The results of this longitudinal study concluded two main findings:
1. Hot executive function (EF) is greatly correlated with theory of mind in children with ASD. 
2. Cool EF ability combined with verbal comprehension ability conciliate the correlation of hot EF and theory of mind.

Oakland University

A longitudinal study was conducted from 2015 to 2018 on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in order to examine the data relationship between hot and cool executive functioning, verbal comprehension, and theory of mind in children with ASD (with normal intellectual abilities).

Executive Functioning and Theory of Mind in Children with ASD Study

Yu, Y. T., Li, H. J., Tsai, C. H., Lin, C. H., Lai, S. S., &amp; Chen, K. L. (2020). Cool Executive Function and verbal comprehension mediate the relation of hot executive function and theory of mind in children with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Research, 14(5), 921–931. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2412 

Cool Executive Function and verbal comprehension mediate the relation of hot executive function and theory of mind in children with autism spectrum disorder

During this longitudinal study, each participant was given the following assessments:
- WISC-4
- ToMTB
- DCCS
- CGT
Caregivers of each child participant were also asked to complete parts of SRS-2 self-report. 

Longitudinal Study Experimental Procedures

During this longitudinal research project, a sample of 97 children with ASD between the ages of 6 years and 12 years old was studied in Taiwan. Among all the children, the mean age in this study was 8.5 years old and most participants were male (89.7%). Each child was selected for this study by a qualified psychiatrist who followed a specific set of selection criteria.

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