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Rządeczka M, Wodziński M, Moskalewicz M. Cognitive biases as an adaptive strategy in autism and schizophrenia spectrum: the compensation perspective on neurodiversity. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1291854. [PMID: 38116384 PMCID: PMC10729319 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1291854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
This article presents a novel theoretical perspective on the role of cognitive biases within the autism and schizophrenia spectrum by integrating the evolutionary and computational approaches. Against the background of neurodiversity, cognitive biases are presented as primary adaptive strategies, while the compensation of their shortcomings is a potential cognitive advantage. The article delineates how certain subtypes of autism represent a unique cognitive strategy to manage cognitive biases at the expense of rapid and frugal heuristics. In contrast, certain subtypes of schizophrenia emerge as distinctive cognitive strategies devised to navigate social interactions, albeit with a propensity for overdetecting intentional behaviors. In conclusion, the paper emphasizes that while extreme manifestations might appear non-functional, they are merely endpoints of a broader, primarily functional spectrum of cognitive strategies. The central argument hinges on the premise that cognitive biases in both autism and schizophrenia spectrums serve as compensatory mechanisms tailored for specific ecological niches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcin Rządeczka
- Institute of Philosophy, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, Lublin, Poland
- IDEAS NCBR, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Marcin Moskalewicz
- Institute of Philosophy, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, Lublin, Poland
- IDEAS NCBR, Warsaw, Poland
- Philosophy of Mental Health Unit, Department of Social Sciences and the Humanities, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland
- Phenomenological Psychopathology and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
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Wilde VK. Neonatal Jaundice and Autism: Precautionary Principle Invocation Overdue. Cureus 2022; 14:e22512. [PMID: 35228983 PMCID: PMC8873319 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.22512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
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Koi P. Genetics on the neurodiversity spectrum: Genetic, phenotypic and endophenotypic continua in autism and ADHD. STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 2021; 89:52-62. [PMID: 34365317 DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsa.2021.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Revised: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
How we ought to diagnose, categorise and respond to spectrum disabilities such as autism and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a topic of lively debate. The heterogeneity associated with ADHD and autism is described as falling on various continua of behavioural, neural, and genetic difference. These continua are varyingly described either as extending into the general population, or as being continua within a given disorder demarcation. Moreover, the interrelationships of these continua are likewise often vague and subject to diverse interpretations. In this paper, I explore geneticists' and self-advocates' perspectives concerning autism and ADHD as continua. These diagnoses are overwhelmingly analysed as falling on a continuum or continua of underlying traits, which supports the notion of "the neurodiversity spectrum", i.e., a broader swath of human neural and behavioural diversity on which some concentrations of different functioning are diagnosed. I offer a taxonomy of conceptions of the genetic, phenotypic, and endophenotypic dimensionality within and beyond these diagnostic categories, and suggest that the spectrum of neurodiversity is characteristically endophenotypic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Polaris Koi
- Philosophy Unit, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turun Yliopisto, Finland.
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Abstract
Pathological ("extreme") demand avoidance (PDA) involves obsessively avoiding routine demands and extreme emotional variability. It is clinically linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The observer-rated EDA Questionnaire (EDA-Q) for children was adapted as an adult self-report (EDA-QA), and tested in relation to personality and the short-form Autism Screening Questionnaire (ASQ). Study 1 (n = 347) found the EDA-QA reliable, univariate, and correlated with negative affect, antagonism, disinhibition, psychoticism, and ASQ scores. Study 2 (n = 191) found low agreeableness, greater Emotional Instability, and higher scores on the full ASQ predicted EDA-QA. PDA can screened for using this tool, occurs in the general population, and is associated with extremes of personality. Future studies will examine if PDA occurs in other clinical populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent Egan
- Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology, University of Nottingham, Yang Fujia Building, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham, NG8 1BB UK
| | - Omer Linenberg
- Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology, University of Nottingham, Yang Fujia Building, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham, NG8 1BB UK
| | - Elizabeth O’Nions
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Developmental Risk & Resilience Unit, Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology Research Department, University College London, London, UK
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Ijichi S, Ijichi N, Ijichi Y, Imamura C, Sameshima H, Kawaike Y, Morioka H. The origin of human complex diversity: Stochastic epistatic modules and the intrinsic compatibility between distributional robustness and phenotypic changeability. J Integr Neurosci 2018. [DOI: 10.3233/jin-170034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Shinji Ijichi
- Health Service Center, Kagoshima University, 1-21-24 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-8580, Japan
- Institute for Externalization of Gifts and Talents, 7421-1 Shimofukumoto, Kagoshima 891-0144, Japan
| | - Naomi Ijichi
- Institute for Externalization of Gifts and Talents, 7421-1 Shimofukumoto, Kagoshima 891-0144, Japan
| | - Yukina Ijichi
- Institute for Externalization of Gifts and Talents, 7421-1 Shimofukumoto, Kagoshima 891-0144, Japan
| | - Chikako Imamura
- Support Center for Students with Disabilities, Kagoshima University, 1-21-30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan
| | - Hisami Sameshima
- Health Service Center, Kagoshima University, 1-21-24 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-8580, Japan
| | - Yoichi Kawaike
- Health Service Center, Kagoshima University, 1-21-24 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-8580, Japan
| | - Hirofumi Morioka
- Health Service Center, Kagoshima University, 1-21-24 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-8580, Japan
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Reser JE. Tourette syndrome in the context of evolution and behavioral ecology. Med Hypotheses 2017; 99:35-39. [PMID: 28110694 DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2016.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2016] [Revised: 12/07/2016] [Accepted: 12/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Tourette syndrome, and the closely related spectrum of tic disorders, are inherited neuropsychiatric conditions characterized by the presence of repetitive and stereotyped movements. Tics are elicited by either environmental experiences or internal signals that instruct the basal ganglia to initiate automatic or procedural movements. In most vertebrates the basal ganglia encode instructions for habitually used sequences of motor movements that are essential to survival. Tic disorders may represent evolved phenotypes with a lower threshold for basal ganglia-directed actions. This may have produced a susceptibility to extraneous tics, but also produced fast-acting tactical solutions to immediate physical problems. During periods of nonstop movement, continual foraging, and sustained vigilance, it may have been advantageous to allow subcortical motor commands to intrude into ongoing motor activities. It is clear that the engrams for individual motor responses held in the basal ganglia are selected by converging cortical and subcortical inputs. This form of convergent action selection results in the selection of the most contextually reinforced actions. Today people with Tourette's have tics that seem arbitrary and inappropriate; however, this may be due to the vast discrepancies in reinforcement between the ancestral environment and the modern one. In prehistoric environments, the motor behaviors of individuals with tic disorders may have been appropriate in environmental context, and had ecological relevance in survival and self-promotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared Edward Reser
- Psychology Department, University of Southern California, United States.
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Abstract
Autistic traits can help people gain and sustain power, and has probably done so throughout history, says the present paper. A number of testable claims follow from this assumption. First, the powerful should have more autistic traits than others - which they do appear to have. Among other things, powerful people, and those with many autistic traits, tend to prefer solitary activities and are often aloof. Moreover, they are often rigid and socially insensitive, low on empathy and with low scores on the trait of agreeableness - and as a rule they do not have many friends. Both groups are also more self-centered than others, more honest, less submissive, more sensitive to slights, and with a stronger tendency to engage in abstract thinking. They tend to behave in bossy or dominant ways, and their moral judgment is more based on rules than on feelings. In addition to experimental evidence, I cite biographies showing that a surprising number of presidents, prime ministers and other powerful people seem to have had traits like those in question - and interestingly, in animals, leaders are often rigid and insensitive to group members' needs and feelings, mostly acting the way they are themselves inclined to, not responding much to others. Problem solving is important in leadership, and people with many autistic traits appear often to be better thinkers than typical subjects with similar IQs. However, these and other congruities could be coincidences. Hence the question of whether traits the two groups have in common also have a common cause constitutes a strong test of the paper's thesis - and a common cause does appear to exist, in the form of testosterone's effects on the central nervous system. Finally, there is evidence that, other things equal, powerful men have more reproductive success than others. If men wielding power do indeed have more autistic traits than those less powerful, this will lead to, other things equal, such traits becoming more common - which can help explain the prevalence of autistic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geir Overskeid
- Department of Psychology, University of OsloOslo, Norway
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Autistic-Like Traits, Sociosexuality, and Hormonal Responses to Socially Stressful and Sexually Arousing Stimuli in Male College Students. ADAPTIVE HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND PHYSIOLOGY 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s40750-015-0034-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Smith AD. Spatial navigation in autism spectrum disorders: a critical review. Front Psychol 2015; 6:31. [PMID: 25667579 PMCID: PMC4304163 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2014] [Accepted: 01/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
On the basis of relative strengths that have been attributed to the autistic cognitive profile, it has been suggested by a number of theorists that people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) excel at spatial navigational tasks. However, many of these claims have been made in the absence of a close inspection of extant data in the scientific literature, let alone anecdotal reports of daily navigational experiences. The present review gathers together published studies that have attempted to explicitly address functional components of navigation in ASD populations, including assays of wayfinding, large-scale search, and path integration. This inspection reveals a pattern of apparent strengths and weaknesses in navigational abilities, thus illustrating the necessity for a more measured and comprehensive approach to the understanding of spatial behavior in ASD.
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Pegoraro LFL, Setz EZF, Dalgalarrondo P. Ethological approach to autism spectrum disorders. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY 2014; 12:223-44. [PMID: 25299761 PMCID: PMC10481087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2013] [Accepted: 01/21/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to develop a new ethogram for the assessment of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual developmental disorder (IDD) and to test whether this instrument accurately distinguishes ASD participants (n = 61) from IDD participants (n = 61). An ethogram with 88 behavior elements was generated, including body postures, verbalizations, facial expressions, motor stereotypies, head postures, gaze behavior, gestures, and interpersonal distance. Significant differences were detected between both groups in classic ASD behaviors; in behaviors that are deficient in ASD according to established theoretical models, such as symbolic play, gaze direction, gaze following, and use of mental state language; in atypical behaviors that have also been described previously in ethological studies with ASD; and in the nonspecific behaviors of ASD, such as walk, look own body, explore, and cry. The predictive success of a diagnosis of ASD in the logistic regression model with the ethogram's factors was 98.4%. The results suggest that this ethogram is a powerful and useful tool for both the detailed study of the social behaviors of autistic children and adolescents, and for discriminating ASD and IDD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luiz F. L. Pegoraro
- Department of Psychiatry and Pediatric Research Center, University of Campinas, Brazil
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Abstract
The purpose of the study was to develop a new ethogram for the assessment of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual developmental disorder (IDD) and to test whether this instrument accurately distinguishes ASD participants ( n = 61) from IDD participants ( n = 61). An ethogram with 88 behavior elements was generated, including body postures, verbalizations, facial expressions, motor stereotypies, head postures, gaze behavior, gestures, and interpersonal distance. Significant differences were detected between both groups in classic ASD behaviors; in behaviors that are deficient in ASD according to established theoretical models, such as symbolic play, gaze direction, gaze following, and use of mental state language; in atypical behaviors that have also been described previously in ethological studies with ASD; and in the nonspecific behaviors of ASD, such as walk, look own body, explore, and cry. The predictive success of a diagnosis of ASD in the logistic regression model with the ethogram's factors was 98.4%. The results suggest that this ethogram is a powerful and useful tool for both the detailed study of the social behaviors of autistic children and adolescents, and for discriminating ASD and IDD.
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Thiébaut E. Psychological components of responses to interest inventory items. JOURNAL OF EMPLOYMENT COUNSELING 2013. [DOI: 10.1002/j.2161-1920.2013.00026.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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