ASD - Social Psychological Explanation Flashcards
1 What is E-S considered as?
a socio-cognitive theory of ASD - focusses on the impact cognitive biases can have on social interactions with others
1 What does this theory propose?
An impaired ability to empathise with others has significant social impacts and reduces the opportunity of those with ASD to practise social interactions
1 Why was this theory designed?
Explain wnat Baron-Cohen’s ToM explanation could not:
- Non social aspects of ASD
- Strengths of those with ASD
- Differences in diagnosis rates between sexes
1 What is empathising?
Drive to recognise, identify and respond to other people’s emotional states
1 What is systemising?
The drive to analyse and understand systems. Can be mechanical, numerical, collectable etc. - important in non-social contexts in attempting to predict how systems will behave and to understand the rukes/laws which govern them
1 What does Baron-Cohen argue?
Females are better at empathising while males are better at sympathising
1 What does this theory explain?
suggests?
symptoms in terms of empathising and systemising
suggests that those with ASD may have overdeveloped systemising skills
1 Supporting research (male & female) for ES?
Lawson - females performed best at empathising tasks followed by males without ASD anf finally males with ASD. No difference between males with and without ASD regarding systemising - partial contradiction
1 Supporting research (Japan) for ES?
Wakabayashi - those with ASD scored significantly lower for EQ and significantly higher for SQ
1 Methodological issues for ES?
Buchen - Focus too heavily on high functioning autism in the research that is said to support the theory - Baron Cohen needs to conduct more research on more diverse samples to make theory more representative
1 Comprehensive explanation for ES?
ASD is sometimes seen as an ‘extreme male brain’
Baron cohen - proposed reason for this bias - foetal testosterone is positively correlated with higher leels of systemising
2 What are refrigerator parents?
- Emotionally cold and distant
- Overly intellectual and critical rather than emotional
- Provided physical care
2 What did Bettelheim do?
Continue the work of Kanner by bringing the refrigerator mother theory into the public eye in a way that Kanner had never done
2 What did Bettelheim compare?
Children with ASD to prisoners in concentration campls - deprivation suffered was similar to lack of emotional care
2 What did Bettelheim argue?
ASD was a reaction to severe emotional neglect by mothers - cares for children physucally but not emotionally
2 According to Bettelheim, what is the best way to tackle issue of refrigerator mother?
Remove children from their parents/family home and raise them in an environment where they coukd receive emotional care that they were being denied.
2 Supporting research (privation) for RM?
Rutter - profound institutional privation can result in symptoms which are similar to autism. such characteristics were not found in a similarly studied sample of 52 children adopted in first 6 months of life
2 Contradictory research (problems) for RM?
Rimland - identified problems:
- mejority of parents do not match RM description
- Parents that do match description dont have children with ASD
- Those with ASD do not have siblings who also have ASD
2 Confusion of cause and effect of RM?
Cold, emotionally distant mothers is an effect rather than a cause of ASD - often stressful and overwheleming which can caause depression. could be a reason for emotional withdrawal
