PSYC 354 Lecture 8: PSYC 354 Tutorial 8 - Autism, Mindmindedness, and False Belief
22 Mar 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Question four of the study guide; theoretical explanations for autism. Textbook has good examples of each explanation. We must first understand theory of mind - theory of mind: we see people move and behave, but we see more than just people carrying out actions; we see intentions based on desires and beliefs. Beau goes toward fridge and opens it; we believe that beau is likely hungry or wanting a snack. There are different perspectives on how we get to know that other people have different minds, perspectives, and feelings. Top-down explanation: autism is a problem that results from a broken theory of mind. I. e. these researchers think that there is a part of the brain that sees movement in the world and interprets these movements into psychological processes like desires, beliefs, etc. Theory of mind ability is an innate module, which is broken in individuals that have autism.
