The Psychology Book – Packed with everything you’d ever study in a Psych 101 class
The Psychology Book is packed with everything you’d ever study in a Psych 101 class, and, as the subtitle suggests, it’s all explained in a clear, simple way. Flip to any page and you’ll find engaging graphics, charts, sidebars, and timelines that compliment every topic, from Pavlovian conditioning, to Jean Piaget’s four stages of child development, to Timothy Leary’s real meaning behind “Turn on, tune in, drop out.”
But what’s that about autism being an extreme form of the male brain on page 298?
In 2003, Baron-Cohen developed the empathizing-systematizing theory of “female” and “male” brains, which assigns a particular “brain type” to every person, regardless of gender, depending on ability to empathize or systematize. His research suggests that the female brain is largely hard-wired for empathy, with females usually showing more sympathy for others, and greater sensitivity to facial expressions and non-verbal communication. The male brain, by contrast, appears to be geared toward understanding and building systems; it is mostly interested in how things work, as well as their structure, and organization. Is it therefore often better at tasks requiring decoding skills, such as map reading.
[Autistic people] are unable to assess another’s stage of mind or intentions. Also, they have obsessive interests that are centered on some form of system, such as an intense preoccupation with light switches. They focus on tiny details in the system, working out the underlying rules that govern it, or home in on a specific topic, learning everything about it with great accuracy. This mix of little or no empathy and an obsession with systems, along with the higher rate of autism in males, led Baron-Cohen to conclude that autistic people have an extreme “male” brain.
The BBC reported an aspect of that back in 2005 so I guess it’s old news. And here’s a link to Baron-Cohen’s paper that started it off.
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