(PS2011) Lecture 9: Social communication difficulties in autism spectrum disorder

Question 1

(reading):

Slater, & Quinn, Developmental psychology: Revisiting the classic studies. Chapter 10. Hill, E.L. (2004). Evaluating the theory of executive dysfunction in autism. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8, 26-32.

Answer 1

(reading):

Question 2

(lecture summary):

This lecture provides an introduction to autism spectrum disorder, a complex developmental disorder affecting many aspects of behaviour. Focus will be given to exploring core social and communication difficulties, which include impairments in theory of mind and emotion processing.

• Social communication difficulties are central to autism.
• The dominant explanation for these difficulties has been dysfunction in ToM.
• However, ToM does not account for restricted and repetitive behaviours, the other core area of difference in autism.
• The EF account attempted to explain both types of impairment, but it is limited in how many social communication difficulties it can explain.

Answer 2

(lecture summary):

Question 3

(lecture study question):

To what extent does impairment in theory of mind explain autism spectrum disorder?

Answer 3

(lecture study question):

Question 4

(lecture):

What is autism? (describe some facts)

Answer 4

(lecture):

• A neurodevelopmental disorder.
  > Atypical brain functioning.
  > Emergent in early childhood.
• The causes are unknown.
• Behaviourally defined
  > Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5)
  > International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10)
• A life long condition.
• Effects 1 in 100 individuals.
• More common in boys (3:1 ratio).

(read slide 3)

Question 5

(lecture):

In people with autism, what impairments in social communication can they experience?

Answer 5

(lecture):

• Impairment in social-emotional reciprocity
• Impaired non-verbal communication – eye gaze, facial expression, gestures.
• Impairment in developing, maintaining and understanding relationships

(watch lecture back around 7 min mark)

Question 6

(lecture):

In people with autism, what restricted and repetitive behaviours (RRBs) might they display?

Answer 6

(lecture):

• Stereotyped or repetitive movements, use of objects, or speech
• Insistence on sameness, inflexible routines, ritualised behaviour
• Intense or unusual interests
• Sensory difficulties

(watch lecture back around 10 min mark)

Question 7

(lecture):

How might a clinician diagnose a person with autism?

Answer 7

(lecture):

• A clinician makes a decision based on whether the child has a criterion number of behaviours.
• They can use tools such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and Autism Diagnostic Interview, but approach to diagnosis varies.
• Not all children will show all behaviours but they will reach a certain criterion.
• Some individuals do not receive a diagnosis until adulthood. (due to things like masking)

(watch lecture back around 12 min mark)

Question 8

(lecture):

Why are we interested in cognition? (when autism is behaviourally defined…?)

Answer 8

(lecture):

• Cognitive theories seek to identify atypical ‘thinking styles’ in autism.
• Informing us about the processes/mechanisms underlying autistic behaviours.
• Helping us understand ‘why’ behaviours occur.

Question 9

(lecture):

Describe the single deficit accounts used to explain the cause of autism.

Answer 9

(lecture) :
- Psychologists have traditionally attempted to explain autism in terms of a single underlying cognitive atypicality.

• The cognitive atypicality should:
  > Be universal in individuals with autism
  > Be unique to autism (discriminant validity)
  > Show explanatory power by explaining all symptoms and relating to symptom severity

e.g., ‘Theory of Mind’ and ‘Executive Function’

(watch lecture back around 18 min mark)

Question 10

(lecture):

Describe the Theory of Mind.

Answer 10

(lecture):

• The ability to attribute mental states (emotions, desires, beliefs) to the self and others.
• Beliefs are more sophisticated than emotions and desires. They involve understanding that people act in accordance to what they think about the world, rather than how it really is.

Question 11

(lecture):

Describe the Theory of Mind (ToM) in autism (e.g. Baron-Cohen et al., 1985)

Answer 11

(lecture):

See slide 11-13

(Watch lecture back around 20 min mark)

Question 12

(lecture):

Describe some issues with the Theory of Mind (ToM) in autism (e.g. Baron-Cohen et al., 1985)

What experiment might address these?

Answer 12

(lecture):

See slide 14

experiment fix: anticipatory looking (Senju et al., 2009)

(Watch lecture back around 24 min mark)

Question 13

(lecture):

Describe the Anticipatory looking experiment (Senju et al., 2009)

Answer 13

(lecture):

See slide 15-18

(Watch lecture back around 27 min mark)

Question 14

(lecture):

Describe Frith-Happé animations (Abell et al., 2000)

Answer 14

(lecture):

See slide 19-24

(Watch lecture back around 36 min mark)

Question 15

(lecture):

Describe some benefits and limitations of the Theory of Mind (ToM).

Answer 15

(lecture):

Universal?
- Not all autistic children fail standard FB tasks, although this may reflect task factors (cf. measures of spontaneous FB or more complex coding of mental state language).

Unique?
- You can have impaired ToM and not have autism: e.g. profound deafness, blindness, specific language impairment, certain types of intellectual disability

Explanatory power?
ToM does not explain all the behavioural symptoms of autism:
- An absence of ToM leads to a critical breakdown in social communication, e.g. social and emotional understanding, friendships, conversations.
- But, the theory does not easily explain restricted and repetitive behaviours.

Question 16

(lecture):

Define executive function (EF)

Answer 16

(lecture):

See slide 28-29

(watch lecture back around 42 min mark)

Question 17

(lecture):

Describe the executive function theory of autism.

Answer 17

(lecture):

See slide 30-37

(Watch lecture around 43 min mark to the end)