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Special Case: Autism

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science
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Synonyms

ASD; Autism spectrum disorder; Autistic disorder

Definition

A neurodevelopmental disorder with two main diagnostic criteria: (a) persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction and (b) restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities.

Introduction

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder with two main diagnostic criteria: (a) persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction and (b) restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. Autism has been associated frequently with an impaired Theory of Mind. Theory of Mind is defined as the realization that other people may have different beliefs, knowledge, thoughts, feelings, and emotions from one’s own. A seminal article on the association between autism and Theory of Mind was published in 1985 and addressed the question: Does the autistic child have a Theory of Mind? (Baron-Cohen et al. 1985). The article revealed that children diagnosed with autism...

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References

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Correspondence to Annemie Ploeger .

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Ploeger, A. (2016). Special Case: Autism. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2377-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2377-1

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