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‘Obsessions' in children with autism or Asperger syndrome

Content analysis in terms of core domains of cognition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

Simon Baron-Cohen  and
Sally Wheelwright
Simon Baron-Cohen*
Affiliation:
Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Cambridge
Sally Wheelwright
Affiliation:
Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Cambridge
*
S. Baron-Cohen, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB
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Abstract

Background

We report a survey of the content of obsessions in children with autism spectrum conditions. We use the term obsessions' narrowly, to indicate strong, repetitive interests. We predicted that obsessions would not cluster randomly, but rather would occur significantly more often in the domain of ‘folk physics' (an interest in how things work), and significantly less often in the domain of ‘folk psychology’ (an interest in how people work). These predictions were tested relative to a control group of 33 children with Tourette syndrome.

Aims

To examine the content of autistic obsessions, and to test the theory that these reflect an evolved cognitive style of good folk physics alongside impaired folk psychology.

Method

Ninety-two parents returned a questionnaire designed to determine the subject of their child's obsessional interests. The results were analysed in terms of core domains of cognition.

Results

Both predictions were confirmed.

Conclusions

These results suggest that impaired folk psychology and superior folk physics are part of the cognitive phenotype of autism. A content-free theory of obsessions is inadequate.

Type
Preliminary Report
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 175 , Issue 5 , November 1999 , pp. 484 - 490
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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Footnotes

Declaration of interest

The authors were supported by the Medical Research Council during the period of this work.

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