Autism is a developmental disorder on a spectrum; people can have minor to severe forms of the condition. One person diagnosed with ASD is likely to differ from the next, and this is why studying individual differences in autism is so crucial. Autism affects the way a person acts. It reflects a difference in how The Brain operates in other people and appears during childhood development.
- First, we will discuss the purpose of studying individual differences in Autism.
- Then, explore the causes of individual differences in autism.
- Next, we will identify individual differences in autism traits and individual differences in autism based on Gender.
- Afterwards, we will look at individual differences in autistic children.
- Lastly, we will also consider personality and individual differences in autistic adults.
Investigating Individual Differences in Autism
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a category of various developmental disorders impacting around four in 10,000 children. The typical autism spectrum disorder symptoms are:
- Difficulties with social interactions and talking to others
- Difficulties with empathy
- Easily overwhelmed by stimuli
- Engages in repetitive behaviour
Fig. 1 Several characteristics of ASD make it difficult for them to play and engage with other people.
Researchers investigate individual differences to identify if the differences found between people can explain behaviour. Or, specifically, mental illnesses.
Individual differences are defined by how people differ in biological/physiological, psychological, and cognitive characteristics.
The Causes of Individual Differences in Autism
Theories such as the Theory of Mind and the weak central coherence theory are possible explanations for individual differences in autism. The theories explain how differences, such as how differences in cognitive processing, can cause autism.
Individual Differences in Autism: Theory of Mind (ToM)
Research suggests that people with ASD have a weak ToM. This theory explains why people with ASD may have difficulties talking and interacting with others, as they cannot truly empathise with and understand another person's perspective.
ToM is the ability to understand one's own and other people's mental states, including beliefs, emotions, and intentions.
An example of a person diagnosed with autism with a poor ToM is that they may not realise why someone is sad, even though they know the person just failed a test.
The theory suggests that ToM develops through experiences and interactions with peers. Individuals' experiences may explain individual differences in autism due to observing others' actions and imitating them.
ToM in people diagnosed with ASD tend not to develop a ToM fully.
Neuroimaging studies show that the medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala are involved in ToM processes. Brain scans of young children diagnosed with autism have shown a larger amygdala, for instance.
Therefore, dysfunction in these areas may explain why people with ASD do not fully develop a ToM.
Baron-Cohen (1985) Study
Baron-Cohen (1985)1 aimed to identify if typically developed children with autism or Down's Syndrome could pass a false-belief task.
A false belief is understanding that people's behaviour is determined by people's beliefs of reality rather than reality itself. Their belief, in reality, may differ from what is the case, and thus, ToM is the ability to understand that they may be unaware of the actual situation.
Researchers created a scenario involving dolls, known as the Sally-Anne Test. Sally has a basket in this scenario, and Anne has a box. Sally places a marble in a basket and leaves. Anne then takes it out of the basket and puts it in her box. The participants are then asked, "Where will Sally look for her marble?"
Children should say Sally would look in her basket to pass the task, as she still believes the marble is in her basket. She did not witness Annie move the marble. Children fail this task if they say Sally would look in Anne's box.
80% of children with autism, 14% with Down's Syndrome, and 15% of typically developed children failed the task.
Weak Central Coherence Theory (WCC)
Frith (1989) proposed that people diagnosed with autism have a WCC.
Central coherence is the ability to understand the context of something or see the big picture of it. It is an ability to understand the scope of things.
Fig. 2 - Frith proposed the WCC to build on the ToM.
A person not diagnosed with ASD may see a family, whereas someone with ASD may see many people standing together.
Individual Differences Autism Traits
Characteristics of autism are diverse and far-reaching. Individual differences in social communication, cognitive abilities, and interests can affect how these traits present themselves.
Fig. 3 An individual with ASD may exhibit echolalia or the habit of repeating words and phrases heard.
Social communication skills are affected in people with ASD. Receptive and expressive communication are two modes of communication in which people with autism differ.
People with autism may have different receptive communication abilities, which pertain to recognising when another person attempts to engage, such as understanding verbal and nonverbal clues like body language and facial expressions.
People with ASD tend to take words literally, leading to misunderstandings.
Expressive communication is expressing oneself clearly through language and nonverbal cues.
Individual differences in expressive communication may arise from difficulties, such as learning a language or even having a vast vocabulary but expressing it unusually.
Cognitive skills are also affected in people with ASD. Some people diagnosed with ASD can be detail-orientated. This means they can easily see details that are hard to pick from others.
Frith (1989) described people with ASD as having a detail-focused cognitive style. People with ASD may excel at tasks that involve focusing on details but may not be as good at tasks that involve looking at the big picture, resulting from superior local and inferior global processing.
Local processing is when people attend to information in a detail-orientated way. This may mean looking at the individual components that form a picture.
Global processing is when people attend to information in a way that shows the big picture. When using global processing, people can combine many elements to get a gist of the big picture.
Interests among individuals with autism may also vary. Some have a wide range of passions, while others have limited interests.
Common interests shared among people with autism include vehicles, transportation systems, artwork, songs, and famous personalities.
Individual Differences in Autism Based on Gender
Typically, more males than females are diagnosed with autism. This data suggests that there are individual differences in autism based on Gender.
Why there is a higher prevalence rate of autism in males than females are still not fully understood. However, research has identified that individual differences in autism based on gender may be because:
- Males are more likely to inherit autism-related mutated genes
- They have high levels of testosterone, a sex hormone found in men
- Women may inherit protective factors that make them less likely to inherit autism
It is important to note that there are existing arguments that gender differences in the prevalence of autism may not be valid arguments. This is because this difference may be due to bias in diagnosis.
Reactive attachment disorder has similar symptoms to autism. This disorder is more common in females than males. Therefore, clinicians may confuse the disorders' symptoms, which may cause the discovered gender differences in autism.
Baron-Cohen et al. (2005): Exaggeration of the Male Brain
A study by Baron-Cohen et al. (2005) proposed that females tend to be strong empathisers, while males tend to be strong systemisers.
This means that females tend to succeed more in inferring emotional states and responding appropriately in social situations.
In contrast, males tend to focus more on the rules surrounding the situation (input vs output) and predict and respond to behaviours based on this principle, relying on the rules that govern this system. They are weak empathisers.
Baron-Cohen et al. (2005) suggested that the 'extreme male brain' is behind the gender differences in autism.
Individual Differences in Autistic Children
Autism research also identified individual differences in some characteristics of children with autism, such as personality style and sensitivity to stimulation.
Fig. 4 Four illustrations of kids indicating autism symptoms.
Sensory differences among individuals in the autism spectrum may come in the form of hypersensitivity (too much stimulation) or hyposensitivity (little stimulation). The following are some examples of individual differences in the different sensory modalities:
Children with autism may experience excessive visual stimulation, such as sensitivity to fluorescent lights, which can cause pain and anxiety.
With hypovision, individuals in the autism spectrum like bright lights and anything visually stimulating, such as reflections and items with bright colours; they naturally seek visual stimulation in various ways, such as staring at bright lights.
In hyperauditory, children with autism may hear sounds louder than most people.
In hypoauditory, there is a craving for auditory stimulation causing children with autism to enjoy places with lots of noise, for instance. They sometimes make sounds to stimulate themselves, such as slamming doors.
With increased sensitivity to gustation (taste) or olfaction (smell), children with autism may not be able to tolerate certain odours and tastes, leading to behaviours such as eating only particular foods. With hyposensitivity, a child with autism may want to try anything they can get their hands on, even non-edible items. Behaviours may include smelling and chewing play-dough.
Increased sensitivity to touch can make children with autism intolerant of certain clothing textures, physical touch (e.g., hugs), and nail cutting. These sensations can be overwhelming, which can cause them extreme pain or a panic attack.
With hypotactility, there is less sensitivity to wounds, temperatures, and a tendency for self-injury, such as banging one's head against the wall.
Children with autism who are vestibular hypersensitive may feel anxious about having their feet lose contact with the ground, making it difficult to play sports. Walking on uneven surfaces and changing directions may also be difficult for them. With vestibular hyposensitivity, children can move and change directions for long periods without losing balance or getting dizzy. They may enjoy spinning in circles and rocking back and forth.
Children with autism who are proprioceptive hypersensitive may have unusual body postures. In comparison, proprioceptive hyposensitivity among children with autism appears as lacking in body awareness. They may be unaware of their body position, leading to clumsiness (e.g., dropping things and tripping over).
Personality And Individual Differences in Autistic Adults
Regarding individual differences in adults with autism, research has found significant differences in memory and personality.
Roestorf et al. (2021) examined the extent of aphantasia (inability to visualise mentally) in adults with autism and if it links to difficulties with episodic memory and prospective thinking.
Fig. 5 Illustration of the degrees of aphantasia (e.g., thinking about a red triangle).
The findings found:
- The autistic group exhibited greater levels of aphantasia linked to autism-related cognitive problems
- Correlation between aphantasia and less future-oriented thought
- A connection between autism-related mental processing and decreased recollection of episodic experiences (e.g., single past or future events).
Personality has also been linked to individual differences in autism. Schriber et al. (2014) compared the Big Five Personality scores of neurotypical children and children with autism.
The results found that children with autism scored significantly less in extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness than neurotypical children. However, children with autism had significantly higher scores indicating neuroticism than neurotypical children.
These results suggest that higher neuroticism personality traits may be a psychological marker for autism.
Individual Differences In Autism - Key takeaways
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a category of various developmental disorders affecting around four in 10,000 children.
- Research investigating individual differences is used to identify if the differences found between people can explain behaviour.
- Gender and personality individual differences In autistic adults have been identified in the research, including that ASD is related to the neuroticism personality trait and males are more likely than women to develop autism.
- The extreme male brain is one theory suggesting the reasoning behind this difference in gender rates of diagnosis.
- The Theory of Mind and the weak central coherence theory are two theories explaining the causes of individual differences in autism.
References
- Fig. 3 – Autism Aspect Echolalia 1 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Autism_Aspect_Echolalia_1.png) by MissLunaRose12 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:MissLunaRose12) is licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)
- Fig. 4 – Four Kids with Signs of Autism (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Four_Kids_with_Signs_of_Autism.png) by MissLunaRose12 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:MissLunaRose12) is licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)
- Fig. 5 – Mental phantasia representation (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mental_phantasia_representation.jpg) by Bafuncius (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Bafuncius) is licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)
- Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A. M., & Frith, U. (1985). Does the autistic child have a “theory of mind”?. Cognition, 21(1), 37-46.
- Frith, U. (1989). Autism: Explaining the enigma. Oxford: Blackwell.
- Baron-Cohen, S., Knickmeyer, R. C., & Belmonte, M. K. (2005). Sex differences in The Brain: implications for explaining autism. Science, 310(5749), 819-823.
- Schriber, R. A., Robins, R. W., & Solomon, M. (2014). Personality and self-insight in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of personality and social psychology, 106(1), 112.
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