Faux pas understanding in children and adolescents with mild intellectual disability

Faux pas (socijalni gaf) se javlja kada neko kaže drugoj osobi nešto što je nezgrapno, povređujuće ili uvredljivo, ne znajući, ili ne shvatajući, da to nije trebalo da bude rečeno. Razumevanje ovih situacija se koristi kao način za proveru naprednijeg korišćenja teorije uma, a koliko je autorima ovog rada poznato, nije do sada ispitivano kod populacije osoba sa intelektualnom ometenošću. Cilj istraživanja je da ispita da li i na kom uzrastu deca i adolescenti sa lakom intelektualnom ometenošću počinju da prepoznaju i razumeju faux pas i kakav je odnos ove sposobnosti sa polom i jezičkim veštinama ispitanika. Inicijalni uzorak je činilo 120 ispitanika sa lakom intelektualnom ometenošću, uzrasta od 8 do 16 godina. U istraživanju su primenjeni: strip-priča „Sanja i Ana“, adaptirane test priče za ispitivanje faux pas, Kliničke skale receptivnog i ekspresivnog govora Lurija- Nebraska neuropsihološke baterije za decu i Test pragmatskog jezika. Rezultati pokazuju da je oko 15% ispitanika uspešno u razumevanju faux pas situacija i da se ovaj nivo uspeha ne javlja pre 12. godine. Između ispitanih jezičkih veština i faux pas pronađene su značajne korelacije srednjih vrednosti, dok pol ispitanika nije bio značajan za razumevanje ovih situacija. Dobijeni rezultati pokazuju da bar deo ispitane populacije, iako sa zakašnjenjem, može ovladati naprednim aspektima teorije uma.Faux pas occurs when someone says something that the interlocutor perceives as awkward, hurtful or offensive, unaware that it was not to be told. Understanding of these situations is used as a tool for the assessment of advanced theory of mind that (as far as we know) has not been studied yet in the population of individuals with intellectual disability. The objective of this research is to determine whether and when children and adolescents with mild intellectual disability start to recognize and understand faux pas, and to explore the relationship between this ability and participants’ sex and linguistic competence. The initial sample consisted of 120 participants with mild intellectual disability, ranging between 8 and 16 years of age. The following assessment tools have been used: The Sally-Anne test, the adapted test stories for an assessment of the faux pas, the Clinical scales of the receptive and expressive speech of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery for Children and the Test of Pragmatic Language. The results show that about 15% of the participants were able to understand faux pas situations and that this level of success would not occur before the age of 12. The obtained results indicate that significant correlations of moderate value exist between language abilities and the faux pas, while the participants’ sex was not related to understanding of the faux pas situations. The obtained results show that at least a part of the examined population, although with delay, may master the advanced aspects of Theory of Mind