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Mindblindness: An Essay on Autism and Theory of Mind
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 362
EAN: 9780262522250
Edition: New Ed
ISBN: 026252225X
Label: The MIT Press
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 197
Publication Date: February 01, 1997
Publisher: The MIT Press
Studio: The MIT Press
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Editorial Review:
foreword by Leda Cosmides and John Tooby
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. Learning, Development, and Conceptual Change series
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Another theory
If you are one who is interested in theories instead of applied research/information, this book is for you. Baron-Cohen is 'way out there' with this theory using a psychological approach.
Rating:  - Brilliant and fascinating
This is an excellent and fascinating description of the way the mind/brain works. I could not put it down!
Rating:  - Difficult reading for the average layman
I rely on customer reviews when deciding on a book. Apparently the three reviews I read that appeared to be helpful turned out to be a disappointment. This book is obviously written for someone with a very extensive vocabulary. It is filled with $10.00 words and ideas that are really hard to decipher. I was under the impression, via the other 3 reviews, that this book would provide an explanation of "mindblindness" in terms the average layman could understand. After reading the ... Read More
Rating: - A good argument for a model of autism
Baron-Cohen presents a well thought out theory of autism firmly based on his own experimental evidence, as well as that of others. In brief, Baron Cohen postulates that autistic children lack the ability to interpret the mental states of others, and consequently cannot assign mental causes to the actions of others. He explains this in terms of autictics lacking certain postulated mental structures involved in what he calls "mind reading"; for instance, most autistic children do not ... Read More
Rating: - Provides understanding of non-verbal/social LDs.
This book takes recent cognitive research findings and aligns it with the problems that autistics and other people with non-verbal learning disabilities have in correctly interpreting and responding to social situations. It was a fast read for me and very helpful in assisting me to understand that there is a physical cause for inability to respond appropriately to social situations by learning disabled people. The book actually gave me the intellectual key to forming an appropriate emotional ... Read More
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