Social Psychological explanation - Empathising-Systemising Theory

Question 1

Why did this theory come about?

Answer 1

• Developed by Baron- cohen to address 2 main research findings that his ToM view could not explain
  
  • cannot explain
    
    • the non social aspects of ASD e.g repetitive behaviours, need for sameness and obsessive interests
  • the gender distinction in ASD, males are more likely to develop ASD than females

Question 2

What is the ability to empathise?

Answer 2

• Baron cohen
  -describes it as recognising, empathising, identifying and responding to other peoples emotional distress
• allows us to understand and predict the behaviours of others

Question 3

Empathising

Answer 3

Empathising
- measured using the empathy quotient questionnaire
ToM is the cognitive component to empathy and another component is the response element e.g having appropriate emotional reactions to another persons thoughts and feelings which is known as affective empathy
- those with ASD generally respond in the same way as a typically developing individual but the personal distress tends to be higher and another aspect of affective empathy is empathatic concern which is a feeling of deep sympathy and consideration for the other person
- This is seen to be the aspect that is most impaired in those with ASD

Question 4

Systemising

Answer 4

• measured using the systemising quotient qustionnaire and the higher your score the stronger your drive to systemise
• those with ASD score higher compared the controls

Systemising is the drive to analyse and understand systems
- these systems can be: mechanical systems e.g fixing a bike, numerical systems e.g solving maths problems , collectible systems, natural systems e.g learning the latin names of every plant or social systems
- this ability is important in non social contexts as it allows us to predict how systems will behave and we analyse systems to understand how they are structured

Question 5

Empathising - systemising theory

Answer 5

• explains ASD not just with reference to empathy, which is below average but also reference to systemising, which is either average or above average
  -the ability to empathise is impaired which explains difficulties in social interaction and communication but those with ASD have hyper developed abilities in systemising which explains the strengths those with ASD have in attending to and recalling detail
• the difference between empathising and systemising that determines if you are likely to develop ASD

Question 6

Describe one social psychological explanation of ASD

Answer 6

3 paragraphs
1) Who developed it? How to measure it?
2) Empathising and Sytemising
3) Empathising- systemising theory

Question 7

Evidence

Answer 7

Lawson et al (2004) tested 3 groups of participants for empathising and systemising
1) 18 males with ASD
2) 45 males without ASD
3) 44 females with ASD

Females performed better on the empathising task than males without ASD
Males without ASD performed better on the empathising task than males with ASD
On the systemising task the females did significantly worse than males and both males groups did not differ from each other
-These findings support this theory as it shows that in those with ASD empathy is impaired whilst having a level of systemising skill that is similar to typically developing individuals

Question 8

Evaluation

Answer 8

• The primary strength of the E-S theory is that it is a theory that can explain both the social and non social features of ASD. The below average empathy is a way of explaining how people with ASD may struggle with emotions and approach emotions in an analytical way whilst the average systemising is a way of explaining how people understand their surroundings and navigate their daily lives
  
  • when systemising it is easier to keep everything constant and only vary one thing at a time

Empathising and systemising have been measured by Empathy Quotient and Systemising Quotient questionnaires developed by Baron Cohen and his colleagues
- may be methodological issues in the way they are measured because they may not capture full complexity as the traits can be influenced by various factors e.g context and emotional state
- the scales rely on self assessment which can lead to biases as individuals may respond in ways they think is socially acceptable
- can lead to doubt on theory as questions of how it has been measured has come forth