A Level Psychology OCR Practice Exam

In Baron-Cohen et al's results, what was noted about the Tourettes group?

1. They scored higher than the autism group.

2. They showed no emotional recognition issues.

3. They demonstrated significant errors on Happé's strange stories.

4. They had no significant difference in eye recognition tasks.

The correct answer is: They scored higher than the autism group.

The results of Baron-Cohen et al.'s study highlighted specific characteristics of the Tourettes group, particularly in their performance on various tasks. The Tourettes group was observed to score higher than the autism group in terms of certain social cognitive assessments, including emotional recognition. This aspect of the findings suggests that individuals with Tourette syndrome may possess better capabilities in recognizing emotions compared to individuals with autism, who often struggle with this task. When analyzing the context of the other options, it becomes clear why they are less aligned with the findings. The statement regarding emotional recognition issues in the Tourettes group contrasts with the observed results; they did not demonstrate significant emotional recognition difficulties. Likewise, the mention of significant errors on Happé's strange stories would imply a level of difficulty with understanding complex social narratives, which the Tourettes group did not exhibit to the same extent as the autism group. Lastly, while eye recognition tasks are essential in the assessment, the Tourettes group's performance indicated a significant difference in recognition capabilities, rather than having no significant difference, which points to their relative strengths in specific areas. In summary, the performance of the Tourettes group being better than that of the autism group in emotional recognition plays a crucial role in understanding