298
A U T I S M I S A N
E X T R E M E F O R M O F
T H E M A L E B R A I N
SIMON BARON-COHEN (1958– )
IN CONTEXT
APPROACH
Theory of mindBEFORE
1943 American psychiatrist
Leo Kanner identifies autism,
suggesting it is the result of
cold, unemotional parenting.1944 Austrian pediatrician
Hans Asperger describes
autism as “an extreme variant
of male intelligence.”1979 British psychiatrists
Lorna Wing and Judith Gould
discover that there is a wide
spectrum of autistic disorders.AFTER
1989 German-born
psychologist Uta Frith states
that autistic individuals tend
to notice detail, rather than the
broader aspects of situations.1997 UK psychologist Peter
Mitchell argues Baron-Cohen’s
“theory of mind” fails to explain
the exceptional memory and
ability in specific areas that
some autistic people possess.A
utism is a disorder that
affects the brain’s normal
development of social and
communication skills. Autistic
children often react to the world
around them in a way that seems
bizarre to others. They may have
poor communication skills, and
social interaction with autistic
children tends to be challenging,
partly because many of them fail to
speak, and partly because many
show little interest in others. The
majority of autistic children are
male, and most remain impaired
throughout adulthood. Various
explanations for autism have been
offered. One of the most recent andinfluential theories is Simon Baron-
Cohen’s “theory of mind” hypothesis,
which, when supported by his
observations about sex differences
in the brain, suggests that “autism
is an extreme form of the male brain.”Brain types
In 2003, Baron-Cohen developed the
empathizing–systematizing theory
of “female” and “male” brains, which
assigns a particular “brain type” to
every person, regardless of gender,
depending on ability to empathize or
systematize. His research suggests
that the female brain is largely hard-
wired for empathy, with females
usually showing more sympathy for
others, and greater sensitivity to
facial expressions and non-verbal
communication. The male brain, by
contrast, appears to be geared toward
understanding and building systems;
it is mostly interested in how things
work, as well as their structure, and
organization. It is therefore often
better at tasks requiring decoding
skills, such as map reading.
This does not mean, however,
that there is a neat gender split.
Baron-Cohen’s experiments showed
that around 17 percent of men
appear to have an “empathizing
brain,” and 17 percent of womenThe person with
the extreme female
brain would be
‘system-blind.’
Simon Baron-Cohen