Mindblindness

An Essay on Autism and Theory of Mind

Author: Simon Baron-Cohen, Leda Cosmides and John Tooby Series: Learning, Development, and Conceptual Change

"Wow! in this lucid, compelling book Simon Baron-Cohen guides us deep into the realm of the mind....This fascinating book captures the excitment of an emerging field, and advances that field." -- Henry M. Wellman, University of Michigan

This text argues that specific neurocognitive mechanisms have evolved that result in "mindreading", an ability to interpret, for the most part unconsciously, non-verbal actions. It suggests that autistic children suffer from "mindblindness" due to selective developmental impairment in mindreading.

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Summary

Description

In Mindblindness, Simon Baron-Cohen presents a model of the evolution and development of "mindreading." He argues that we mindread all the time, effortlessly, automatically, and mostly unconsciously. It is the natural way in which we interpret, predict, and participate in social behavior and communication. We ascribe mental states to people- states such as thoughts, desires, knowledge, and intentions.Building on many years of research, Baron-Cohen concludes that children with autism, suffer from "mindblindness" as a result of a selective impairment in mindreading. For these children, the world is essentially devoid of mental things.Baron-Cohen develops a theory that draws on data from comparative psychology, from developmental, and from neuropsychology. He argues that specific neurocognitive mechanisms have evolved that allow us to mindread, to make sense of actions, to interpret gazes as meaningful, and to decode "the language of the eyes."A Bradford Book

Critic Reviews

"Wow! in this lucid, compelling book Simon Baron-Cohen guides us deepinto the realm of the mind...This fascinating book captures theexcitment of an emerging field, and advances that field." Henry M. Wellman, University of Michigan

About the Author

Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor in Developmental Psychopathology and Director of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge, is the author of Mindblindness (MIT Press, 1997) and The Essential Difference- The Truth about the Male and Female Mind.