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.
John Gray
ReplyDeleteThe review did a bevy of things well. For instance, Shea described what the article was about particularly well. I say this because rather than just spilling a bunch of facts in her summary, she used structure. She first summarized the article on a broad scale, and then she went into the specifics of what the article dealt with. Also, Shea described, in detail, a test that scientists performed to test what was being studied. She said what they hoped to prove with the test and the results.
The final thing she did well was that, rather than just stating the results of the experiment, she also stated what those results mean to society.
There were a few things Shea could have done better. For instance, she could have researched and found a real life example of what is being discussed in the article. It’s good to put a face to an abstract concept; it helps people feel closer to it emotionally.
She might have done well to describe some of the methods by which people are attempting to correct “autistic behavior.” Also, she may have figured out how some autistic people feel about those methods, seen if there was any controversy beyond the research.
I learned something about autistic people that I had never known before. It sounds kind of horrible but I had always just thought of autistic people as acting kind of “strange.” Now I know a specific thing that autistic people do differently than regular people. I like to be able to better understand the world around me and why things work the way they do. I was impressed by the article’s ability to teach me something completely new.
AP Biology Robbie Faselt
ReplyDeleteReaction 10/4/10
In Shea’s current event article, she did three things very well. Firstly, she explained what autism is to the reader who might not know what autism is. She gave the reader the basic facts about autism before telling the reader about what the article is actually about. Another thing Shea did very well was that she gave many examples to illustrate what she meant when she explained what the author’s hypothesis was. She put what the author hypothesized in terms that anyone could understand. The last thing that Shea did very well in her current event was that she gave her own opinion about autism and what needs to be done with it. She thinks that it needs to be studied more, so that eventually a therapy for autism will be approached. She clearly explains how a lot more research needs to be done in order for scientists to start coming up with a cure or a therapy for autism.
Although Shea did a great job with the review, she could have improved it in a few, small ways. The first way she could improve it is by giving some background knowledge about how autistic people act in daily life. She shows how they act in some situations, but she does not give examples of normal behavior for an autistic person. The second thing she could improve is adding a paragraph where she explains how scientists study autism and how they are trying to approach a therapy for autism. Otherwise, Shea did a great job.
One thing that I was impressed by when reading this review was the fact that one in every 120 people has autism. I did not realize that that many people had autism. After learning this fact, I agree with Shea in that I think more research needs to be done about autism, so eventually it could be cured. I also found the ways that autism reacted to certain situations to be very interesting because I did not know how people with autism differed from people without it.
AP Biology - David Esteban Torres
ReplyDeleteThe Inactive Mind
Written by Ami Klin et. Al : Reviewed By Shea
Basically this article discusses the capabilities of autistic individuals when it comes to everyday social situations. One of the aspects of this review that was well done was explaining what I can imagine was a very thorough and detailed article. By expressing the simple basic components of a subject so complicated as autism, she was able to more effectively convey her points about the article. Such points as the very complex paths of the brain and the very interesting emotions of the human organism. She also did a good job in bringing up some important points and statistics about autism. Considering that one in every hundred twenty people are affected by autism she really stressed that this was a fundamental problem that needed to be addressed. With such numbers, people can really see in solid probabilities that this a very real and troubling issue that effects many people. And by establishing this connection with people reading this article and seeing the components of autism, she was able to sway their interests into new research that is being done along with other medical ideas she alludes to. Overall this was a well reviewed article, however I believe there is some room for improvement as there is for almost everything. I was not completely sure after reading this what it had to do with what we were learning in class or what it really has to do with overall science in general. While it is clearly a scientific issue, maybe there are some more specific aspects of the article she was trying to make connections to. It also may have had an even greater affect if she had mentioned some institutes or leading researchers that are working hard to solve this very relevant issue. I learned that autism is really in important situation in the scientific world. Not only can it affect the minds of those who have autism but it also has an impact on delicate human emotions which in turn shows up into the social world of scientific inquiry. In the end this article was very informative to an important issue and truly sparked the noble scientific inquiry.
Shea’s review was very productive in the fact that I felt I was reading the article rather than her take on it. She did well in describing exactly what autism is, explaining that it occurs on all levels of severity. I also liked how she described the study in detail assuring that the reader would understand how the autistic mind perceives social cues as opposed to the non-autistic mind. I also liked how she connected these finding of the enactive mind to everyday life. Considering autism is still a great mystery to even the most educated experts she made it clear that these discoveries are an important step towards understanding the complexity of the autistic mind. Her connections made her information more meaningful because they made it seem like the study accomplished something productive.
ReplyDeleteI think Shea could have better explained some of the terminology that she used. For instance, I am not exactly sure what salience means so my understanding of that part of her review was a little blurred. I also think that she could have included a real life example of a family dealing with an autistic child and how they feel about the enactive mind discovery.
One thing I learned from Shea’s review is some of the aspects of the autistic mind. I did not know that autistic children do not respond to social cues. I learned that because they do not respond to the human voice at young ages they cannot associate a simple gesture (such as wave) with the facial expression. As a result they wave at unsuitable times because they don’t really know what it means.
Shea wrote a very good current event. I was first impressed with the article she chose. Autism is a topic I know little about and I was intrigued to read her analysis. I thought that she presented the hypothesis and explained it very clearly. I also really liked how Shea went on to describe the tests that were done to prove the hypothesis.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I think Shea could have done better was to expand upon why the article was important to the study of autism. Also I wish she has explained how this hypothesis will change autism research. Other than that I think Shea did a wonderful job!
I was shocked by the autism statistics, 1 in 120 people are autistic. Another shocking example is Shea’s definition of autism.