ASD Flashcards
Franky Happe’s Central Coherence theory of autism
Acknowledges a focus on the details and an inability to group details together to see the bigger picture. This suggests that there are individual differences in our ability to focus on details.
Broaden and Build theory
Suggests that we focus in on details when stressed or anxious and that a positive mood can help us look at the bigger picture.
This implies that we may see transient changes in our ability to focus on details and group these together to see the bigger picture, depending on our mood.
Positive psychology- positive mod helps us to focus on bigger picture
> Positive emotions broaden our thoughts, allowing novel thoughts, activities and relationships.
These support the building of enduring personal resources
These in turn enhance health, survival and fulfilment.
Cumulatively, this produces more positive experiences of positive emotions, creating an upward spiral.
The elemental model of learning
Focusing on details
The configural model of learning
Capturing the bigger picture
Weak central coherence
It is a bias for featural and local information (details) and relative failure to see “the bigger picture”.
We differ in whether we focus on processing parts and wholes.
Frith hypothesised that ppl with ASD show “weak central coherence”
Findings that it is more cognitive style than a execute dysfunction.
Pearce’s configural theory
Assumes that rather than learn about individual elements (i.e., Tone and Noise), when stimuli are presented together, we are processing that configuration of elements (AB treated as C)= configural unit.
If it is NEW it should be treated as the beginning of conditioning (there should be a surprise learning)
BUT AB is a bit similar to A+ and B+ so associative strength of configural units depends on their similarity to other things we have learnt about==> so we can generalise
We take what we learned about A and multiply it by how similar it is to what we learned about AB and add it to what we learned about B and multiply it by how similar it is to AB
Rescorla-Wagner’s elemental theory
Predicts summation.
If each stimulus is trained to asymptote (the equation) - that is each stimulus fully predicts the associated outcome, then the associative strength for each stimulus should be 1.
Present the two stimuli together and the expectation of outcome should be 2.
BUT
The Rescorla Wagner model cannot easily predict the lack of summation.
Generalisation
Used in Pearce’s configural model, the generalisation between 2 stimuli depends on the degree of similarity of the 2.
Discrimination learning
Refers to learning set up for animals or humans to learn that a stimulus (or some stimuli) predict one outcome while another stimulus (or other stimuli) predict no outcome.
e.g. A+, B+ but AB-
Gestalt theory
Global
Gestalt psychologists, e.g., Wertheimer (1922) argued that humans often experience things that are not part of simple sensations.
Suggest that we initially register unitary objects and relationships. Later, if necessary, we analyse these objects or relationships and break them down into component parts.
A specific sensory whole is qualitatively different from the complex that one might predict by considering only its parts - the whole is greater than the sum of parts
The whole has primacy, we see the whole and then can deconstruct this into details.
Feature integration theory
Triesman and Gelade (1980)
Suggests that we require attention to integrate separate features to see a whole.
Features are registered more easily, automatically and in parallel. Tt is focal attention which provides the “glue” to integrate separate features into unitary objects.
> Very influential on idea of role of attention in object perception
But it doesn’t account for a lot of things which affect object perception (findings from years after the theory was proposed) + attention not necessary for visual binding to take place
There are other aspects than attention which affect the object perception e.g. synchronous neuron firing (Bauer et al., 2009) bc synchronicity of neural firing provides an index that features belong together
Global precedence effect
In Navon task (H and S)
Ppts are faster to identify the global letter than the local target letter.
Integral vs. separable stimulus dimensions
Integral: colours
Separable: angels, sizes
Perceptual interactions are more likely to take place for
uni-sensory than multi-sensory == more likely in integral than inseparable
Could be an idea of what conditioning is happening e.g. when you pair drinking with sickness = stronger than when you pair drinking with light and loud noise
Summation
Responding increased in the presence of the compound stimulus
If you are conditioned A+ and B+ in AB your CR is “summed”
BUT is not always observed–> might depend on what is paired together
Configural or hidden unit
When we are presented AB (configuration of what we have learned = A+ and B+)
It is not perceived as the combination of the 2 but rather something NEW that is a bit similar to A and a bit similar to B.
