{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T06:04:17Z","timestamp":1790229857149,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":108,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790208000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100013209","name":"Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100013209","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Theory of Mind, i.e., the ability to attribute mental states to others, is critical for social communication but is often impaired in autism. Although narrative tasks have been extensively used to study Theory of Mind in autism, moral judgement of the story protagonists\u2019 actions has not received equal attention. The current study aimed to assess cognitive and affective Theory of Mind, as well as moral reasoning skills in autistic children through Aesop\u2019s fable comprehension.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In this study, 25 autistic children and two equally-sized groups of typically-developing age- and language-matched children listened to two fables, and answered questions assessing the attribution of affective and cognitive mental states to fable protagonists, as well as their judgment about the moral of each fable. Crucially, the two fables differed in terms of language complexity, which was operationalized in terms of vocabulary and syntax, as well as in the use of decontextualized language, i.e., expressions that anchor events in the past.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We found that the autistic children showed significantly lower comprehension performance than typically-developing age-matched children in affective and cognitive Theory of Mind questions, while no differences were found between autistic and typically-developing language-matched children. Also, the autistic children exhibited considerable weaknesses in verbalizing the moral, however, this weakness depended on the language complexity of the fables.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The findings demonstrate that autistic children face challenges in both Theory of Mind and moral judgment in narrative comprehension, particularly when the stimuli are linguistically demanding. Aesop\u2019s fables seem to offer a promising venue as a window into the moral judgment skills of autistic children.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1877679","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T05:43:21Z","timestamp":1790228601000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Narrative discourse comprehension in Greek-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder: evidence from Aesop\u2019s fables"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Eleni","family":"Peristeri","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, School of English, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki","place":["Thessaloniki, Greece"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Kosma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, School of English, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki","place":["Thessaloniki, Greece"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Evangelia","family":"Panagiotidou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, School of English, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki","place":["Thessaloniki, Greece"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Evdokia","family":"Tagkouli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cAghia Sophia\u201d Children\u2019s Hospital","place":["Athens, Greece"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Andreou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Speech and Language Therapy, University of Peloponnese","place":["Kalamata, Greece"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V)","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.3390\/languages10010004","article-title":"Task effects on sentence comprehension in children with autism Spectrum disorder: evidence from sentence\u2013picture-matching tests","volume":"10","author":"Andreou","year":"","journal-title":"Language"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"202898","DOI":"10.1016\/j.reia.2026.202898","article-title":"Enhancing theory of mind through language and executive function training: evidence from bilingual and monolingual autistic children","volume":"133","author":"Andreou","year":"","journal-title":"Res. Autism"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"632","DOI":"10.1002\/aur.70009","article-title":"Bilingualism effects in metaphor and simile comprehension and production in children with autism Spectrum disorder","volume":"18","author":"Andreou","year":"","journal-title":"Autism Res."},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"393","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci10060393","article-title":"Theory of mind deficits and neurophysiological operations in autism spectrum disorders: a review","volume":"10","author":"Andreou","year":"2020","journal-title":"Brain Sci."},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"202771","DOI":"10.1016\/j.reia.2025.202771","article-title":"Integrating artificial intelligence and natural language processing to investigate lexical errors in autistic preschoolers","volume":"130","author":"Andreou","year":"","journal-title":"Res. Autism"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1002\/cd.96","article-title":"The role of mental state understanding in the development of moral cognition and moral action","volume":"2004","author":"Baird","year":"2004","journal-title":"New Dir. Child Adolesc. Dev."},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1142","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-020-04595-0","article-title":"Cognitive and affective aspects of theory of mind in Greek-speaking children with autism spectrum disorders","volume":"51","author":"Baldimtsi","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Autism Dev. Disord."},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"159","DOI":"10.3109\/17549507.2014.977348","article-title":"The autism diagnostic observation schedule and narrative assessment: evidence for specific narrative impairments in autism spectrum disorders","volume":"17","author":"Banney","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. J. Speech Lang. Pathol."},{"key":"ref10","first-page":"3","volume-title":"Understanding other minds: Perspectives from Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience","author":"Baron-Cohen","year":"2000"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1191\/0265659002ct224oa","article-title":"Narrative as a tool for the assessment of linguistic and pragmatic impairments","volume":"18","author":"Botting","year":"2002","journal-title":"Child Lang. Teach. Ther."},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.4102\/sajcd.v46i1.726","article-title":"Story structure development in preschool children: an analysis of story grammar","volume":"46","author":"Chen","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Educ. Psychol."},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"161","DOI":"10.1080\/10409280701839296","article-title":"Use of decontextualized talk across story contexts: how oral storytelling and emergent reading can scaffold children's development","volume":"19","author":"Curenton","year":"2008","journal-title":"Early Educ. Dev."},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cognition.2012.11.008","article-title":"The development of intent-based moral judgment","volume":"127","author":"Cushman","year":"2013","journal-title":"Cognition"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1069","DOI":"10.1017\/S0954579419001160","article-title":"Morality in autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review","volume":"32","author":"Dempsey","year":"","journal-title":"Dev. Psychopathol."},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2202","DOI":"10.1177\/1362361320939331","article-title":"Moral foundations theory in autism spectrum disorder: a qualitative investigation","volume":"24","author":"Dempsey","year":"","journal-title":"Autism"},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"159","DOI":"10.1348\/026151000165625","article-title":"Moral sensibility, understanding others, and children\u2019s friendship interactions in the preschool period","volume":"18","author":"Dunn","year":"2000","journal-title":"Br. J. Dev. Psychol."},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"523","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2016.00523","article-title":"Exploring the role of theory of mind in moral judgment: the case of children with autism spectrum disorder","volume":"7","author":"Fadda","year":"2016","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.3758\/bf03193146","article-title":"G*power 3: a flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences","volume":"39","author":"Faul","year":"2007","journal-title":"Behav. Res. Methods"},{"key":"ref20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"737","DOI":"10.1111\/1460-6984.12175","article-title":"Inferential comprehension of 3\u20136-year-olds within the context of story grammar: a scoping review","volume":"50","author":"Filiatrault-Veilleux","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. J. Lang. Commun. Disord."},{"key":"ref21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"498","DOI":"10.1044\/0161-1461(2008\/07-0023","article-title":"Verbal working memory and story retelling in school-age children with autism","volume":"39","author":"Gabig","year":"2008","journal-title":"Lang. Speech Hear. Serv. Sch."},{"key":"ref22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"533","DOI":"10.1007\/s00426-019-01263-6","article-title":"Cognitive and affective theory of mind in adolescence: developmental aspects and associated neuropsychological variables","volume":"85","author":"Gabriel","year":"2021","journal-title":"Psychol. Res."},{"key":"ref23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.1007\/s10578-024-01676-4","article-title":"Theory of mind and social informant discrepancy in autism","volume":"57","author":"Gates","year":"2023","journal-title":"Child Psychiatry Hum. Dev."},{"key":"ref24","volume-title":"\u0395\u03bb\u03bb\u03b7\u03bd\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc WISC-III: Wechsler \u03ba\u03bb\u03af\u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03b5\u03c2 \u03bd\u03bf\u03b7\u03bc\u03bf\u03c3\u03cd\u03bd\u03b7\u03c2 \u03b3\u03b9\u03b1 \u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03b9\u03ac [Greek WISC-III: Wechsler Intelligence scale for children]","author":"Georgas","year":"1997"},{"key":"ref25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"317","DOI":"10.1177\/1362361305055417","article-title":"Moral understanding in children with autism","volume":"9","author":"Grant","year":"2005","journal-title":"Autism"},{"key":"ref26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"114","DOI":"10.1044\/0161-1461(2001\/010)","article-title":"Literate language features in spoken narratives of children with typical language and children with language impairments","volume":"32","author":"Greenhalgh","year":"2001","journal-title":"Lang. Speech Hear. Serv. Sch."},{"key":"ref27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"169","DOI":"10.1163\/9789004335370_012","volume-title":"Our Mythical Childhood... The Classics and Literature for Children and Young Adults","author":"Hall","year":"2016"},{"key":"ref28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"22","DOI":"10.1037\/a0032992","article-title":"Moral complexity in middle childhood: children\u2019s evaluations of necessary harm","volume":"50","author":"Jambon","year":"2014","journal-title":"Dev. Psychol."},{"key":"ref29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"571","DOI":"10.1007\/BF02172277","article-title":"Brief report: morality in the autistic child","volume":"26","author":"James","year":"1996","journal-title":"J. Autism Dev. Disord."},{"key":"ref30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.3200\/MONO.131.1.5-37","article-title":"Development of the comprehension and appreciation of fables","volume":"131","author":"Jose","year":"2005","journal-title":"Genet. Soc. Gen. Psychol. Monogr."},{"key":"ref31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.1007\/s11920-021-01247-7","article-title":"Social and nonsocial reward anticipation in typical development and autism spectrum disorders: current status and future directions","volume":"23","author":"Keifer","year":"2021","journal-title":"Curr. Psychiatry Rep."},{"key":"ref32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2756","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2019.02756","article-title":"Semantic-pragmatic impairment in the narratives of children with autism spectrum disorders","volume":"10","author":"Kenan","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"329","DOI":"10.1097\/TLD.0000000000000033","article-title":"Theory of mind abilities and deficits in autism spectrum disorders","volume":"34","author":"Kimhi","year":"2014","journal-title":"Top. Lang. Disord."},{"key":"ref34","first-page":"165","volume-title":"Wisdom Discourse in the Ancient World","author":"Konstantakos","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref35","first-page":"211","volume-title":"Animals and their Relation to Gods, Humans and Things in the Ancient World","author":"Korhonen","year":"2019"},{"key":"ref36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"174","DOI":"10.1179\/2047387714Y.0000000045","article-title":"Relations between moral reasoning, theory of mind and executive functions in children with autism spectrum disorders","volume":"60","author":"Kretschmer","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. J. Develop. Disab."},{"key":"ref37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"63","DOI":"10.1037\/abn0000231","article-title":"Narrative production in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and children with attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): similarities and differences","volume":"126","author":"Kuijper","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Abnorm. Psychol."},{"key":"ref38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"179","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9280.2006.01722.x","article-title":"Giudizio morale e teoria della mente nell\u2019autismo ad alto funzionamento","volume":"6","author":"Lecciso","year":"2008","journal-title":"Autismo e disturbi dello sviluppo"},{"key":"ref39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"270","DOI":"10.1080\/17470910600992197","article-title":"Transgressors, victims, and cry babies: is basic moral judgment spared in autism?","volume":"1","author":"Leslie","year":"2006","journal-title":"Soc. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4314","DOI":"10.1038\/srep04314","article-title":"The relationship between moral judgment and cooperation in children with high-functioning autism","volume":"4","author":"Li","year":"2014","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"766","DOI":"10.1016\/S2215-0366(19)30224-X","article-title":"Compensatory strategies below the behavioural surface in autism: a qualitative study","volume":"6","author":"Livingston","year":"2019","journal-title":"Lancet Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref42","volume-title":"Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-WPS (ADOS-WPS)","author":"Lord","year":"1999"},{"key":"ref43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3016","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-014-2158-y","article-title":"Quantifying narrative ability in autism spectrum disorder: a computational linguistic analysis of narrative coherence","volume":"44","author":"Losh","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Autism Dev. Disord."},{"key":"ref44","volume-title":"Study Programme of Neohellenic Language in Primary School Education","author":"Magoula","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref45","author":"M\u00e4kinen","year":"2015"},{"key":"ref46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1478","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2016.01478","article-title":"Mental state understanding and moral judgment in children with autistic spectrum disorder","volume":"7","author":"Margoni","year":"2016","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"655","DOI":"10.1080\/13803395.2013.809700","article-title":"Understanding advanced theory of mind and empathy in high-functioning adults with autism spectrum disorder","volume":"35","author":"Mathersul","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Clin. Exp. Neuropsychol."},{"key":"ref48","volume-title":"Frog on his own","author":"Mayer","year":"1973"},{"key":"ref49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2688","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1011734108","article-title":"Impaired theory of mind for moral judgment in high-functioning autism","volume":"108","author":"Moran","year":"2011","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"ref50","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"485","DOI":"10.1017\/S030500091300007X","article-title":"Pragmatic abilities in narrative production: a cross-disorder comparison","volume":"41","author":"Norbury","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Child Lang."},{"key":"ref51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"153","DOI":"10.1111\/1468-0017.00071","article-title":"Psychological and deontic concepts: separate domains or intimate connection?","volume":"13","author":"Nunez","year":"1998","journal-title":"Mind Lang."},{"key":"ref52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1265","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-8624.2007.01065.x","article-title":"Children with autism illuminate the role of social intention in word learning","volume":"78","author":"Parish-Morris","year":"2007","journal-title":"Child Dev."},{"key":"ref53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"23637","DOI":"10.1038\/srep23637","article-title":"Divergent roles of autistic and alexithymic traits in utilitarian moral judgments in adults with autism","volume":"6","author":"Patil","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1215\/9780822382577","volume-title":"Fables of power: Aesopian Writing and Political history","author":"Patterson","year":"1991"},{"key":"ref55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"205","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-004-1999-1","article-title":"Perception and production of prosody by speakers with autistic spectrum disorders","volume":"35","author":"Paul","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Autism Dev. Disord."},{"key":"ref56","first-page":"79","volume-title":"Play, Language, and Stories: The Development of Children's Literate Behavior","author":"Pellegrini","year":"1985"},{"key":"ref57","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1448","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2015.01448","article-title":"Children\u2019s understanding of Aesop\u2019s fables: relations to reading comprehension and theory of mind","volume":"6","author":"Pelletier","year":"2015","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref58","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1015","DOI":"10.1044\/1092-4388(2007\/071","article-title":"Receptive and expressive prosodic ability in children with high-functioning autism","volume":"50","author":"Pepp\u00e9","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res."},{"key":"ref59","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"543","DOI":"10.1002\/aur.3089","article-title":"Intellectual development in young children with autism spectrum disorders: a longitudinal study","volume":"17","author":"Peristeri","year":"2024","journal-title":"Autism Res."},{"key":"ref60","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"23969415251371550","DOI":"10.1177\/23969415251371550","article-title":"Profiling language skills in minimally verbal autism: findings from Greek-speaking Preschoolers","volume":"10","author":"Peristeri","year":"2025","journal-title":"Autism Develop. Lang. Impairments"},{"key":"ref61","article-title":"Acoustic speech development and gender in autism: an 8-year longitudinal study","author":"Peristeri","year":"2026","journal-title":"Autism Res."},{"key":"ref62","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1656","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci13121656","article-title":"Animacy processing in autism: event-related potentials reflect social functioning skills","volume":"13","author":"Peristeri","year":"2023","journal-title":"Brain Sci."},{"key":"ref63","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2027","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2017.02027","article-title":"Syntactic and story structure complexity in the narratives of high- and low-language ability children with autism spectrum disorder","volume":"8","author":"Peristeri","year":"2017","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref64","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"106581","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jecp.2026.106581","article-title":"The interplay between theory of mind inferencing and visual attention in narrative comprehension in autistic preschoolers","volume":"271","author":"Peristeri","year":"","journal-title":"J. Exp. Child Psychol."},{"key":"ref65","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"105999","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcomdis.2020.105999","article-title":"The impact of bilingualism on the narrative ability and the executive functions of children with autism spectrum disorders","volume":"85","author":"Peristeri","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Commun. Disord."},{"key":"ref66","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4171","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-024-06523-y","article-title":"What silent pauses can 'tell' us about the storytelling skills of autistic children: relations between pausing, language skills and executive functions","volume":"55","author":"Peristeri","year":"","journal-title":"J. Autism Dev. Disord."},{"key":"ref67","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1357590","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2024.1357590","article-title":"Reading comprehension differences between children with autism Spectrum disorder and low cognitive abilities and children with autism Spectrum disorder and intact cognitive skills: the roles of decoding, fluency and morphosyntax","volume":"15","author":"Peristeri","year":"","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref68","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-026-07390-5","article-title":"Reading minds in stories: neural dynamics of affective perspective-taking skills in children with autism Spectrum disorders","author":"Peristeri","year":"","journal-title":"J. Autism Dev. Disord."},{"key":"ref69","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2084","DOI":"10.1177\/1362361322107509","article-title":"Bilingualism effects on cognition in autistic children are not all-or-nothing: the role of socioeconomic status in intellectual skills in bilingual autistic children","volume":"26","author":"Peristeri","year":"2022","journal-title":"Autism"},{"key":"ref70","first-page":"62","volume-title":"International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends Proceedings","author":"Peristeri","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref71","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"381","DOI":"10.1016\/0885-2014(95)90003-9","article-title":"Predicting children\u2019s literacy from mother-child conversations","volume":"10","author":"Reese","year":"1995","journal-title":"Cogn. Dev."},{"key":"ref72","volume-title":"Bus Story Test","author":"Renfrew","year":""},{"key":"ref73","volume-title":"Word Finding Vocabulary Test (The Renfrew Language Scales)","author":"Renfrew","year":""},{"key":"ref74","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1607","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci11121607","article-title":"High intellectual potential and high functioning autism: clinical and neurophysiological features in a pediatric sample","volume":"11","author":"Riccioni","year":"2021","journal-title":"Brain Sci."},{"key":"ref75","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"260","DOI":"10.1055\/s-0033-1353444","article-title":"Decontextualized language input and preschoolers' vocabulary development","volume":"34","author":"Rowe","year":"2013","journal-title":"Semin. Speech Lang."},{"key":"ref76","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e12135","DOI":"10.1002\/jcv2.12135","article-title":"Pre-pragmatic language use in toddlerhood: developmental antecedents, aetiological factors, and associations to autism","volume":"3","author":"Rudling","year":"2023","journal-title":"JCPP Advan."},{"key":"ref77","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"864","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-011-1310-4","article-title":"Narrative competence and internal state language in children with Asperger syndrome, ADHD, and healthy controls","volume":"42","author":"Rumpf","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Autism Dev. Disord."},{"key":"ref78","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"67","DOI":"10.6519\/TJL.201907_17(2).0003","article-title":"Storybook narratives in mandarin-speaking pre adolescents and without autism spectrum disorder: internal state language and theory of mind abilities","volume":"17","author":"Sah","year":"2019","journal-title":"Taiwan J. Linguistics"},{"key":"ref79","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1093\/scan\/nsr023","article-title":"Neural processing associated with cognitive and affective theory of mind in adolescents and adults","volume":"7","author":"Sebastian","year":"2012","journal-title":"Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref80","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3090","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-016-2849-7","article-title":"Sociomoral reasoning, empathy, and meeting developmental tasks during the transition to adulthood in autism spectrum disorder","volume":"46","author":"Senland","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Autism Dev. Disord."},{"key":"ref81","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3956","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-019-04080-3","article-title":"Trait autism is a better predictor of empathy than alexithymia","volume":"49","author":"Shah","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Autism Dev. Disord."},{"key":"ref82","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"288","DOI":"10.1037\/0894-4105.19.3.288","article-title":"The neuroanatomical basis of understanding sarcasm and its relationship to social cognition","volume":"19","author":"Shamay-Tsoory","year":"2005","journal-title":"Neuropsychology"},{"key":"ref83","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1364","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-011-1369-8","article-title":"Moral and social reasoning in autism spectrum disorders","volume":"42","author":"Shulman","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Autism Dev. Disord."},{"key":"ref84","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2453","DOI":"10.1007\/s10936-023-10007-y","article-title":"A tale of age and abilities: Analyzing narrative macrostructure development in Chinese Preschoolers through the lens of story grammar","volume":"52","author":"Shunhua","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Psycholinguist. Res."},{"key":"ref85","volume-title":"Wechsler Preschool and Primary scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-III)","author":"Sideridis","year":"2015"},{"key":"ref86","first-page":"95","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 8th Symposium of the Panhellenic Association of Logopedists","author":"Stavrakaki","year":"2000"},{"key":"ref87","first-page":"53","volume-title":"New Directions in Discourse Processing","author":"Stein","year":"1979"},{"key":"ref88","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1016\/j.laheal.2024.03.001","article-title":"Expressive language variation, growth and predictors in mandarin-exposed young children with autism spectrum disorder","volume":"2","author":"Su","year":"2024","journal-title":"Lang. Health"},{"key":"ref89","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"311","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-8721.2007.00527.x","article-title":"Evaluating the theory-of-mind hypothesis of autism","volume":"16","author":"Tager-Flusberg","year":"2007","journal-title":"Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"ref90","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"241","DOI":"10.1017\/S0142716400007281","article-title":"Attributing mental states to story characters: a comparison of narratives produced by autistic and mentally retarded individuals","volume":"16","author":"Tager-Flusberg","year":"1995","journal-title":"Appl. Psycholinguist."},{"key":"ref91","first-page":"1","article-title":"A componential view of theory of mind","volume":"75","author":"Tager-Flusberg","year":"2000","journal-title":"Cognition"},{"key":"ref92","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1421435","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2024.1421435","article-title":"Open brain AI and language assessment","volume":"18","author":"Themistocleous","year":"2024","journal-title":"Front. Hum. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref93","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"459","DOI":"10.3390\/bs14060459","article-title":"Autism detection in children: integrating machine learning and natural language processing in narrative analysis","volume":"14","author":"Themistocleous","year":"2024","journal-title":"Behav. Sci."},{"key":"ref94","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2163","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm9072163","article-title":"Autism spectrum disorders in Greece: Nationwide prevalence in 10-11-year-old children and regional disparities","volume":"9","author":"Thomaidis","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Clin. Med."},{"key":"ref95","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1650","DOI":"10.1111\/cdev.13034","article-title":"Children's early decontextualized talk predicts academic language proficiency in midadolescence","volume":"90","author":"Uccelli","year":"2019","journal-title":"Child Dev."},{"key":"ref96","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1661","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-8624.2010.01500.x","article-title":"Young children selectively avoid helping people with harmful intentions","volume":"81","author":"Vaish","year":"2010","journal-title":"Child Dev."},{"key":"ref97","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1190","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2017.01190","article-title":"Evoking and measuring identification with narrative characters: a linguistic cues framework","volume":"8","author":"van Krieken","year":"2017","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref98","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cognition.2018.10.025","article-title":"Cross-situational and ostensive word learning in children with and without autism spectrum disorder","volume":"183","author":"Venker","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cognition"},{"key":"ref99","volume-title":"Experiment on the Expressive Vocabulary (Greek version of Renfrew Word Finding Vocabulary Test)","author":"Vogindroukas","year":"2009"},{"key":"ref100","volume-title":"The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children\u2014Third Edition","author":"Wechsler","year":"1991"},{"key":"ref101","volume-title":"The Wechsler Preschool and Primary scale of InteIligence","author":"Wechsler","year":"2002"},{"key":"ref102","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1177\/23969415211035666","article-title":"Inferential narrative comprehension ability of young school-age children on the autism spectrum","volume":"6","author":"Westerveld","year":"2021","journal-title":"Autism Develop. Lang. Impairments"},{"key":"ref103","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"260","DOI":"10.1044\/2017_LSHSS-17-0003","article-title":"The oral narrative comprehension and production abilities of verbal preschoolers on the autism spectrum","volume":"48","author":"Westerveld","year":"2017","journal-title":"Lang. Speech Hear. Serv. Sch."},{"key":"ref104","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"290","DOI":"10.1177\/0959354320966640","article-title":"Husserlian empathy and embodied simulation","volume":"31","author":"Williams","year":"2021","journal-title":"Theory Psychol."},{"key":"ref105","volume-title":"The ICD-10 Classification of mental and Behavioural Disorders:Diagnostic Criteria for Research","year":"1993"},{"key":"ref106","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"358","DOI":"10.1037\/0012-1649.24.3.358","article-title":"Intentionality and knowledge in children's judgments of actor's responsibility and recipient's emotional reaction","volume":"24","author":"Yuill","year":"1988","journal-title":"Dev. Psychol."},{"key":"ref107","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"115","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cognition.2011.06.004","article-title":"Moral judgment in adults with autism spectrum disorders","volume":"121","author":"Zalla","year":"2011","journal-title":"Cognition"},{"key":"ref108","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"817","DOI":"10.1080\/09575146.2025.2477583","article-title":"A comparison between preschool children\u2019s verbal participation during the shared reading of a wordless and a text-based rendition of Aesop\u2019s fable the lion and the mouse","volume":"45","author":"Zhang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Early Years"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1877679\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T05:43:28Z","timestamp":1790228608000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1877679\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]]},"references-count":108,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1877679"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1877679","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-1078"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-1078","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]]},"article-number":"1877679"}}