Critical Thinking - Term Paper Example

Critical Thinking Autism is a neural development disorder which is mainly characterized by social interaction impairment and communication and behavior which tends to come out as repetitive and uncoordinated. Though autism has mostly been believed to be caused by hereditability, some arguments have also risen claiming that the environment has also paid a part in it.Causes of Autism Over the years, research has increased the suspicion that autism doesn’t have a single causal agent but it is actually as a result of many aspects which are different.

Genetics has however, been the significant cause of autism, being the explanation to ninety percent of the autism cases that are seen annually. Studies have shown that a child that is born in a family with an autism history is at a higher chance of being autistic than a child that has none. However, this gene is not found in the parental genome. Most of the environmental risk theories are mostly related to the prenatal environment. Some of the factors may include foods that are ingested, diseases, some drugs, pesticides and other aerosols, alcohol and illicit drugs and vaccines.

The age of the mother may also be a cause with those that are advanced being at higher risk. In this article they belief that both genetic and environment play a major role in autism, in most families which have an autistic child, a parents or relative shows impairments, mild or extreme, in their social life and also in communication. Emotional disorders like depression have also been linked with autism in families. According to Arthur, there are abnormal levels of neurotransmitters in the brain of an autistic.

This shows that autism could be as a result of normal brain development disruption during fetal development. (Schoenstsdt, 2008) However, an article by author Gregg Easterbrook claims that watching too much television at a young age is a cause of autism among children. (Easterbrook, 2006). This research was based on studies that most families with an autistic child own cable. Therefore, this research bases the environment as a cause to autism.Common fallacies in the articlesThey both are not based on medical researchEasterbrook’s conclusion that TV can be cause of autism was entirely based on studying the cable subscription data.

They reasoned that since many houses had cable, most of the children were watching. This is just an unresearched assumption which does not serve as a logical explanation. We also see the same in Arthur’s article where he says that depression is a cause. He has no medical explanation of this which is quite clear that it is based on reason.This can be avoided since its just creates room for more error. Approaching the issue with a medical approach would help avoid the fallacy and instead give some answers that are accurate.

They are inconclusiveBoth the articles are inconclusive in that both authors don’t have an actual cause of the cause of autism. Both of them are just hypothesizing and not actually giving a definite cause. With more research however, this can be rectified. The authors should have been able to give a clear point of view and not been assumptions.Both articles are not extensiveLack of extensive research on both articles has just proved to make them more illogical. They both don’t cover a wide range of ideas so as to reach a conclusion.

This can be the reason why they end up shallow. This can be remedied by making doing more research and comparisons from previous articles so as to get more hypotheses to base mi ideas on. Extensive research also helps in providing accuracy since one can compare his opinion with that of others.Conclusion These articles have just proved to bring uncertainty to the public proving that there is less trust on the psychology profession. They are inconclusive and from the public eye seem to be unreasonable since they carry no evidence.

However, with more research and medical observation, the main cause of autism will be found so as to help on its control.ReferencesAvoiding logical fallacies. (2009). Retrieved June 2012, from Walden Online Writing Center: http://writingcenter.waldenu.eduBallard, J. L. (2007). Fallacies. Retrieved June 2012, from www.freewebs.com/thinkingstraight/FallaciesEasterbrook, G. (2006, 20 October). Does Watching TV Cause Autism? Retrieved from Time Health: www.time.comSchoenstsdt, A. (2008, September 05). Autism. Retrieved from eMed tv: autism.emedtv.com