Sociability and Social Deficits in Autism

Sociability and Social Deficits in Autism

Researchers have shown that individuals seek out others and pay more attention to social stimuli than other information from the environment. To illustrate, toddlers spend more time and pay more attention to face-like stimuli than to depictions of scrambled or inverted faces. Further, research has shown that people will exert effort to gain social rewards and that, all in all human beings prefer to obtain rewards as part of a collaborative effort than individually. While data from a single study is insufficient to warrant any undeniable conclusion, the fact that people are social beings seems clear. Social networking Websites like Facebook show a clear drive in individuals to interact with others, lending support to social motivation theory.

Autism is not characterized by hallucinations, unlike schizophrenia. Image: Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Thus, human beings have an innate drive to seek acceptance and avoid rejection. However, the need may appear somewhat warped in individuals with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). ASD is categorized on Axis II of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistics Manual) published by the APA (American Psychiatric Association), and is also referred to as simply Autism. Autism can be accompanied by mental retardation, and is characterized by profound deficits in communication and social interaction, among other things.

Psychotic features may be present in other disorders than schizophrenia. Image: Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

For example, Theory of Mind (ToM) is absent in individuals who have Autism. ToM is the array of mental schemas and representations which people form and hold about their social world. The array includes the ideas we have about others’ intentions, motives and thoughts. Clearly, no one can read minds, but in Autism the situation is exacerbated by an inability to envision what the other person is thinking in any sense. Thus, lack of ToM is diagnosed by the Sally’s Hidden Marble Paradigm. In the model, from the response of a person with Autism, it becomes evident that such individuals cannot form representations about the mental worlds of others.