Who Cares? Revisiting Empathy in Asperger Syndrome

Rogers, Kimberley; Dziobek, Isabel; Hassenstab, Jason; Wolf, Oliver T.; Convit, Antonio

doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0197-8

Cited by 314 publications

(271 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In the same direction, those studies that differentiate between different components of empathy have revealed difficulties in cognitive, but not in affective, aspects of empathy in individuals with ASDs (Dziobek et al, 2008;Rogers, Dziobek, Hassenstab, Wolf, & Convit, 2007;Shamay-Tsoory, Tomer, Yaniv, & Aharon-Peretz, 2002;Yirmiya, Sigman, Kasari, & Mundy, 1992). Overall, these findings suggest relatively intact emotional empathic reactions to other individuals' affective states, along with impaired ToM and cognitive empathy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Moral judgment in adults with autism spectrum disorders

et al. 2011

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a b s t r a c tThe ability of a group of adults with high functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger Syndrome (AS) to distinguish moral, conventional and disgust transgressions was investigated using a set of six transgression scenarios, each of which was followed by questions about permissibility, seriousness, authority contingency and justification. The results showed that although individuals with HFA or AS (HFA/AS) were able to distinguish affect-backed norms from conventional affect-neutral norms along the dimensions of permissibility, seriousness and authority-dependence, they failed to distinguish moral and disgust transgressions along the seriousness dimension and were unable to provide appropriate welfare-based moral justifications. Moreover, they judged conventional and disgust transgressions to be more serious than did the comparison group, and the correlation analysis revealed that the seriousness rating was related to their ToM impairment. We concluded that difficulties providing appropriate moral justifications and evaluating the seriousness of transgressions in individuals with HFA/AS may be explained by an impaired cognitive appraisal system that, while responsive to rule violations, fails to use relevant information about the agent's intentions and the affective impact of the action outcome in conscious moral reasoning.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Moral judgment in adults with autism spectrum disorders

et al. 2011

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“…Autism is consistently linked with failures to understand others' goals and plans (i.e., their agentic mental contents) (10, 11), but there is significant debate about ascriptions of experience. Some studies find deficits in processing others' emotional states (12), but others find that individuals with autism use emotion-related words similar to matched controls (13) and remain sensitive to the emotional discomfort of others (14). Moreover, although individuals with autism often have difficulty interacting with other people, they interact relatively easily with nonhuman animals (15) and robots (16).…”

Section: Autism Spectrummentioning

confidence: 99%

Distortions of mind perception in psychopathology

Gray

Jenkins

Heberlein

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

148

133

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It has long been known that psychopathology can influence social perception, but a 2D framework of mind perception provides the opportunity for an integrative understanding of some disorders. We examined the covariation of mind perception with three subclinical syndromes-autism-spectrum disorder, schizotypy, and psychopathy-and found that each presents a unique mind-perception profile. Autism-spectrum disorder involves reduced perception of agency in adult humans. Schizotypy involves increased perception of both agency and experience in entities generally thought to lack minds. Psychopathy involves reduced perception of experience in adult humans, children, and animals. Disorders are differentially linked with the over-or underperception of agency and experience in a way that helps explain their real-world consequences.morality | empathy | theory of mind | transdiagnostic M ental disorders can reveal themselves in distortions of social perception. A person with a disorder may have difficulty understanding the goals of others, or in more profound cases, may ascribe life to inanimate objects or entirely fail to recognize mental states at all. Such distorted mind perception not only has consequences for sufferers of disorders and society at large, but may also help in understanding the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of psychopathology. In this research, we examine three subclinical syndromes associated with interpersonal difficulties: autism-spectrum disorder, schizotypy, and psychopathy. We predicted that each would be characterized by a unique pattern of distorted mind perception.Traditional approaches to psychopathology often treat individual disorders as separate entities, each with its own signs, symptoms, and etiology. Although this approach has made significant progress in defining and treating psychopathology, this compartmentalization of disorders belies the integrated nature of the mind. More recent research takes a "transdiagnostic" approach, characterizing separate disorders as different impairments of underlying cognitive systems (1). For example, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse all appear to be linked to disturbances of affect (2). We suggest that a number of disorders may be characterized as specific distortions of mind perception, atypical ascriptions of mental capacities to other entities.Successful interaction with the world requires knowing which entities have minds and which do not. Mind perception can therefore be distorted by overperception (perceiving a nonexistent mind) and underperception (failing to perceive an existent mind). Research suggests that both can be associated with adverse consequences for perceivers and targets, consequences that range from social faux pas to violence and death. For example, the overperception of mind in infants can lead to child abuse (3), but the underperception of mind in adults can lead to the denial of moral rights (4, 5).Although psychopathology has long been linked to abnormal social perception, recent discoveries provide a unique framework...

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“…Psychometric studies have highlighted that those with ASD not only have difficulties in interpersonal skills such as few friendships, little emotional connectedness, empathy and social enjoyment (e.g., Baron-Cohen et al, 2001, Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright, 2003Rogers et al, 2007;Chevallier et al, 2012a;Calder et al, 2012), but also have difficulties in processing their own emotions including poor emotional introspection, clarity, expression and regulation (e.g., Hill et al, 2004;Berthoz and Hill, 2005;Konstantareas and Stewart, 2006;Szatmari et al, 2008;Petrides et al, 2011;Rieffe et al, 2011;Samson et al, 2012). Hedonic abnormalities from sensitive arousal have also been noted (e.g., Baranek et al, 2006;Baron-Cohen et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating emotional impairments in adults with autism spectrum disorders and the broader autism phenotype

Berthoz

Lalanne

Crane

et al. 2013

Psychiatry Research

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There is an increasing interest in the socio-affective atypicalities observed in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aim of this study was to further explore emotional responsiveness in adults with ASD using well-validated self-reports of alexithymia and extend these with consideration of anhedonia, and to determine whether these features are part of a broader autism phenotype. Thirty-eight adults with ASD, 87 parents of ASD individuals and 47 typical controls completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient, the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire, as well as the Chapman Physical and Social Anhedonia Scales. The ASD group differed from controls and parents on most measures, with the exception of physical and social anhedonia, relative to parents. Parents differed from controls on social anhedonia, and a higher proportion of parents were classed as alexithymic, relative to controls. Cluster analysis revealed that some parents share more similarities with ASD participants than with controls. The results suggest that socio-affective impairments are characteristic of ASD, and feature as part of the broader autism phenotype.

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Who Cares? Revisiting Empathy in Asperger Syndrome

Cited by 314 publications

References 29 publications

Moral judgment in adults with autism spectrum disorders

Moral judgment in adults with autism spectrum disorders

Distortions of mind perception in psychopathology

Investigating emotional impairments in adults with autism spectrum disorders and the broader autism phenotype

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