Top

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Gepubliceerd in:

01-03-2013 | Original Paper

Are the Autism and Positive Schizotypy Spectra Diametrically Opposed in Empathizing and Systemizing?

Auteurs: Suzanna N. Russell-Smith, Donna M. Bayliss, Murray T. Maybery, Rosy L. Tomkinson

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | Uitgave 3/2013

Abstract

Crespi and Badcock’s (Behaviour Brain Sci 31: 241–261, 2008) novel theory, which presents autism and positive schizophrenia as diametrical opposites on a cognitive continuum, has received mixed support in the literature to date. The current study aimed to further assess the validity of this theory by investigating predictions in relation to empathizing and systemizing. Specifically, it is predicted by Crespi and Badcock that while mild autistic traits should be associated with a cognitive profile of superior mechanistic cognition (which overlaps with systemizing) but reduced mentalistic cognition (which overlaps with empathizing), positive schizotypy traits should be associated with the opposite profile of superior mentalistic but reduced mechanistic cognition. These predictions were tested in a student sample using a battery of self-report and behavioural measures. The pattern of results obtained provides no support for Crespi and Badcock’s theory.

vorige artikel A Systematic Review of Psychosocial Interventions for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

volgende artikel Broad Autism Phenotype in Typically Developing Children Predicts Performance on an Eye-Tracking Measure of Joint Attention

When calculated using Baron-Cohen et al. (2001c) 0/1 method of scoring, the mean AQ score obtained for the sample was 21.66 (SD = 3.86). This is comparable to the mean score reported for Baron-Cohen et al. (2001c) student sample which comprised students from science, humanities and social science disciplines.

The high and low O-LIFE:UE groups were also found not to differ in their levels of negative schizotypy traits (e.g., social withdrawal and affective flattening), as assessed by the Introvertive Anhedonia factor of the O-LIFE, F(1, 38) = .25, p = .62.

Almeida, R., Dickinson, J., Maybery, M., Badcock, J., & Badcock, D. (2010). A new step toward understanding embedded figures test performance in the autism spectrum: The radial frequency search task. Neuropsychologia, 48(2), 374–381.PubMedCrossRef

Austin, E. (2005). Personality correlates of the broader autism phenotype as assessed by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 174–183.

Aylward, E., Minshew, N., Goldstein, G., Honeycutt, N., Augustine, A., Yates, K., et al. (1999). MRI volumes of amygdala and hippocampus in non-mentally retarded autistic adolescents and adults. Neurology, 53(9), 2145–2150.PubMedCrossRef

Baron-Cohen, S. (2002). The extreme male brain theory of autism. Trends in Cognitive Science, 6, 248–254.CrossRef

Baron-Cohen, S., & Wheelwright, S. (2004). The empathy quotient: An investigation of adults with Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism, and normal sex differences. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34, 163–175.PubMedCrossRef

Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Hill, J., Raste, Y., & Plumb, I. (2001a). The “Reading the mind in the eyes” test revised version: A study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism and normal sex differences. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42, 241–251.PubMedCrossRef

Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Scahill, V., Lawson, J., & Spong, A. (2001b). Are intuitive physics and intuitive psychology independent? Journal of Developmental and Learning Disorders, 5, 47–78.

Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Skinner, R., Martin, J., & Clubley, E. (2001c). 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, 5–17.PubMedCrossRef

Baron-Cohen, S., Richler, J., Bisarya, D., Gurunathan, N., & Wheelwright, S. (2003). The systemizing quotient: An investigation of adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism, and normal sex differences. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 358, 361–374.CrossRef

Batson, C., Eklund, J., Chermok, V., Hoyt, J., & Ortiz, B. (2007). An additional antecedent of empathic concern: Valuing the welfare of the person in need. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 65–74.PubMedCrossRef

Best, C., Moffat, V., Power, M., Owens, D., & Johnstone, E. (2008). The boundaries of the cognitive phenotype of autism: Theory of mind, central coherence and ambiguous figure perception in young people with autistic traits. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 840–847.PubMedCrossRef

Brosnan, M., Ashwin, C., Walker, I., & Donaghue, J. (2010). Can an ‘Extreme Female Brain’ be characterised in terms of psychosis? Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 738–742.CrossRef

Caissie, A., Vigneau, F., & Bors, D. (2009). What does the mental rotation test measure? An analysis of item difficulty and item characteristics. The Open Psychology Journal, 2, 94–102.CrossRef

Carroll, J., & Chiew, K. (2006). Sex and discipline: Differences in empathising, systemising and autistic symptomatology: Evidence from a student population. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 949–957.PubMedCrossRef

Cheung, C., Yu, K., Fung, G., Leung, M., Wong, C., Li, Q., et al. (2010). Autistic disorders and schizophrenia: Related or remote? An anatomical likelihood estimation. PLoS One, 5(8), e12233.PubMedCrossRef

Cochrane, M., Petch, I., & Pickering, A. (2010). Do measures of schizotypal personality provide non-clinical analogues of schizophrenic symptomatology. Psychiatry Research, 176(2–3), 150–154.PubMedCrossRef

Constantino, J., & Todd, R. (2005). Intergenerational transmission of subthreshold autistic traits in the general population. Biological Psychiatry, 57, 655–660.PubMedCrossRef

Crespi, B., & Badcock, C. (2008). Psychosis and autism as diametrical disorders of the social brain. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 31, 241–261.PubMed

Davis, M. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 113–126.CrossRef

Del Giudice, M., Angeleri, R., Brizio, A., & Elena, M. (2010). The evolution of autistic-like and schizotypal traits: A sexual selection hypothesis. Frontiers in Psychology, 1, 1–18.

Devine, T., Fay, N., & Maybery, M. (2012). The Empathiser-in-Context: Evidence for the Stability and Variability of Empathic Responses for Others in Need of Help. Manuscript in Preparation.

Dziobek, I., Rogers, K., Fleck, S., Bahnemann, M., Heekeren, H., Wolf, O., et al. (2008). Dissociation of cognitive and emotional empathy in adults with Asperger Syndrome using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 464–473.PubMedCrossRef

Focquaert, F., Steven, M., Wolford, G., Colden, A., & Gazzaniga, M. (2007). Empathizing and systemizing cognitive traits in the sciences and humanities. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 619–625.CrossRef

Gooding, D., & Pflum, M. (2011). Theory of Mind and psychometric schizotypy. Psychiatry Research, 188, 217–223.PubMedCrossRef

Grinter, E., Maybery, M., Van Beek, P., Pellicano, E., Badcock, J., & Badcock, D. (2009a). Global visual processing and self-rated autistic-like traits. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39, 1278–1290.PubMedCrossRef

Grinter, E., Van Beek, P., Maybery, M., & Badcock, D. (2009b). Brief report: Visuospatial analysis and self-rated autistic-like traits. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39, 670–677.PubMedCrossRef

Happé, F. (1994). An advanced test of theory of mind: Understanding of story characters’ thoughts and feelings by able autistic, mentally handicapped and normal children and adults. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24, 129–154.PubMedCrossRef

Henry, J., Bailey, P., & Rendell, P. (2008). Empathy, social functioning and schizotypy. Psychiatry Research, 160, 15–22.PubMedCrossRef

Hoekstra, R., Bartels, M., Cath, D., & Boomsma, D. (2008). Factor structure, reliability and criterion validity of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ): A study in Dutch population and patient groups. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(8), 1555–1566.PubMedCrossRef

Howard, M., Cowell, P., Boucher, J., Broks, P., Mayes, A., Farrant, A., et al. (2000). Convergent neuroanatomical and behavioural evidence of an amygdala hypothesis of autism. NeuroReport, 11, 2931–2935.PubMedCrossRef

Hurst, R., Mitchell, J., Kimbrel, N., Kwapil, T., & Nelson-Gray, R. (2007). Examination of the reliability and factor structure of the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) in a non-clinical sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 1938–1948.CrossRef

Jobe, L., & White, S. (2007). Loneliness, social relationships, and a broader autism phenotype in college students. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 1479–1489.CrossRef

Johnson, J. (2005). Dysfunction of the anterior hippocampus: The cause of fundamental schizophrenic symptoms? Medical Hypotheses, 65, 55–60.PubMedCrossRef

Kim, J., & Lee, S. (2010). Reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Empathy Quotient Scale. Psychiatry Investigation, 7, 24–30.PubMedCrossRef

Kosaka, H., Omori, M., Murata, T., Iidaka, T., Yamada, H., Okada, T., et al. (2002). Differential amygdala response during facial recognition in patients with schizophrenia: An fMRI study. Schizophrenia Research, 57, 87–95.PubMedCrossRef

Krajmer, P., Janusikova, D., Spajdel, M., & Ostatnikova, D. (2010). Empathizing, systemizing, intuitive physics and folk psychology. Activitas Nervosa Superior Rediviva, 52, 56–61.

Kunihira, Y., Senju, A., Dairoku, H., Wakabayashi, A., & Hasegawa, T. (2006). ‘Autistic’ traits in non-autistic Japanese populations: Relationships with personality traits and cognitive ability. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 533–566.CrossRef

Langdon, R., Coltheart, M., & Ward, P. (2006a). Empathetic perspective-taking is impaired in schizophrenia: Evidence from a study of emotion attribution and theory of mind. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 11, 133–155.PubMedCrossRef

Langdon, R., Corner, T., McLaren, J., Coltheart, M., & Ward, P. (2006b). Attentional orienting triggered by gaze in schizophrenia. Neuropsychologia, 44, 417–429.PubMedCrossRef

Markram, H., Rinaldi, T., & Markram, K. (2007). The Intense World Syndrome – an alternative hypothesis for autism. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 1, 77–96.PubMedCrossRef

Mason, O., Linney, Y., & Claridge, G. (2005). Short scales for measuring schizotypy. Schizophrenia Research, 78, 293–296.PubMedCrossRef

Matsui, M., Sumiyoshi, T., Kato, K., Yoneyama, E., & Kurachi, M. (2004). Neuropsychological profile in patients with schizotypal personality disorder or schizophrenia. Psychological Reports, 94(2), 387–397.PubMedCrossRef

Maurage, P., Grynberg, D., Noel, X., Joassin, F., Phillippot, P., Hanak, C., et al. (2011). Dissociation between cognitive and affective empathy in alcoholism: A specific deficit for the emotional dimension. Alcholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 35(9), 1–7.

Mayer, J., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence. In P. Salovey & D. Sluyter (Eds.), Emotional development, emotional literacy, and emotional intelligence (pp. 3–34). New York: Basic Books.

Muncer, S., & Ling, J. (2006). Psychometric analysis of the Empathy Quotient (EQ) Scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 1111–1119.CrossRef

Nettle, D. (2006). Schizotypy and mental health among poets, visual artists, and mathematicians. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 876–890.CrossRef

Nezlek, J., Feist, G., Wilson, C., & Plesko, R. (2001). Day-to-day variability in empathy as a function of daily events and mood. Journal of Research in Personality, 35, 401–423.CrossRef

Ozer, D. (1987). Personality, intelligence, and spatial visualization: Correlates of mental rotations test performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 129–134.PubMedCrossRef

Ozonoff, S., Pennington, B., & Rogers, S. (1990). Are there emotion perception deficits in young autistic children? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 31(3), 343–361.PubMedCrossRef

Peters, M., Laeng, B., Latham, K., Jackson, M., Zaiyouna, R., & Richardson, C. (1995). A redrawn Vandenberg and Kuse mental rotations test: Different versions and factors that affect performance. Brain and Cognition, 28, 39–58.PubMedCrossRef

Pierce, K., Muller, R., Ambrose, J., Allen, G., & Courchesne, E. (2001). Face processing occurs outside the fusiform ‘face area’ in autism: Evidence from functional MRI. Brain, 124, 2059–2073.PubMedCrossRef

Rogers, K., Dziobek, I., Hassenstab, J., Wolf, O., & Convit, A. (2007). Who cares? revisiting empathy in Asperger syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(4), 709–715.PubMedCrossRef

Russell-Smith, S., Maybery, M., & Bayliss, D. (2010). Are the autism and positive schizotypy spectra diametrically opposed in local versus global processing? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40(8), 968–977.PubMedCrossRef

Russell-Smith, S., Maybery, M., & Bayliss, D. (2011). Relationships between autistic-like and schizotypy traits: An analysis using the Autism Spectrum Quotient and Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences. Personality and Individual Differences, 51(2), 128–132.CrossRef

Russell-Smith, S., Maybery, M., Bayliss, D., & Sng, A. (in press). Support for a link between the local processing bias and social deficits in autism: An investigation of Embedded Figures Test performance in non-clinical individuals. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. doi:10.1007/s10803-012-1506-z.

Schumann, C., Hamstra, J., Goodlin-Jones, B., Lotspeich, L., Kwon, H., Buonocore, M., et al. (2004). The amygdala is enlarged in children but not adolescents with autism; the hippocampus is enlarged at all ages. Journal of Neuroscience, 24, 6392–6401.PubMedCrossRef

Soulières, I., Zeffiro, T., Girard, M., & Mottron, L. (2011). Enhanced mental image mapping in autism. Neuropsychologia, 49(5), 848–857.PubMedCrossRef

Sparks, B., Friedman, S., Shaw, D., Aylward, E., Echelard, D., Artru, A., et al. (2002). Brain structural abnormalities in young children with autism spectrum disorder. Neurology, 59, 184–192.PubMedCrossRef

Stewart, M., & Austin, E. (2009). The Structure of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ): Evidence from a student sample in Scotland. Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 224–228.CrossRef

Valla, J., Ganzel, B., Yoder, K., Chen, G., Lyman, L., Sidari, A., et al. (2010). More than maths and mindreading: Sex differences in empathizing/systemizing covariance. Autism Research, 3, 174–184.PubMedCrossRef

Van Lange, P. (2008). Does empathy trigger only altruistic motivation? how about selflessness of justice? Emotion, 8(6), 766–774.PubMedCrossRef

Velakoulis, D., Wood, S., Wong, M., McGorry, P., Yung, A., Phillips, L., et al. (2006). Hippocampal and amygdala volumes according to psychosis stage and diagnosis: A magnetic resonance imaging study of chronic schizophrenia, first-episode psychosis, and ultra-high-risk individuals. Archive of General Psychiatry, 63(2), 139–149.CrossRef

Voracek, M., & Dressler, S. (2006). Lack of correlation between digit ratio (2D:4D) and Baron-Cohen’s “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” test, empathy, systemising, and autism-spectrum quotients in a general population sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 41, 1481–1491.CrossRef

Wakabayashi, A., Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Goldenfeld, N., Delaney, J., Fine, D., et al. (2006). Development of short forms of the Empathy Quotient (EQ-Short) and the Systemizing Quotient (SQ-Short). Personality and Individual Differences, 41, 929–940.CrossRef

Wakabayashi, A., Baron-Cohen, S., Uchiyama, T., Yoshida, Y., Kuroda, M., & Wheelwright, S. (2007). Empathizing and systemizing in adults with and without Autism Spectrum Conditions: Cross-cultural stability. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 1823–1832.PubMedCrossRef

Walter, E., Dassonville, P., & Bochsler, T. (2009). A specific trait that modulates visuospatial illusion susceptibility. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(2), 339–349.PubMedCrossRef

Wechsler, D. (1999). Wechsler abbreviated scale of intelligence (WASI). San Antonio, TX: Harcourt Assessment.

Titel: Are the Autism and Positive Schizotypy Spectra Diametrically Opposed in Empathizing and Systemizing?
Auteurs: Suzanna N. Russell-Smith
Donna M. Bayliss
Murray T. Maybery
Rosy L. Tomkinson
Publicatiedatum: 01-03-2013
Uitgeverij: Springer US
Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders / Uitgave 3/2013
Print ISSN: 0162-3257
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-3432
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1614-9

Bohn Stafleu van Loghum

Deel dit onderdeel of sectie (kopieer de link)

Abstract

Log in om toegang te krijgen

Andere artikelen Uitgave 3/2013

Parents’ Perspectives on the Role of Pediatricians in Autism Diagnosis

Identification of Expanded Alleles of the FMR1 Gene in the CHildhood Autism Risks from Genes and Environment (CHARGE) Study

A Parent-Mediated Intervention to Increase Responsive Parental Behaviors and Child Communication in Children with ASD: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Erratum to: Prevalence of Psychotropic Drug Use in Adults with Intellectual Disability: Positive and Negative Findings from a Large Scale Study

E. K. Farran and A. Karmiloff-Smith: Neurodevelopmental Disorders Across the Lifespan: A Neuroconstructivist Approach

Effects of Computer Simulation Training on In Vivo Discrete Trial Teaching