COGS101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Mental Rotation, Hand Game, Prosopagnosia
2 Jun 2018
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Autism:
What is autism?
o A pervasive developmental disorder – affects lots of different
aspects of cognition
o Symptoms:
▪ Difficulties with communication
▪ Difficulties with social interaction
▪ Repetitive behaviours (e.g. rocking) and restricted
interests (e.g. timetables, postcodes)
• History of Autism
o Kanner 1943 → Autistic disturbance of affective contract
▪ “The outstanding ‘pathognomic’ fundamental disorder
is the children’s ‘inability to relate themselves in the
ordinary way to people and situations’
o Asperger 1944 → Autistic psychopathy in childhood
▪ “The children I will present all have in common a
fundamental disturbance which results in severe and
characteristic difficulties of social integration”
o Both are focusing on the social interaction
• Autism Diagnosis –
o Evidence of;
▪ Social and communication impairments
▪ Restricted behaviour and interests
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (DSM5)
o Social communication
▪ All three criteria must be present
• Deficits in social emotional reciprocity
o Ranging from abnormal social approach
and failure of normal back and forth
conversation through reduced sharing of
interests, emotions and affect and
response to total lack of initiation of
social interaction
• Deficits in nonverbal communication
• Deficits in developing and maintaining social
relationships
o Behaviour and Interests
▪ At least two present
• Abnormally restricted interests
• Inflexible routines and rituals
• Motor mannerisms e.g. rocking backwards and
forwards
• Preoccupation with parts of objects
• 1 in every 68 people meet the criteria for ASD (huge increase from
1970s) – may be due to changes in diagnostic criteria (more flexible
and vague now)
• Non-diagnostic features:
o Intellectual disability
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