Autism spectrum disorder

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what are the 3 features of autism?
social and emotional communication, social and emotional interaction, and imagination/flexibility of thought
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history of diagnosis in DSM's?
asperger's and autism diagnosed differently in DSM-IV but in DSM-V just have autism spectrum disorder (grouped together)
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what does the theory of mind (mind blindness) suggest?
people with autism have deficit with understanding another perspective
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outline the sally-anne task
show child two dolls playing then anne hides balls from basket when sally walks away - autistic children think sally would look in the box - showing they dont understand perspective
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how does theory of mind affect autistic children?
affects social interaction and also language, problems with metacognition (might not be able to tell someone looking at diff things is talking to them), pretend play hindered
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limitation of theory of mind?
doesnt explain repetitive/stereotypical behaviours in autism
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what is the weak central coherence theory?
tendency to focus on detail rather than global picture - pic of pram and asked to find triangle embedded in pram - people with autism much quicker at these tasks, as look at details
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what are homophones and how do these affect autistic children?
words that can be said in different ways - e.g. tear - AC get the sentences wrong as cant see sentence as a whole
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criticism of weak central coherence theory?
Aspergers is considered to be high functioning autism with normal IQ and this theory doesnt explain this
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what is executive (dys)function theory?
e.g. planning, WM - explains rigid/repetitive behaviours (e.g. checking compulsions) - autistic children tend to not do too well on tasks using these
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what does the tower of hanoi test?
tests executive dysfunction in planning behaviour - ned to move circles over to the right side by adhering to set of rules
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what does the N-back test entail?
need to remember the letter so can respond to it later
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criticism of executive (dys)function theory?
problems with universality - people with high IQ still dont do well on these tasks
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what is the empathising systemising theory?
people with autism cant understand another's perspective but are good at systemising (propensity for interests in rules and regulations) - explains a range of deficits and changes within IQ
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limitation of empathising systemising theory?
over general and limited evidence
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brain area linked to autism?
frontal regions such as amygdala involved in emotions and dealing with people - some of this circuitry may be incorrect in autism
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gaze fixation and autism?
not making eye contact is main predictor of autism - joint attention gaze is key for language learning
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study on face fixation?
emotional or neutral face - autistic had less fixation overall and looked at face more, mouth/eye similar amount, less at eyes than control - look less at eyes and mouth which show emotions
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what 2 areas are studied in fixation in relation to face/emotional identification?
fusiform gyrus and occipital lobe - autistic had less activation in these areas
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what 2 areas were studied in relation to emotional processing?
amygdala and left orbito-frontal gyrus - heightened activation in autistic when see emotional stimuli - hyperstimulated so why they feel uncomfortable in social interaction
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mindblindness and autism and what area is involved?
cog aspects of interacting with people - broader network may be required - lombardo et al found right temporal parietal junction may be related to social impairments in autism
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repetitive interests and the brain?
repetitive interests link to emotion - frontal striatal circuitry (3 frontal areas involved in executive functions - problem stopping them inhibiting these behaviours)
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what did delmonte et al 2013 find in MRI?
found anterior cingulate area (PFC) was deactivated in relation to caudate nucleus (rewards), inner frontal gyrus and caudate nucleus activated in restrictive interests, social deficits had reduced activity in OFC and NaCC
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what did delmonte conclude?
stronger connections in areas involved in inhibition and weaker connections in areas involved in social interaction - corticostriatal functioning may be key to core deficits in autism
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effects of genes on causing autism?
90% concordance in twins - still 80% unknown of how occurs - multifaceted condition with environmental factors (stress in third trimester)
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effect of hormones on causing autism?
high foetal testosterone linked to reduced eye contact from early age, smaller vocab, narrower interests, less empathy, increased systemising and other autistic traits
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how is testosterone measured indirectly?
measure of 2nd and 4th finger - smaller ratio = higher testosterone
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what age is testosterone positively correlated with no. of autistic traits?
6-10 year olds
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what did the Q-CHAT about toddlers behaviour find?
testosterone level correlates with Q-CHAT score - big range and large overlap with slight gender difference
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what are biomarkers?
an indicator of a biological state and is measurable - reveal causes and gives possibility of earlier detection - but poor sensitivity, expensive, ethical issues
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what is the only very specific biomarker from early age?
eye movement
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what did the eye movement study show?
P400 latency (pos response 400ms after onset of stimuli) - found autistic and siblings have slower P400 at early age - 80-100% accurate in predicting autism
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example of behavioural intervention?
give less sugar to prevent public meltdowns - but doesnt necessarily treat autism but relieves symptoms
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how can lego therapy help?
it is systematic - split into builder, engineer, supplier - have to socially interact to build model - compared to existing intervention (SULP) - found lego improved sig compared to others and sig improvement in maladaptive behaviour in both
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limitations of lego intervention?
no significance in communication and socialisation
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what type of condition is it?
heterogenous - relative to the individual
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

history of diagnosis in DSM's?

Back

asperger's and autism diagnosed differently in DSM-IV but in DSM-V just have autism spectrum disorder (grouped together)

Card 3

Front

what does the theory of mind (mind blindness) suggest?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

outline the sally-anne task

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

how does theory of mind affect autistic children?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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