Extreme Male Brain Flashcards
who proposed this theory?
Baron-Cohen
what did he propose?
argues that an autistic persons brain is an exaggerated male brain
-fetus overexposed to testosterone in womb- develop down ‘male path’-more masculine tendencies
what type of brain does an autistic person have?
systemizing
what is a systemizing brain?
the drive to analyse or construct systems trying to identify es which govern a system leading to predictability- search for patterns and regularities
what type of tasks are systematic tasks?
mental rotation task
what does this theory support?
why there’s a ratio of 4:1 in male to females who have autism
what characteristics does this theory explain?
- inability to relate to others- people with autism do not have an empathising brain- cannot understand others emotions
- distress when change in routine-systemising brain seeks routine
- explains prevalence of male to female diagnosis ration 4:1
what characteristics does this theory not explain?
- why people with autism struggle to make eye contact
- people with autism have sensory overload-distressed by noise&light
- delays in development-specifically language
what is an empathising brain?
the ability to perceive emotion/mental states in others and respond appropriately
AO3-SUPPORTING
Falter(2007)-measured children with ASD and typical-ASD did better in mental rotation and figure disembedding tasks-supports systematic brain
-Wen&Wen-extreme male brain-links to ASD and anti-social personalities-supports male brain-less empathetic
AO3-CONFLICTING
-Falter- no correlation with performance tasks and finger ratio- finger ratio not reliable experiment
did worse on targeting tasks-should’ve done better-doesn’t support over-exposure of testosterone in womb
AO3-OTHER EXPLANATIONS
- Theory of Mind
- genetic explanation-(Bailey et al) research using twins found a concordance rate of 60% for autism in monozygotic twins
AO3-USEFULNESS
-simplistic-reductionist-blames it all on testosterone exposure in womb -socially sensitive +reductionist=scientific
+explains, why people with autism are systematic like routine & empathy, is weak with them
-not helpful-doesn’t deal with autism-only explains cause
+hrlps to understand why-put reasonable adjustments in place-schools/work environment- routines
AO3-TESTABILITY
+empirical/scientific-measuring brain structure directly -reductionist theory
- cause and effect problems- dk if testosterone in brain causes autism or whether brain causes difference to testosterone
- when testing/sample size are small-not representative to autistic people
- supporting research-low in mundane realism
