Biological explanation of autism Flashcards
The EMB theory of autism states that autism develops as a result of?
Excess exposure to testosterone in the womb
EMB is more common in males than females. The ratio is?
a 3 to 1 ratio
What is the effect of exposure to testosterone in the womb?
Brain structure takes on more masculine qualities in its structure
What is a brain difference we see with autistic people?
The amygdala is already larger by around 3 years of age and continues to expand faster than in nonautistic control children for several years thereafter, this was suggested to be linked with increased social impairment
What ‘type’ of person are autistic people?
Extreme Systemisers to a greater extent than an average male
A systemiser is?
Someone who looks for rules, patterns and structure
This theory can explain why there is a greater ratio of males with autism to females
True- as they already have male brain/testosterone exposure
How can this explain some of the abilities and focuses seen by some autistic people?
This theory explains why special abilities tend to be in maths/spatial ability etcas these are helped by systemising skills
The fact children with autism are low in ‘empathising ability’ can explain
Why they have difficulty reading others/social interactions
The fact children with autism are low in ‘empathising ability’ can explain
Lack of language abilities/delayed language
What did Baron-Cohen found which supports EMB?
They did have higher levels of testosterone in the womb
What did Baron-Cohen found which conflicts EMB?
Other hormones such as progesterone and cortisol were also higher in the womb
Falter (2007) found what which supports EMB?
Autistic children didt better at asks like mental rotation and figure disembedding
What did Falter (2007) find which contradicts this theory?
Autistic children preformed worse on ‘male tasks’ like targetting tasks
Wen & Wen (2014) found
Autistic children had differences in the Amygdala when scanned
What is a strength of this theories testability?
It is empirical as it can measure brain structure and hormone exposure directly
Give a validity point about EMB theory
This theory has face validity as it is able to explain traits seen in those with autism
Why is ToM an issue for this theory?
It suggests that a cognitive deficit is the cause of autism not testosterone in the womb
Does EMB theory have issues with cause and effect?
Yes- the research is correlational so we don’t know if testoserone in the womb is a cause of autism or a result of a child with autism
What is a weakness of this theory related to the hormone exposure?
There are other hormonal differences like cortisol, progesterone etc which could be an influence
