Interpretation of ambiguous situations: evidence for a dissociation between social and physical threat in williams syndrome.
People with Williams syndrome over-read danger in physical but not social scenes, so aim anxiety work at tangible threats.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers showed unclear pictures to two groups. One group had Williams syndrome. The other group had typical development.
Each person had to say if the scene felt safe or dangerous. Some pictures showed social scenes, like people talking. Others showed physical scenes, like a loose rock above a path.
What they found
The Williams group saw more danger in the physical scenes. They did not differ on the social scenes.
The result fits the known anxiety profile of Williams syndrome. These individuals worry most about concrete, physical harm.
How this fits with other research
Wagels et al. (2020) ran a similar social-vs-physical test with autistic youth. Autistic kids also over-reacted only to non-social provocation. The pattern is a close cousin to the Williams finding.
Kaland et al. (2007) used a case-control design to look at speed of mental versus physical judgments in Asperger syndrome. Both studies use the same blueprint: compare clinical and typical groups on social and non-social tasks.
Together the papers show a rule: in several neurodevelopmental conditions, threat bias sticks to the non-social world.
Why it matters
If you treat anxiety in Williams syndrome, target physical-safety worries first. Social stories about friendship may miss the mark. Use pictures or role-play about storms, dogs, or heights. Check if the same split applies to your clients with other diagnoses. A quick probe: ask them to rate both a flickering light and an unclear frown. You may find the worry lives only in one column.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Run a brief threat-rating task with five physical and five social photos; note which ones the client tags as unsafe and build your intervention there.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Williams syndrome (WS) is associated with an unusual profile of anxiety, characterised by increased rates of non-social anxiety but not social anxiety (Dodd and Porter, J Ment Health Res Intellect Disabil 2(2):89-109, 2009). The present research examines whether this profile of anxiety is associated with an interpretation bias for ambiguous physical, but not social, situations. Sixteen participants with WS, aged 13-34 years, and two groups of typically developing controls matched to the WS group on chronological age (CA) and mental age (MA), participated. Consistent with the profile of anxiety reported in WS, the WS group were significantly more likely to interpret an ambiguous physical situation as threatening than both control groups. However, no between-group differences were found on the ambiguous social situations.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2011 · doi:10.1007/s10803-010-1048-1