Weak central coherence theory
Encyclopedia
The weak central coherence theory (WCC), also called the central coherence theory (CC), suggests that a specific perceptual
-cognitive
style, loosely described as a limited ability to understand context or to "see the big picture", underlies the central disturbance in autism
and related autism spectrum disorders. Autism is a neurodevelopmental
disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, as well as repetitive behaviours and restricted interests.
The weak central coherence theory attempts to explain how some people diagnosed with autism can show remarkable ability in subjects like math and engineering
, yet have trouble with language skills and tend to live in an isolated social world. The theory is among the more prominent conceptual models that try to explain the abnormalities of individuals with autism
on tasks involving local and global cognitive processes.
Uta Frith
, of University College London
, first advanced the weak central coherence theory in the late 1980s. Frith surmised that people with autism typically think about things in the smallest possible parts. Her hypothesis is that children with autism actually perceive details better than normal people, but that "they cannot see the wood for the trees."
However, there is currently no consensus about the validity of the weak central coherence theory. There are researchers who find results that refute the WCC theory.
In 1994 Sally Ozonoff, David L. Strayer, William M. McMahon and Francis Filloux compared information processing skills in non-retarded autists and controls:
Laurent Mottron, Jacob A. Burack, Johannes E. A. Stauder and Philippe Robaey (1999) conclude that:
In 2003 they did another study which confirmed their earlier findings and in which they conclude:
Also in 2003 Beatriz López, Susan R. Leekam conclude their study:
Natasja van Lang gives the following explanation for these contradictory results:
Also autistic people have questioned the theory of WCC. One of the criticisms is that the 'context' deemed universal by the researchers might not at all be so universal from a rational point of view.
In her blog Alyric devotes an article to Central Coherence:
Naja Melan claims that so called neurotypical
people are often biased to overemphasize one context and neglecting all other contexts. This he states is an expression of WCC, as compared to autists who have the possibility of consciously focusing on multiple contexts if deemed appropriate by them or requested.
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
-cognitive
Cognition
In science, cognition refers to mental processes. These processes include attention, remembering, producing and understanding language, solving problems, and making decisions. Cognition is studied in various disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science...
style, loosely described as a limited ability to understand context or to "see the big picture", underlies the central disturbance in autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
and related autism spectrum disorders. Autism is a neurodevelopmental
Neural development
Neural development comprises the processes that generate, shape, and reshape the nervous system, from the earliest stages of embryogenesis to the final years of life. The study of neural development aims to describe the cellular basis of brain development and to address the underlying mechanisms...
disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, as well as repetitive behaviours and restricted interests.
The weak central coherence theory attempts to explain how some people diagnosed with autism can show remarkable ability in subjects like math and engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, yet have trouble with language skills and tend to live in an isolated social world. The theory is among the more prominent conceptual models that try to explain the abnormalities of individuals with autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
on tasks involving local and global cognitive processes.
Uta Frith
Uta Frith
Uta Frith FRS FBA is a leading developmental psychologist working at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. She has pioneered much of the current research in autism and dyslexia, and has written several books on these issues. Her book 'Autism: Explaining the Enigma'...
, of University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, first advanced the weak central coherence theory in the late 1980s. Frith surmised that people with autism typically think about things in the smallest possible parts. Her hypothesis is that children with autism actually perceive details better than normal people, but that "they cannot see the wood for the trees."
Support and criticism
In the last decade, this theory has been a topic in many studies in which the central coherence skills of individuals with austim are compared to those of control samples.- Results in which these skills are measured with visuospatial tasks confirm the theory to a large extent. Individuals with autism performed tasks where a design or a figure had to be divided into their constituent parts faster than control individuals. For example, individuals with autism perceived the constituent blocks in an unsegmented condition of a Block Design Task more easily (Happé, 1999; Ehlers et al., 1997; Shah & Frith, 1993). In addition, they performed Embedded Figures Tasks in which hidden shapes in drawings have to be found as quickly as possible, better than control individuals (Happé, 1994b; Jolliffe & Baron-Cohen, 1997; Shah & Frith, 1983).
- Results in which central coherence skills are measured with perceptual or verbal-semantic tasks revealed that autistic individuals have a tendency for fragmented perception (Jarrold & Russell, 1997; Happé, 1996), and that they benefit less from the context of meaning in sentences, narratives and memory tests (Happé, 1994b; Jolliffe & Baron-Cohen, 1999).
However, there is currently no consensus about the validity of the weak central coherence theory. There are researchers who find results that refute the WCC theory.
In 1994 Sally Ozonoff, David L. Strayer, William M. McMahon and Francis Filloux compared information processing skills in non-retarded autists and controls:
"The performance of non-retarded autistic children was compared with that of two matched control groups, one with Tourette Syndrome and the other developmentally normal. Autistic subjects performed as well as controls on tasks requiring global-local processing and inhibition of neutral responses."
Laurent Mottron, Jacob A. Burack, Johannes E. A. Stauder and Philippe Robaey (1999) conclude that:
"Contrary to expectations based on the central coherence and hierarchisation deficit theories, [our] findings indicate intact holistic processing among persons with autism."
In 2003 they did another study which confirmed their earlier findings and in which they conclude:
"Conclusions: [Our] findings are consistent with other reports of superior performance in detecting embedded figures (Jolliffe & Baron-Cohen, 1997; Shah & Frith, 1983), but typical performance in global and configural processing (Mottron, Burack et al., 1999; Ozonoff et al., 1994) among persons with high-functioning autism. Thus, the notions of local bias and global impairment that are part of WCC may need to be reexamined."
Also in 2003 Beatriz López, Susan R. Leekam conclude their study:
"Conclusions: [Our] findings demonstrate that children with autism do not have a general difficulty in connecting context information and item information as predicted by weak central coherence theory. Instead the results suggest that there is specific difficulty with complex verbal stimuli and in particular with using sentence context to disambiguate meaning."
Natasja van Lang gives the following explanation for these contradictory results:
"Results in which central coherence skills are measured with perceptual or verbal-semantic tasks revealed that autistic individuals have a tendency for fragmented perception (Jarrold & Russell, 1997; Happé, 1996), and that they benefit less from the context of meaning in sentences, narratives and memory tests (Happé, 1994b; Jolliffe & Baron-Cohen, 1999). However, some studies failed to replicate these findings (Brian & Bryson, 1996; Ozonoff et al., 1991; Ropar & Mitchell, 1999). This inconsistency may be explained on the basis of how weak central coherence was measured in terms of an inability to process globally versus the preference for processing locally. Recent studies suggest that people with autism are able to process globally when they are instructed to do so, however they process information locally when no such instructions are offered (Mottron et al., 1999; Plaisted et al., 1999; Rinehart et al., 2000)."
Also autistic people have questioned the theory of WCC. One of the criticisms is that the 'context' deemed universal by the researchers might not at all be so universal from a rational point of view.
In her blog Alyric devotes an article to Central Coherence:
"There are differences in the kinds of ‘big picture’ here obviously. One refers to systems and the others, of the kind that Frith and Happe automatically assumed to be universal, have an essential social element."
Naja Melan claims that so called neurotypical
Neurotypical
Neurotypical is a term that was coined in the autistic community as a label for people who are not on the autism spectrum: specifically, neurotypical people have neurological development and states that are consistent with what most people would perceive as normal, particularly with respect to...
people are often biased to overemphasize one context and neglecting all other contexts. This he states is an expression of WCC, as compared to autists who have the possibility of consciously focusing on multiple contexts if deemed appropriate by them or requested.
External links
- in-cities.com - 'An interview with: Professor Uta Frith' (March, 2005)
- UCDavis.edu - 'Uta Frith, Ph.D. M.I.N.D. Institute Distinguished Lecturer Series' (February 8, 2006)
- Hypnosisschool.org - Summary of Global and Local processes