TASIT

To develop a clinically sensitive test of social perception for people with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

An assessment tool comprising videotaped vignettes and response probes was developed in successive stages and tested on both normal participants and those with TBI. SUBJECTS: A total of 169 normal adults and 7 adults with severe TBI (pilot studies), 283 normal adults, and 12 people with severe TBI (main studies). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: "The Awareness of Social Inference Test" (TASIT) comprises videotaped vignettes of everyday social interactions and has three parts, each with alternate forms. The Emotion Evaluation Test (EET) assesses recognition of spontaneous emotional expression (happy, surprised, sad, anxious, angry, disgusted, and neutral). The Social Inference-Minimal (SI-M) test assesses comprehension of sincere versus sarcastic exchanges, whereas the Social Inference-Enriched test (SI-E) assesses lies versus sarcasm. In both SI-M and SI-E speaker demeanor (voice, facial expression) indicate the intended meaning of the exchange. In addition, the SI-E vignettes have other contextual clues that reveal the speakers' intentions. Performance on SI-E and SI-E is assessed via four standard questions per item probing for understanding of the emotions, intentions, beliefs, and meanings of the speakers and their exchanges.