Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Social cognition consists of the ways that we perceive, interpret, and respond to social information such as faces and behaviours. The recently developed Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT) examines four aspects of social cognition: 1) cognitive theory of mind (your ability to infer another persons beliefs), 2) affective theory of mind (your ability to infer another persons emotions), 3) interpersonal understanding of social norms (whether another person is behaving in the same way as others), and 4) intrapersonal understanding of social norms (whether you would behave in the same way as others). The ESCoT has been validated for use among adults with autism spectrum disorder and acquired brain injury patients. However, it is still unknown whether the ESCoT can be used with older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), who often experience significant difficulties in this area due to memory loss. It is important to determine the ESCoTs ability to accurately detect social cognitive impairments in older adults with aMCI, as these impact daily social interactions, interpersonal relationships, and overall functioning in society. I aim to analyze the validity of the ESCoT in older adults with aMCI to determine whether the test is an accurate measure of social cognition in this group. Based on previous research on the ESCoT and current knowledge of aMCI, I hypothesize that aMCI participants will perform more poorly on the ESCoT relative to healthy older adults, and that this same relationship will be present on more established social cognitive tests. The results will guide clinicians decisions to include the ESCoT in neuropsychological assessments, allowing for a clearer picture of patient health and earlier intervention.