Synopses & Reviews
"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
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."
Review
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. The MIT Press
Review
andquot;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.andquot;
-- Henry M. Wellman, University of Michigan
Synopsis
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
Synopsis
foreword by Leda Cosmides and John Tooby In Mindblindness, SimonBaron-Cohen presents a model of the evolution and development of mindreading. Heargues that we mindread all the time, effortlessly, automatically, and mostlyunconsciously. It is the natural way in which we interpret, predict, and participatein social behavior and communication. We ascribe mental states to people: statessuch as thoughts, desires, knowledge, and intentions.Building on many years ofresearch, Baron-Cohen concludes that children with autism, suffer frommindblindness as a result of a selective impairment in mindreading. For thesechildren, the world is essentially devoid of mental things.Baron-Cohen develops atheory that draws on data from comparative psychology, from developmental, and fromneuropsychology. He argues that specific neurocognitive mechanisms have evolved thatallow 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, andConceptual Change series
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.