Definition
Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen is a developmental psychpathologist and cognitive neuroscientist, most known for his work with autism. He was born on August 15, 1958, and graduated with his Ph.D. from University College London under the direction of Dr. Uta Frith. He currently works as a Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Cambridge and is also a Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Introduction
Dr. Baron-Cohen has made several distinct contributions to the understanding of autism over the course of his career. He articulated the cognitive model associated with “mindblindness” and has more recently proposed the idea that autism is a form of “extreme male brain” associated with male fetal sex hormones and a tendency for “systemizing” (as opposed to empathizing). In addition, he has pioneered unique instruments in the assessment of abilities relevant to autism, including the autism-spectrum quotient (or “AQ”), and an assessment of one’s ability to read...
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References
Baron-Cohen, S. (1995). Mindblindness: An essay on autism and theory of mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Baron-Cohen, S. (2002). The extreme male brain theory of autism. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6(6), 248–254. doi:10.1016/s1364-6613(02)01904-6.
Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Skinner, R., Martin, J., & Clubley, E. (2001a). The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ): Evidence from Asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists and mathematicians. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 31(1), 5–17. doi:10.1023/A:1005653411471.
Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Hill, J., Raste, Y., & Plumb, I. (2001b). The “reading the mind in the eyes” test revised version: A study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42(2), 241–251. doi:10.1017/s0021963001006643.
Gergely, G., Nádasdy, Z., Csibra, G., & Bíró, S. (1995). Taking the intentional stance at 12 months of age. Cognition, 56(2), 165–193. doi:10.1016/0010-0277(95)00661-h.
Knickmeyer, R., Baron-Cohen, S., Raggatt, P., Taylor, K., & Hackett, G. (2006). Fetal testosterone and empathy. Hormones and Behavior, 49(3), 282–292. doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2005.08.010.
Leslie, A. (1994). ToMM, ToBy, and Agency: Core architecture and domain specificity. In L. Hirschfeld & S. Gelman (Eds.), Mapping the mind: Domain specificity in cognition and culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Professor Simon Baron-Cohen. (n.d.) Retrieved 30 May 2016, from http://www.autismresearchcentre.com/people_baron-cohen
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Niehaus, J. (2016). Simon Baron-Cohen (Darwinian Psychiatry). In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3739-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3739-1
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