Abstract
When asking for a cup of coffee, performing the goal of the movement (grasping the cup) might be different for the person serving the coffee. These types of coordination occur on a daily basis, however little attention is paid to how the end goal for the person handing the coffee is accomplished or what they perceive the end goal is (i.e. person drinks their coffee or they place the coffee on the counter?). This type of interpersonal has profound implications for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) research, as it may be more difficult for them to anticipate how another person would use an object. Therefore the purpose of this experiment was to determine how controls and individuals with ASD would interact with a confederate was asking to hand a tool to the confederate. Theory of Mind (Baron-Cohen et al., 1985) would suggest that these individuals may more difficulties in producing this joint-action paradigm. However the results demonstrate that both the controls and individuals with ASD hand the tool to the confederate in a manner that facilitates the use by the confederate (i.e. comfortable orientation for the confederate). This suggests that both the controls and individuals with ASD incurred the cost of the movement (awkward posture) to allow the confederate to have a beginning state comfort to accomplish the task in an easier manner.Acknowledgments: NSERC, Woodview Manor