Understanding other minds: perspectives from autism

Abstract

Part 1 Introduction: an introduction to the debate early understanding of mind - the normal case social development in autism - historical and clinical perspectives. Part 2 The theory-of-mind hypothesis of autism - the cognitive approach: from attention-goal psychology to belief-desire psychology - the development of a theory of mind and its dysfunction what autism teaches us about metarepresentation the theory-of-mind deficit in autism - rethinking the metarepresentation theory what language reveals about the understanding of minds in children with autism the theory-of-mind deficit in autism - evidence from deception. Part 3 The theory-of-minds hypothesis of autism - critical perspectives: the theory-of-mind and joint-attention deficits in autism understanding persons - the role of affect pretending and planning narrative language in autism and the theory-of-mind hypothesis - a wider perspective theories of mind and the problem of autism the complexity of social behaviour in autism the development of individuals with autism - implications for the theory-of-mind hypothesis. Part 4 Wider perspectives: the role of imitation in understanding persons and developing a theory of mind evolving a theory of mind - the nature of non-verbal mentalism in other primates the comparative study of early communication and theories of mind - ontogeny, phylogeny and pathology autism and the theory of mind - some philosophical perspectives desire and fantasy - a psychoanalytic perspective on the theory of mind and autism the theory-of-mind deficit in autism - some questions for teaching and diagnosis the place of this book in autism research.