How Autism Affects Perception through Development - Research Paper Example

How autism affects perception through development Autism refers to a congenital, neural disorder that impedes normal brain functioning by affecting its ability to process information, a phenomenon referred to as perception by psychologists. Individuals afflicted by the disorder find it difficult to interact socially with others and might display to some varying degree involuntary repetitive movements and confused non-verbal and verbal communication. Before the revision of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM-IV), mental health practitioners classified autism into sub-categories. They included: autistic disorder childhood disintegrative disorder pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) Asperger syndrome However, with the release of the DSM-V in 2013, Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) became the umbrella name encompassing all the sub-categories. The revised classification provided mental health practitioners with a more inclusive point of reference, which removed the ambiguity resulting from the previous sub-categories. In addition, the term “spectrum” highlighted the fact that all autistics differ from each other, which means they are capable of displaying a range of positive and negative abilities concurrently. Two distinctions exist based on the cognitive abilities possessed by autistics, which include high-functioning autistics and low-functioning autistics. Genius, is a term used to refer to the former and it encompasses all autistics that excel in visual skills, art, math and music among other genres. Conversely, low-functioning autistics lack the ability to coordinate their actions, communicate their desires or needs, and are dependent on others on a daily basis. Discussed below is the possible causes of autism, its effect on perception throughout development, challenges and their possible interventions. Scholars are unsure of the exact causes of autism; however, they concur that its roots are in early brain development. As a result, it is possible for mental health practitioners to diagnosis autism between the ages of 2 and 3 years. Recent research revealed a combination of physiological and environmental factors predisposing children to developing autism. Physiological factors encompass the inheritance of rare gene mutations associated with autism, which impair development of specific areas of the brain in charge of sensory perception. For example, high-functioning autistics experience many sensations simultaneously, which affects their brain’s ability to attend to and process specific sensations. In addition, environmental factors "Intuitive scientists", is a term synonymous to Fritz Heiders "naive psychologists". Both terms attempt to explain the process humans follow to make sense of their social worlds. Heider presumed that perception resulted from the ability to establish a cause-effect relationship from incoming information. Personality theories concur with Heiders premise, and further advance that individuals use predictability and regularity to establish causality between different pieces of information. Understanding individuals perception of their social worlds entails analyzing representation of knowledge in their brains, their perception of others, and how they use information to formulate judgments. Bartlett, a prominent psychologist coined the word schema to refer to cognitive structures that aid in the organization and interpretation of information in his 1932 study on reconstructive memory. He analyzed responses from participants asked to retell a Native American folktale and found that subsequent responses had similarities with cultural intonations. According to Bartlett, society impacts individuals perceptions of their experiences. Cognitive psychologists advance that schemas develop at the infancy stage. Social schemas are products of an individuals perception of social objects such as people, institutions, and social situations. The vast amount of incoming information affects attention. Social schemas simplify the process of attending to incoming stimuli by grouping synonymous stimuli in a single category. For example, schemas help in racial categorization through the identification of boundary markers such as skin tone and linguistic differences. However, certain disadvantages arise from relying on schemas to enhance perception of the social world. Assumptions and expectations create perception biases that disrupt ones understanding of incoming information. Social psychologists assert that humans need to establish causality between variables in order to make sense of these variables. Psychologists refer to this process as attribution. Individuals attribute causes to either internal, dispositional factors or to external, situational factors. Behaviors caused by external factors are situation specific; meaning, their occurrence is limited to that specific situation and does not reveal any traits pertaining to the subject. Conversely, behaviors caused by internal factors highlight the subjects dispositional traits, and predicts behaviors in different situations. Past experiences are crucial to individuals trying to make sense of their social worlds. Harold Kelly (1976), founder of covariation model asserts that comparisons made between varying situations are crucial in influencing perception. The systematic procedure used to assess correlation and co-variance between different variables mirrors the scientific method. People make comparisons on a daily basis as such, they become worthy of the title "intuitive scientists". Harold further highlights the role of three variables in assessing co-variance, which include distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency. Organizational psychologists rely on these variables when assessing the causes employees behaviors in the work place. They measure each variable alone while holding the other variables constant. For example, lateness or tardiness is a common problem in many working environments; therefore, an organizational psychologist must distinguish between whether the causes are internal and external factors before making recommendations. Behaviors that occur in high consistency with low consensus and low distinction result from internal factors; for example, frequent sick leaves taken by a single employee reflect dispositional or internal causes. Conversely, behaviors that occur in high consistency, high consensus, and high distinctiveness result from situational factors; for example, strikes at the workplace occurring on a regular basis and supported by majority of the employees pinpoints external causes that served as a trigger. Finally, social psychologists infer that individuals also explore possible causes of their personal behaviors. In such cases, the locus of control plays an important role in distinguishing between behaviors caused by external and internal factors. Perception is not a random process. The ability to comprehend ones social world using past experiences, assumptions or knowledge earns them the title, "intuitive scientist". Social schemas are universal and influence an individuals perception of different social objects. Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1845) was among such scholars with an interest in understanding visual perception. He uncovered three basic assumptions pertaining to visual perception, which included the active role humans play in perceiving, past experiences subjective influence on perception and qualities of what the perceiver perceives. Gustav Fechner (1851) coined the term psychophysics in reference to the relationship between physical properties of stimuli and properties assumed after interpretation of the stimuli via subjective experiences by a person. Fechner uncovered that there was no one to one relationship, which meant that people perceive things differently. In the 19th century, different schools of thought emerged characterized by scholars bound by similar tenets of a well-defined theory. In the presence of a genetic predisposition to autism, a number of nongenetic, or “environmental,” stresses appear to further increase a child’s risk. The clearest evidence of these autism risk factors involves events before and during birth. They include advanced parental age at time of conception (both mom and dad), maternal illness during pregnancy and certain difficulties during birth, particularly those involving periods of oxygen deprivation to the baby’s brain. It is important to keep in mind that these factors, by themselves, do not cause autism. Rather, in combination with genetic risk factors, they appear to modestly increase risk. A growing body of research suggests that a woman can reduce her risk of having a child with autism by taking prenatal vitamins containing folic acid and/or eating a diet rich in folic acid (at least 600 mcg a day) during the months before and after conception. Increasingly, researchers are looking at the role of the immune system in autism. Reference Buchanan, K., Anand, P., Joffe, H., & Thomas, K. Perceiving and Understanding the Social World. In Mapping Psychology (pp. 57-104). New York. Read More