ASD theories

Question 1

theory of mind (cite)

Answer 1

children with autism lack a theory of mind
mindblindness
Baron-Cohen et al 1995

Question 2

issues with ToM

Answer 2

universality and uniqueness

Question 3

inferring mental states from faces (CITE)

Answer 3

Reading the mind in the eyes (Baron-Cohen et al, 2001)
Autistic children just as successful as NT children (Back et al, 2007)

Question 4

advanced tests of ToM

Answer 4

sarcasm, display rules, faux pas, double bluff ??

Question 5

extreme male brain theory (CITE)

Answer 5

there are 5 brain types (Baron-Cohen et al, 2002)
empathising and systemising lie on a continuum, autistic people have impaired empathising and superior systemising which is consistent with an extreme male brain

Question 6

evidence against extreme male brain theory (CITE)

Answer 6

there is literally zero evidence to suggest that hypersystemising is unique or universal to autism, and autistic children have very similar levels of empathy to NT children (Scheeran et al, 2013)

Question 7

weak central coherence theory

Answer 7

failure to integrate information into context, information is processed in pieces not as a whole

Question 8

evidence for weak central coherence theory (CITE)

Answer 8

autistic people are poor at processing homographs (Happé, 1997)
autistic people have a featural style of processing faces (Davies et al, 1994)

Question 9

executive function theory (CITE)

Answer 9

refers to a set of higher order cognitive abilities such as planning, inhibition, mental flexibility, self-monitoring etc
takes into account the non-social features of autism: narrow range of interest, rigidity in routine, insistence on sameness
Hill, 2009

Question 10

problems with executive function theory

Answer 10

not all autistic children perform badly on all aspects
autistic people pass EF tests that have a purpose?

Question 11

problem with all these theories

Answer 11

theyre fucking dumb
none of these accounts explain autism
there is no single cognitive deficit universal in autism
cant explain superior abilities in autism

Question 12

broader phenotype / other explanations for these theories

Answer 12

ToM: parents of autistic kids less accurate on eyes task too
EF: parents and siblings of autistic kids are worse at planning and flexibility too
EMB: fathers of autistic kids are more likely to work in analytic professions