Simon Baron-Cohen

Simon Baron-Cohen FBA FBPsS (born 15 August 1958) is a British clinical psychologist and professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. He is the Director of the University's Autism Research Centre and a Fellow of Trinity College. In 1985, Baron-Cohen formulated the mind-blindness theory of autism, the evidence for which he collated and published in 1995. In 1997, he formulated the fetal sex steroid theory of autism, the key test of which was published in 2015. He has also made major contributions to the fields of typical cognitive sex differences, autism prevalence and screening, autism genetics, autism neuroimaging, autism and technical ability, and synaesthesia. However, his views on autism and sex differences, such as the fetal sex steroid theory, are controversial, with some critics asserting that Baron-Cohen's theories are based on subjective perceptions.

Simon Baron-Cohen

FBA FBPsS
Baron-Cohen in 2011
Born (1958-08-15) 15 August 1958
London, England
NationalityEnglish
Alma mater
Known forAutism research
Spouse(s)
Bridget Lindley
​
(
m. 1987; died 2016)
AwardsKanner-Asperger Medal (2013)[1]
Scientific career
Fields
InstitutionsUniversity of Cambridge
ThesisSocial Cognition and Pretend-Play in Autism (1985)
Doctoral advisorUta Frith

Personal life and education

Baron-Cohen was born into a middle-class Jewish family in London.[2][3][4] He completed a BA degree in Human Sciences at New College, Oxford, and an MPhil degree in Clinical Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. He received a PhD degree in Psychology at University College London;[5] his doctoral research was in collaboration with his supervisor Uta Frith.[6]

He married Bridget Lindley, a family rights lawyer whom he had met at Oxford, in 1987. She died of breast cancer in 2016.[7][8]

Baron-Cohen has three children, the eldest of whom is screenwriter and director Sam Baron.[9] He has an elder brother Dan Baron Cohen and three younger siblings, brother Ash Baron-Cohen and sisters Suzie and Liz.[4] His cousins include the actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and the composer Erran Baron Cohen.[10][11] Simon Baron-Cohen's surname, in contrast to that of most of his family, includes a hyphen; this arose from a typographical error which he never corrected in the printing of his first professional article.[12]

Autism research

While a member of the Cognitive Development Unit (CDU) in London in 1985, Baron-Cohen was lead author (with Alan M. Leslie and Uta Frith) of the first study proposing a correlation between children with autism and delays in the development of a theory of mind ("ToM").[13][14] A theory of mind is the ability to imagine other people's emotions and thoughts, and it is a skill that according to Baron-Cohen's research is typically delayed developmentally in children with autism.[14]

Baron-Cohen in 2011

Baron-Cohen and his colleagues discovered in 1987 the first evidence that experiences in synaesthesia remain consistent over time; they also found synaesthesia to be measurable via neuroimaging techniques.[15] His team has investigated whether synaesthesia is connected to autism.[16]

In 1997 Baron-Cohen developed the empathising–systemising theory. His theory is that a cognitive profile with a systemising drive that is stronger than empathising is associated with maths, science and technology skills, and exists in families with autism spectrum disorders. He suspects that if individuals with a "systemising" focus are selecting each other as mates, they are more likely to have children with autism.[9][17] He postulates that more individuals with autistic traits are marrying each other and having children.[9] He said that "In essence, some geeks may be carriers of genes for autism: in their own life, they do not demonstrate any signs of severe autism, but when they pair up and have kids, their children may get a double dose of autism genes and traits. In this way, assortative mating between technical-minded people might spread autism genes."[17]

Baron-Cohen's work in systemising-empathising led him to investigate whether higher levels of fetal testosterone explain the increased prevalence of autism spectrum disorders among males;[17] his theory is known as the "extreme male brain" theory of autism.[11] A review of his book The Essential Difference published in Nature in 2003 summarises his proposal as: "the male brain is programmed to systemize and the female brain to empathize ... Asperger's syndrome represents the extreme male brain".[18]

In 2001 he developed the autism-spectrum quotient, a set of fifty questions that can be used to help determine whether or not an adult exhibits symptoms of autism.[19] The AQ has subsequently been used in hundreds of studies including one study of half a million people, showing robust sex differences and higher scores in those who work in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).[20]

Baron-Cohen developed the Mindreading software for special education,[21] which was nominated for an award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) interactive award in 2002.[22] His lab developed The Transporters, an animation series designed to teach children with autism to recognise and understand emotions. The series was also nominated for a BAFTA award.[9][23]

Criticisms
Further information: Empathizing–systemizing theory § Criticism

Baron-Cohen has faced criticism by some for his "empathizing-systemizing theory", which states that humans may be classified on the basis of their scores along two dimensions (empathizing and systemizing); and that females tend to score higher on the empathizing dimension and males tend to score higher on the systemizing dimension. Feminist scientists, including Cordelia Fine, neuroscientist, Gina Rippon, and Lise Eliot have opposed his extreme male brain theory of autism, calling it "neurotrash" and neurosexism.[24][25][26][27] Rippon also argues against using "male" and "female" for describing different types of brains, and that brain types do not correspond to genders.[25][28]

A 2009 study led by Baron-Cohen which reported that autistic individuals possessed superior visual acuity has been subject to heavy criticism. The developers of the software he used said that his results were impossible based on the technology used in the study. Additionally, the results of the study could not be replicated in a follow-up study.[29][30][31]

Baron-Cohen's supposition that Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein displayed autistic traits has been met with scepticism by UCSF psychiatrist Glenn Elliot. Elliot views attempting to diagnose on the basis of biographical information as extremely unreliable, and claims that any behaviour can have various causes.[32]

Organisations

Baron-Cohen is professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.[5] He is the Director of the University's Autism Research Centre[33] and a Fellow of Trinity College.[5]

He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS),[34] the British Academy,[35] and the Association for Psychological Science.[36] He is a BPS Chartered Psychologist.[34]

He serves as Vice-President of the National Autistic Society (UK),[37] and was the 2012 Chairman of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guideline Development Group for adults with autism.[38] He has served as Vice-President of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR).[5] He is co-editor in chief of the journal Molecular Autism.[39] He is President-Elect of INSAR.[40]

He is the Chair of the Psychology Section of the British Academy.[41]

Recognition

Baron-Cohen was awarded the 1990 Spearman Medal from the BPS,[42] the McAndless Award from the American Psychological Association,[43] the 1993 May Davidson Award for Clinical Psychology from the BPS,[44] and the 2006 presidents' Award from the BPS.[45] He was awarded the Kanner-Asperger Medal in 2013 by the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft Autismus-Spektrum as a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to autism research.[1]

Selected publications

Single-authored books
  • Mindblindness: An Essay on Autism and Theory of Mind. MIT Press/Bradford Books. 1995. ISBN 978-0-262-02384-9.
  • The Essential Difference: Men, Women and the Extreme Male Brain. Penguin/Basic Books. 2003. ISBN 978-0-7139-9671-5.
  • Autism and Asperger Syndrome. Facts. Oxford University Press. 2008. ISBN 978-0-19-850490-0.
  • Zero Degrees of Empathy: A New Theory of Human Cruelty. Penguin/Allen Lane. 2011. ISBN 978-0-7139-9791-0. (published in the US as The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Human Cruelty, ISBN 978-0-465-02353-0)

Other books
  • Baron-Cohen S, Tager-Flusberg H, Lombardo MV, eds. (2013). Understanding Other Minds: Perspectives From Social Cognitive Neuroscience (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-852446-5.
  • Hadwin J, Howlin P, Baron-Cohen S (2008). Teaching Children with Autism to Mindread: A Practical Guide for Teachers and Parents. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-97623-3.
  • Baron-Cohen, Simon (April 2007). "The evolution of empathizing and systemizing: assortative mating of two strong systemizers and the cause of autism". In Barrett, Louise; Dunbar, Robin (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198568308.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19856-830-8.
  • Baron-Cohen S, Lutchmaya S, Knickmeyer R (2005). Prenatal Testosterone in Mind: Amniotic Fluid Studies. MIT Press/Bradford Books. ISBN 978-0-262-26774-8.
  • Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S (2004). An Exact Mind: An Artist with Asperger Syndrome. Jessica Kingsley. ISBN 978-1-84310-032-4.
  • Baron-Cohen S; Tager-Flusberg H; Cohen DJ, eds. (2000). Understanding Other Minds: Perspectives from Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-852445-8.
  • Baron-Cohen S, Harrison J, eds. (1997). Synaesthesia: Classic and Contemporary Readings. Blackwells. ISBN 978-0-631-19763-8.
  • Baron-Cohen S, ed. (1997). The Maladapted Mind: Classic Readings in Evolutionary Psychopathology. East Sussex, UK: Psychology Press/Taylor Francis Group. ISBN 978-0-86377-460-7.

Selected journal articles
  • Baron-Cohen S, Leslie AM, Frith U (October 1985). "Does the autistic child have a "theory of mind"?". Cognition. 21 (1): 37–46. doi:10.1016/0010-0277(85)90022-8. PMID 2934210.
  • Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S, Skinner R, Martin J, Clubley E (February 2001). "The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ): evidence from Asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists and mathematicians". J Autism Dev Disord. 31 (1): 5–17. doi:10.1023/A:1005653411471. PMID 11439754.
  • Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S, Hill J, Raste Y, Plumb I (February 2001). "The "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Test revised version: a study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism". J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 42 (2): 241–51. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00715. PMID 11280420.

See also

References
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  2. "The Provocative Baron Cohen Clan | Page 7 of 9". Moment Magazine - The Next 5,000 Years of Conversation Begin Here. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  3. "Simon Baron-Cohen: Ali G's smarter cousin and Britain's leading expert". The Independent. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  4. Baron-Cohen, Simon. "My special sister Suzie". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  5. "ARC people: Professor Simon Baron-Cohen". Autism Research Center, University of Cambridge. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  6. Bishop, Dorothy V. M. (January 2008). "Forty years on: Uta Frith's contribution to research on autism and dyslexia, 1966–2006". Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (Hove). 61 (1): 16–26. doi:10.1080/17470210701508665. PMC 2409181. PMID 18038335.
  7. "Obituary: Bridget Lindley OBE". Family Law. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  8. "Obituary: Bridget Lindley". The Times. 22 April 2016.
  9. Warner, Judith (29 August 2011). "Autism's lone wolf". Time. Retrieved 28 December 2013.(subscription required)
  10. "Time Out with Nick Cohen". New Statesman. 26 February 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  11. Szalavitz, Maia (30 May 2011). "Q&A: Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen on empathy and the science of evil". Time. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  12. Glazer, Sarah (7 October 2011). "The Provocative Baron Cohen Clan - Page 7 of 9". Moment. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  13. Baron-Cohen, Simon; Leslie, Alan M.; Frith, Uta (October 1985). "Does the autistic child have a "theory of mind"?". Cognition. 21 (1): 37–46. doi:10.1016/0010-0277(85)90022-8. PMID 2934210.
  14. Saxe, Rebecca (9 May 2008). "1985 paper on the theory of mind". SFARI. Archived from the original on 29 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  15. Carpenter, Siri (March 2001). "Everyday fantasia: The world of synesthesia". 32 (3). American Psychological Association.
  16. Baron-Cohen, Simon (9 November 2012). "Are geeky couples more likely to have kids with autism?". Scientific American. Retrieved 14 April 2018. Pdf. Now in "4.4. Autism and the Technical Mind". Understanding Autism: The Search for Answers. Scientific American. 18 March 2013. ISBN 978-1-4668-3385-2.
  17. Benenson, Joyce F. (2003). "Sex on the brain". Nature. 424 (6945): 132–133. doi:10.1038/424132b.
  18. Woodbury-Smith MR, Robinson J, Wheelwright S, Baron-Cohen S (June 2005). "Screening adults for Asperger Syndrome using the AQ: a preliminary study of its diagnostic validity in clinical practice" (PDF). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 35 (3): 331–5. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.653.8639. doi:10.1007/s10803-005-3300-7. PMID 16119474.
  19. "Study of half a million people reveals sex and job predict how many autistic traits you have". University of Cambridge. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  20. "Mind Reading: Frequently Asked Questions: Who developed it?". Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  21. "BAFTA Awards: Interactive: Offline Learning in 2002". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  22. "BAFTA Awards: Children's: Learning – Primary in 2007". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  23. Rippon, Gina (28 February 2019). The Gendered Brain: The new neuroscience that shatters the myth of the female brain. Random House. ISBN 978-1-4735-4897-8.
  24. Guest, Katy (2 March 2019). "The Gendered Brain by Gina Rippon review – exposing a myth". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  25. WOW 2014 | Fighting The Neurotrash, retrieved 2 January 2020
  26. Eliot, Lise (27 February 2019). "Neurosexism: the myth that men and women have different brains". Nature. 566 (7745): 453–454. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-00677-x.
  27. Costandi, Moheb (9 May 2011). "Simon Baron-Cohen: Theorizing on the mind in autism". Spectrum. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  28. Bach, Michael; Dakin, Steven C. (November 2009). "Regarding "Eagle-Eyed Visual Acuity: An Experimental Investigation of Enhanced Perception in Autism"". Biological Psychiatry. 66 (10): e19–e20. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.02.035. PMID 19576570.
  29. Bölte, Sven; Schlitt, Sabine; Gapp, Volker; Hainz, Daniela; Schirman, Shella; Poustka, Fritz; Weber, Bernhard; Freitag, Christine; Ciaramidaro, Angela; Walter, Henrik (10 June 2011). "A Close Eye on the Eagle-Eyed Visual Acuity Hypothesis of Autism". Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 42 (5): 726–733. doi:10.1007/s10803-011-1300-3. PMC 3324676. PMID 21660498.
  30. Teresa, Tavassoli; Keziah, Latham; Mihael, Bach; Steven C., Dakin; Simon, Baron-Cohen (August 2011). "Psychophysical measures of visual acuity in autism spectrum conditions". Vision Research. 51 (15): 1778–80. doi:10.1016/j.visres.2011.06.004. PMC 6345362. PMID 21704058. Discussed in "Eagle-Eyed Autism? No". Neuroskeptic. 29 June 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
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  39. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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