature. Although phylogenetically shared learning mechanisms must support selective social learning, we believe that they must also be guided by top-down conceptual considerations that may be special to humans. Research to date has been focused on establishing the boundary conditions on selective social learning, with the goal of making generalizations that will constrain theorizing about the character of that special knowledge. This is critical to our understanding of both why and how selective social learning manifests in children.
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