Empathising - Systemising Theory 10

• Developed by ……….. to …………….

  Developed by Baron-Cohen to address the parts of ASD that theory of mind could not (repetitive behaviours / rituals and the gender discrepancies in diagnosis.)
• Empathising

  A drive to recognise, identify, and respond to other peoples emotional states.
• Two components of empathy

  Cognitive element - recognising & understanding the mental state of others.

  Affective empathy -ability to respond appropriately to people’s emotional state.
• Systemising

  The drive to analyse and understand systems. These systems can be:

  Mechanical

  Collectable

  Numerical

  Natural

  Social
• Empathising - systemising theory suggests that

  People with ASD have impaired empathising ability (difficulty with social interaction, maintaining relationships, etc) & hyperdeveloped systemising ability (recall specific details, narrow interests, repetitive behaviours).
• Explains gender differences

  Females are considered to be better empathisers than males.

  ASD extension of neurotypical male.
• Lawson et al 2004

  3 groups: males with Asperger syndrome (18), males without AS (44) & females from general population (45).

  Each p completed 2 tasks. One involving empathising & one involving systemising.

  Females scored significantly higher on empathising task. Control males scored higher than males with AS.

  Females scored significantly lower on systemising task. Both male groups didn’t differ significantly from each other.
• Strengths of empathising - systemising theory

  Supporting evidence

  Explains both sides of ASD

  Gives rise to novel interventions (DVD ‘mind reading’ presents actors posing facial expressions so people with ASD can teach themselves emotion recognition via computer).
• Weaknesses if empathising - systemising theory

  Based on old criteria.
• Applying methods of modifying

  Lego therapy

  Child-led therapy

  Aims to improve social interactions of children with ASD by appealing to their systemising brain

  Children given roles & asked to construct a model from Lego. To be successful they must work together.

  Process of building Lego models appeals to children with ASD as it’s suited to be systemised due to its predictable & systematic nature.