High stage affective theory of mind in alexithymia:the evidence from eye-movement / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore high stage affective theory of mind(ToM) of alexithymics.Methods 24 alexithymics (study group,TAS-20 ≥ 61) and 26 non-alexithymics (control group,TAS-20 ≤ 51) were screened from college students according to the sore of TAS-20.The scores of reading the mind in the eyes test(RMET),fixation numbers and fixation duration in area of interest (AOI) were recorded by HiSpeed Eye Tracker.The data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test and Chi-square test.Results There was no differences in scores of RMET between control group and study group (M(Q)23.50(5.00) vs 24.00 (5.00),Z=-1.044,P＞0.05).Fixation numbers and fixation duration in study group were higher than those in control group (fixation number616.00(412.80) vs 579.00(371.30),Z=-2.010,P＜0.05;fixation duration187363.35(106339.28)msvs 139087.55(67335.58)ms,Z=-2.632,P＜0.01).Conclusion Alexithymics are impaired in high stage affective ToM.