(PS3-C53) The Hinting Task in Higher-functioning Populations: Preliminary Revisions

Theory of Mind (ToM) - the ability to infer others’ mental states - is an important component in social interactions (Bell et al., 2010). While ToM impairment has been implicated in a wide variety of disorders, including psychotic disorders (e.g., Bora et al., 2009), autism (e.g., Baron-Cohen et al., 1985), and bipolar disorder (e.g., Wolf et al., 2010), there has been little consensus as to the best way to measure ToM.

One of the most common ways of measuring ToM is the Hinting Task. First devised by Corcoran, Mercer & Frith (1995), it consists of 10 vignettes describing interactions between 2 individuals. One character provides a hint to the other character and the participant is asked what the character “really means.” If the participant answers correctly, s/he is given a score of 2 for that item; if not, s/he is provided with an additional hint. If a correct answer is given after the hint, the participant receives a score of 1 for the item; if the answer is incorrect, a score of 0 is assigned. Because the measure was originally developed in the UK, an adaptation (Grieg et al., 2004) us often used for North American samples, where American names and brands are substituted for the original British ones (Bell et al., 2010).

Despite the frequency with which the Hinting Task is used in ToM studies, there remains little standardization. For example, a common problem faced by researchers is a ceiling effect – because the test was designed for use with children or others with somewhat compromised cognitive functions, the items are often too easy for non-clinical populations. This results in a strong negative skew to the distribution and poor variability (Martin et al., 2015). Therefore, researchers often create their own additional hinting items (e.g., Marjoram et al., 2005) in an attempt to avoid the ceiling and better discriminate intact from impaired functioning in non-clinical populations. Unfortunately, this ad-hoc approach to measurement results in compromised psychometrics and difficulty in comparing results across studies (Bell et al., 2010).
The present study reports some preliminary data for a revised, expanded Hinting Task. Twenty-five additional items were developed by our group and these were compared to the original Corcoran/Grieg items and items developed by Marjoram et al. (2005). Preliminary results based on 145 participants thus far suggest better reliability for the expanded scale (alpha~.85) than the original scale (alpha~.50), as well as improved skewness and good test-retest reliability (r~.80). Further, correlations between the revised Hinting and other ToM measures (e.g., Mind-in-the-Eyes test, Story Comprehension test) were higher than symptom measures (e.g., measures of depression, OCD symptoms). Data continue to be collected.