Table 2.
Ethogram listing the 11 disinhibited behaviours and their definition.
| Behaviour label | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Compulsivity | ||
| Utilisation behaviour (Snowden et al., 2002) | Grasping and touching objects of the environment without any contextual reason | Opening and closing the window without any real purpose |
| Perseveration (Snowden et al., 2002) | Difficulty in shifting mental set and behavioural perseveration | Keep trying to open the tap unsuccessfully (no running water in the room) |
| Repetitive movements (Rascovsky et al., 2011) |
Repeating stereotyped, compulsive/ritualistic behaviours | Rubbing hands |
| Compulsive eating (Rascovsky et al., 2011) | Eating excessive amounts of food in the absence of real hunger and/or inappropriate foods in the specific context | Eating canned sardines just after breakfast |
| Social Disinhibition | ||
| Aggressive behaviour towards investigator (Rascovsky et al., 2011) | Showing hostility, verbal or physical aggressiveness towards the investigator | Angrily yelling “Come in” when the investigator knocks repeatedly at the door |
| Familiar behaviour towards investigator (Rascovsky et al., 2011) | Showing inappropriate familiarity towards the investigator | Speaking in inappropriately colloquial language |
| Nudity (Rascovsky et al., 2011) | Exposing inappropriate parts of one's body | Removing one's pants |
| Harsh handling of objects (Rascovsky et al., 2011) | Handling an object of the room in a way which may cause potential damage, thus showing lack of respect for other people’s possessions | Trying to break a locker box instead of searching for the key |
| Inappropriate gesture or posture (Rascovsky et al., 2011) | Impolite, inappropriate physical behaviour in a social context | Picking one’s nose/teeth |
| Lack of decorum (Rascovsky et al., 2011) | Failing to respect cultural norms of politeness | Yawning, sneezing or coughing without covering one’s mouth |
| Disregards for rules or investigator | Lack of response to social cues, ignoring instructions given by the investigator | Not answering the investigator’s questions |
Behavioural coding data were collected through the continuous sampling method (all occurrences of behaviours were recorded) using The Observer XT (Noldus). Behavioural coding was conducted based on the definitions of this ethogram. The number of occurrences of each disinhibited behaviour was summed for each participant, and these 11 sub-scores were then summed within each behavioural category to obtain a global scores of compulsivity and social disinhibition, specific to each individual.