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Beyond Theory of Mind: Social motivation in Autism Spectrum Disorders| old_uid | 9334 |
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| title | Beyond Theory of Mind: Social motivation in Autism Spectrum Disorders |
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| start_date | 2010/11/30 |
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| schedule | 12h30 |
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| online | no |
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| location_info | salle C |
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| summary | Human beings are naturally interested in socializing. People on the
autism spectrum, by contrast, are often described as lacking this
natural propensity. Among the various theoretical attempts to account
for diminished social orienting, the idea that individuals with autism
have a deficit in Theory of Mind has become widely accepted. However,
research suggests that the impairment in ToM is not universal and that
some people with an ASD do demonstrate an ability to represent others’
mental states, in standard and advanced false belief tasks. In
response to this challenge, I argue that autism is characterised by a
core deficit in the primary motivation to interact with others (or
orient towards others) rather than by a deficit in understanding
others (or ToM).
I present experimental evidence that ToM may be intact in High
Functioning Autism and that, by contrast, social motivation is
universally impaired. I then discuss these findings in light of the
existing literature and assess the explanatory strength of a framework
based on the idea that disruption of social motivational mechanisms is
a core deficit in autism. |
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| responsibles | Boussidan |
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