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.