Background and Aim: The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating theory of mind and attention bias in students with subthreshold symptoms of autism and normal students.
Method: This research utilized a quantitative approach with a causal-comparative design, comparing two groups of students with high and low subthreshold autism symptoms. The research population included all the students of Farhangian University (Beytolhoda Amol), Payam Noor University, Shomal University and Amol Institute of Higher Education who were studying in the academic year of 2022-2023. The research sample included 40 undergraduate female students aged 19 to 25, selected through the Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum (AdAS spectrum) screening test. The sample comprised 20 individuals with high autism scores and 20 with low autism scores. Data was collected using an Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum questionnaire, a story-based empathy computer task (theory of mind), and a Stroop computer task.
Results: Statistical analysis using multivariate analysis of variance test showed that between two groups in terms of target attribution (IA), emotional attribution (EA), control condition (CI) and attention bias (in dot conditions), attention bias (in color or interference), attention bias (in the condition of color-to-word ratio), attention bias (total error) there is a significant difference.
Conclusion: The results demonstrated that normal students outperformed students with subthreshold symptoms of autism in theory of mind and attention bias. This suggests that cognitive factors can impact the performance of individuals with autism.