Social Psychological Explanations
Social Psychological Explanations for ASD
Theory of Mind
- ASD individuals often struggle with Theory of Mind (ToM) which refers to the ability to understand that other people have their own thoughts, feelings, intentions, and perspectives.
- Poor ToM skills can lead to difficulties in social communication and interaction, key markers of autism.
Weak Central Coherence
- Individuals with ASD often display weak central coherence, focusing on small details rather than seeing the bigger picture.
- This can make it hard for them to make sense of social situations, causing difficulties in social understanding and interpretation.
Executive Functioning Deficits
- ASD individuals may have deficits in executive functions such as planning, cognitive flexibility, abstract thinking, rule acquisition, initiating appropriate actions and inhibiting inappropriate actions.
- These deficits may contribute to restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities in autism.
Social Motivation Theory
- According to the Social Motivation theory, individuals with autism may lack the inherent desire to engage with others.
- This lack of social motivation can lead to the development of characteristic autism symptoms like social-communication deficits and restrictive, repetitive behaviours.
Joint Attention Impairments
- Joint attention, the ability to share focus with another on an object or event, is often impaired in individuals with ASD.
- Impaired joint attention can limit the ability of an individual with autism to learn from shared social experiences, impacting language development and social cognition.
Empathy
- People with autism may have difficulty with empathetic understanding and empathetic responsiveness, caused by their struggles with Theory of Mind and social communication.
- These difficulties may make it harder for autistic individuals to form and maintain social relationships.
Limitations of Social Psychological Explanations
- These theories tend to focus on the impairments of individuals with ASD, often overlooking their strengths and attributing all their behaviours to the condition.
- Some criticisms argue that these theories might encourage a deficit-based understanding of autism, oversimplifying the complexities of the condition.
- Issues of cultural and gender bias, and over-reliance on clinical samples also limit the generalizability of these theories.