Citation

Buon M, Dupoux E, Jacob P, Chaste P, Leboyer M, Zalla T. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 2013; 43(2): 458-470.

Affiliation

Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et de Psycholinguistique, Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique, Département d'Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France, marinebuon@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10803-012-1588-7

PMID

22760338

Abstract

In the present study, we investigated the ability to assign moral responsibility and punishment in adults with high functioning autism or Asperger Syndrome (HFA/AS), using non-verbal cartoons depicting an aggression, an accidental harm or a mere coincidence. Participants were asked to evaluate the agent's causal and intentional roles, his responsibility and the punishment he deserves for his action. Adults with HFA/AS did not differ in judgments of suffering and causality from adults with typical development. However, subtle difficulties with judgments of intentional action and moral judgments were observed in participants with HFA/AS. These results are discussed in the light of emerging studies that deal with integrity of moral reasoning in individuals with autism spectrum disorders.

Language: en