Is a new advanced test of theory of mind, Japanese version effective as the auxiliary diagnosis of high functioning autism and Asperger's disorder?

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We newly developed an advanced test of theory of mind, Japanese version, which consists of 10 tasks, to create an objective auxiliary diagnosis method for high-functioning pervasive development disorder(high functioning autism and Asperger's disorder). We investigated the ages at which children can understand the contents of the computer software version in 472 normal elementary school students. White lies were understood at the second grade, and jokes, persuasions and sarcasm were understood at the fourth grade. Examinations of the difference of the passage rates between 8 HFPDD adults and 55 normal adults using the workbook version revealed discrimination effectiveness in 5 out of 10 tasks. Examinations on the relationships between the results of the WISC-III and our test in the HFPDD group suggested that the ability to understand implicit meaning was not associated with intelligence. The results suggest the effectiveness of our test as an objective auxiliary diagnosis method for HFPDD.