attention, and although they are good at helping to expand on some biological explanations, the scientific evidence found by other biological theories seems to outweigh that found by environmental explanations. Consequently, it seems that there is a constant struggle between biological factors versus environmental factors, when it could even be a mix of the two. However, on the other hand there are psychological explanations, which falls into a different category entirely.
So, the other side of the argument is looking at psychological explanations of autism. I again began exploring these idea’s by looking at brief outlines of some theories in ‘Autism and Asperger Syndrome: the facts’ by Simon Baron-Cohen. In this book 4 main theories are put forward: executive dysfunction theory, weak central coherence theory, theory of mind or mindblindness theory and empathising-systemising theory.
I began by looking at executive dysfunction theory. This theory states that there has been problems in the development of the prefrontal cortex, …show more content…
(1994). They used a computerised version of the Tower of London, called the ‘Stacking’s of Cambridge’ which allowed them to record reaction and motor execution times, which would therefore allow them to look at a person’s planning and thinking times. They had two subject groups, one with autistic children and another with autistic adolescents, who were matched up to two control groups. They found that on many of the puzzles or tasks they were given, the subject group were inferior to the control groups, which suggests deficient planning ability in people with autism, which is carried out by executive functions, implying dysfunction there. However, this research has been criticised as many brain processes are used when doing tasks such as the Tower of London, which might be more relevant than planning processes. Therefore, these processes must all be tightly controlled to get more valid
So, the other side of the argument is looking at psychological explanations of autism. I again began exploring these idea’s by looking at brief outlines of some theories in ‘Autism and Asperger Syndrome: the facts’ by Simon Baron-Cohen. In this book 4 main theories are put forward: executive dysfunction theory, weak central coherence theory, theory of mind or mindblindness theory and empathising-systemising theory.
I began by looking at executive dysfunction theory. This theory states that there has been problems in the development of the prefrontal cortex, …show more content…
(1994). They used a computerised version of the Tower of London, called the ‘Stacking’s of Cambridge’ which allowed them to record reaction and motor execution times, which would therefore allow them to look at a person’s planning and thinking times. They had two subject groups, one with autistic children and another with autistic adolescents, who were matched up to two control groups. They found that on many of the puzzles or tasks they were given, the subject group were inferior to the control groups, which suggests deficient planning ability in people with autism, which is carried out by executive functions, implying dysfunction there. However, this research has been criticised as many brain processes are used when doing tasks such as the Tower of London, which might be more relevant than planning processes. Therefore, these processes must all be tightly controlled to get more valid