Development Psych #4

Question 1

How did early theorists conceptualize autism?

Answer 1

Maternal deprivation

Question 2

What are two pieces of evidence that autism may have a biological basis (Rimland’s and Folstein and Rutter)?

Answer 2

Associated seizure disorder pointed to congenital brain disorder
Concordance rates among monozygotic and dizygotic twins

Question 3

What are the differences between the classification of autism and autistic spectrum disorders in the DSM-IV and the DSM-V?

Answer 3

Collapses autism, aspergers, PDDS-NOS, and CDD into one category; Rett’s Syndrome and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder no longer included

Question 4

What are the diagnostic symptoms of autism? What are the associated features?

Answer 4

Persistent deficits in social communication
Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities

Sex ratio ~ 4:1 male to female
Intellectual disability - 30% of all autism associated w/ intellectual disability
Seizure disorders - 20-30%
Comorbid conditions such as anxiety, mood regulation, ADHD
Savant skills < 1%

Question 5

What do epidemiologists mean by incidence and prevalence?

Answer 5

Prevalence - A count of the total number of people with a specific disease in a given population at a given time
Incidence - An index (usually rate) of the total number of new cases identified with a given population during a specific time

Question 6

Why is there an increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism?

Answer 6

Pandemic stopped families from going to get diagnosis
Greater public awareness
Better case ascertainment
Lower age diagnosis
Diagnostic substitution
Changes in diagnostic criteria

Question 7

What is the current conceptualization of autism? Could it be normally distributed in the population?

Answer 7

Yes, quantitative trait normally distributed in population
Autism represents a collection of quantitative traits that warrants intervention

Question 8

Is Autism heterogeneous or homogeneous?

Answer 8

Heterogeneous

Question 9

What are some different theoretical conceptualizations of the symptom profile?

Answer 9

Cognitive Systems
- Theory of mind: perceiving, evaluating, and making inferences based on intentions, emotions, and beliefs of others
- Weak Central Coherence: Global versus local perceptual processing styles
- Executive function: Cognitive flexibility