Understanding goals and intentions in low-functioning autism § Eszter Somogyi a, *, Ildiko ´ Kira ´ ly b , Gyo ¨ rgy Gergely b , Jacqueline Nadel c a Department of Cognitive Psychology, Eo ¨tvo ¨s Lora ´nd University, Izabella u. 46, H-1064 Budapest, Hungary b Cognitive Development Center, Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Na ´dor u. 9, H-1051 Budapest, Hungary c Centre E ´ motion, UMR 7593, Pavillon Cle ´rambault, Hoˆpital de la Salpeˆtrie `re, 47, Boulevard de l’Ho ˆpital, 75013 Paris, France Children interpret and predict others’ actions on the basis of the mental states they attribute to the actor. Autism is associated with a specific cognitive deficit in inferring and representing mental states, as documented by seminal studies showing difficulties with false belief tasks (Baron-Cohen, 1995; Baron-Cohen, Leslie, & Frith, 1985; Leslie & Thaiss, 1992; Perner, Frith, Leslie, & Leekam, 1989; Sodian & Frith, 1994) and with pretend play (Wing, Gould, Yeates, & Brierley, 1977). Mental states, however, vary in nature; beliefs, desires, goals, intentions, emotions as well as perceptions have been proposed in literature (Frith, Morton, & Leslie, 1991; Luo, 2011; Premack & Woodruff, 1978; Saxe, Carey, & Kanwisher, 2004; Vivanti et al., 2011). Goals, for instance may be considered as mental states that are more ‘transparent’ or observable in behaviour than beliefs and desires, at least under a broad mentalising theory (Hamilton, 2009). Still, relatively few studies have investigated goal understanding in autism and most of these studies have involved high-functioning children with autism (H-F CWA). One of the aims of this study therefore was to assess goal understanding on the other end of the autistic spectrum, in low-functioning children with autism (L-F CWA). A further issue with existing reports is that they do not distinguish in all cases between an understanding of a goal as an internal state and the understanding of the visible outcome of a goal directed action, without inferring an intentional mental state. Therefore the other aim of our study was to better Research in Developmental Disabilities 34 (2013) 3822–3832 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 22 March 2013 Received in revised form 23 July 2013 Accepted 30 July 2013 Available online 7 September 2013 Keywords: Autism Understanding goals Intentionality Deferred imitation A B S T R A C T We investigated ability to understand goals and attribute intentions in the context of two imitation studies in low-functioning, nonverbal children with autism (L-F CWA), a population that is rarely targeted by research in the domain. Down syndrome children (DSC) and typically developing children (TDC) were recruited to form matched comparison groups. In the two sets of simple action demonstrations only contextual indicators of the model’s intentions were manipulated. In the Head touch experiment the model activated a button on a toy by pushing it with the forehead, whereas in the Hidden box experiment the model used a ball with a magnet to lift a box out of its container. Both actions were unusual and non-affordant with regards to the objects involved, none of the children in the baseline condition produced them. L-F CWA imitated the experimenter exactly, regardless of the model’s intention. TDC showed appreciation of the model’s intention by imitating her actions selectively. DSC reproduced only the intentional action as often as they imitated the experimenter exactly. It is concluded that L-F CWA attributed goals to the observed model, but did not show an appreciation of the model’s intentions even in these simplified, nonverbal contexts. ß 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. § This research was funded by the Co-tutelle Scientific Exchange Programme of the French Government and was also supported by a grant from the Hungarian Science Foundation (OTKA) to the 3rd author (OTKA Grant #: NK 83997). * Corresponding author. Tel.: +36 205856003. E-mail addresses: somogyi.eszter@ppk.elte.hu, esomogyi@gmail.com (E. Somogyi). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Developmental Disabilities 0891-4222/$ – see front matter ß 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2013.07.039