Thursday, September 30, 2010
Current Events The Enactive Mind; Ami Klin et. al
Shea Braumuller Current Events #1
AP Biology
This article focuses on the capabilities of autistic individuals when it comes to everyday social situations. Autism is a disorder that affects 1 in every 120 people. Autism is defined as having social deficits and impaired communication; these behaviors act on a spectrum. This means that the symptoms of autistic individuals can vary from mild to severe. The hypothesis of this article refers to the EM or enactive mind approach. It deals with the comprehension of the salience of major social situations in comparison to others and with an autistic individual’s inability to understand social cues. The hypothesis also describes autistic people focusing on irrelevant environmental aspects when salience is not recognized in a situation. When people with autism are given a specific task they are able to perform it but they have the survival skills of a four year old which disables them from acting from day to day.The first test that was recorded in this study was in a television show. A bottle was smashed in the background of a scene. A typical viewer searchers for fear in the eyes of the characters but an autistic viewer searches for emotion in random places. This leads to the belief that autistic people do not know where to look for emotion. Typical people by about one year of age have joint attention skill fully developed. Joint attention skill is the ability to follow a social cue when leading to a target, which tested in this experiment. Another experiment that was done was trying to prove where autistic people search for emotion in a social situation. When a social cue arose in a television show,such as the wave of a hand, the autistic viewer waited for a verbal cue and did not respond the social gesture. Autistic individuals do not respond effectively to the human voice at an early age as typical children do. This is also proof that they do not know which social cues to respond to. People with this disorder show preference for inanimate objects such as a hat instead of a facial expression. They are able to sort out objects but not faces. A wave hello signifies something for typical people, a greeting. But for those with autism they separate the gesture from the social meaning and will imitate it at inappropriate times not comprehending its correct use. These tests were done to prove that autistic people need to act in a closed domain environment.
Considering that 1 in every 120 people are affected by autism it is a fundamental problem that needs to be addressed. This research was a landmark study in the field. By proving that autistics do not know where to look for emotion and furthermore do not respond to it suggests a difference in brain pathways of the autistic mind. In the field of neuroscience and psychology autism is a huge question that lurks above their heads. The fact that so many individuals show symptoms on such a wide range astounds doctors. Beyond this not one particular aspect of the disorder can be traced on very autistic person. There is not one gene or brain deficit that classifies them all. This research led to a new way of approaching therapy for autistics.
This article was a landmark study in the field of neuroscience and autism. Therapeutic methods are now based upon a kind of closed domain approach. By teaching autistic people the emotions and how they should respond they consequently act more “normal” in everyday situations. It is suggested that parents of autistic children go home and rehearse the emotions with their children. Smiling and asking what kind of emotion that portrays is an example. This is a very complicated and astounding disorder that in no way can be “fixed” by one study but the enactive mind approach, in particular, is an important finding in searching for the root of the disorder.
Bibliography:
Klin, Amy,' Warren Jones', ' Robert Schultz', ' Fred Volkmar'. "The Enactive Mind." Royal Society Publishing Vol. 358 No. 1430 January 20, 2003 345-360. Web.9 Sep 2009.
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