Describe the impairments typically observed in children with autism and compare the different cognitive theories proposed to explain them?

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Describe the impairments typically observed in children with autism and compare the different cognitive theories proposed to explain them?

        Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder characterised by a range of impairments which vary enormously. Autistic spectrum disorder is a commonly used term to reflect the complex combination of symptoms that often arise before the age of three and continue through life. However there are three core features of the autistic spectrum that are fundamental in the diagnosis of autism set out by the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association 1994). The first of the features implicated is a deficit in reciprocal social interaction; at first glance the child may just seem aloof and uninterested in the social world, they may find it difficult to make eye contact and struggle to form relationships with their peers, which can make the life of an autistic child very lonely.  This unsociability can be misinterpreted by others as wilful behaviour when in fact they have a neurological lack of ability in this area. The second impairment is communication, children with autism often struggle with early speech; however this only touches on the deficit with communication a child may encounter. Communication involves recognising another’s intention to communicate and offering an appropriate response. Children on the autistic spectrum may have difficulty interpreting both nuances of verbal speech and non verbal expression which in turn makes conversing with others very distressing. In addition inhibiting behaviour at inappropriate times may be troublesome for a child with autism. The third feature, dissimilar from reciprocal interaction and communication, involves repetitive activities and narrow interests. Children with autism value sameness and do not like change, repetitive behaviour can be quite unusual such as rocking, hand flapping and putting objects in order, these behaviours are often linked to a lack of imagination. In addition to impairments children often have fantastic ability in certain areas such as music and memory (Wallace, 2008).

 The triad of impairments (Wing & Gould, 1979) encompass the typical deficits in autism, however every child is unique and their symptoms and behaviours are reflected in the myriad of strengths and weaknesses that are often present. There are many cognitive theories that aim to explain these typical features; this essay will compare three theories which have dominated psychological research in autism. First is the Theory of Mind hypothesis (TOM) which tries to account for the deficit in social interaction (Baron-Cohen, Mindblindness: An Essay on Autism and Theory of Mind., 1995),  second is Executive Function theory (EF) which seeks to explain the everyday coping problems such as attention, inhibition difficulties, and repetitive behaviour (Hill, 2004) and third is the Weak Central Coherence theory (WCC)  which suggests a different style of information processing that aims to account for superior abilities and deficits in contextual processing (Frith, 1989).

Arguably the most typical impairment is the lack of reciprocal social interaction ability. The Theory of Mind hypothesis (Baron-Cohen, 1995) suggests that individuals with autism fail to attribute mental states to themselves and to others (Premack & Woodruff, 1978). Support for this can be seen in an extensively used theory of mind test called the false belief task. The task examines the acceptance that other individuals can have a different understanding about the same situation. First devised by Wimmer and Perner (1983) the task involves two dolls, Sally and Anne. Sally puts a marble in the basket and then leaves; whilst Sally is away Anne removes the marble and places it in the box. On Sally’s return the participant has to say whether Sally will think the marble is in the basket or the box. Studies have found that 80% of children with autism fail to understand that Sally will think that the marble is still in the basket (Baron-Cohen, Leslie, & Frith, 1985). It is suggested that the child with autism has no concept of another’s mental state.

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 There have been many variations of the false belief task such as the deceptive box task (Perner, Frith, & Leslie, 1989). A disadvantage of these results is that they are variable, studies have shown that 20% of  children with autism pass the false belief tasks, this led Baron – Cohen to revise the task and create the second order belief task (Baron- Cohen, 1989) where the task is to understand ‘what he thinks, she thinks’ therefore the task is more complex. He found that children with autism were significantly impaired and suggested a delay in the development of TOM rather ...

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