Introduccion a la psicologia

A . D e f in i t i o n & G o a l s
B. Modern Approaches
C. His torical Approaches
D. Cultural Diver sit y: Early Discrimination
C o nc e p t R e v ie w
E. Research Focus: Taking Clas s Notes
F. Career s in Psychology
G. Research Areas
H. Application: Study Skills

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Summar y Tes t
C r i t ic a l T h i n k i n g
H ow D o A u t i s t i c P e o p le T hin k ?
L in k s t o L e a r n in g

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P h o t o C r e d i t : © D a v i d S p u r d e n s / C o r b is

MODULE

1

Discovering
Psychology

I n t rod uc t io n
G r o w i n g U p i n a S t r a n g e Wo r l d

r e p e a t i n g t h e s a m e b e h a v i o r s ( h a n d f l a p p i n g) , o r f o l l o w i n g t h e s a m e r i t u a l s . S ig n s o f a u t i sm u s ua ll y a p p ea r w he n a c hil d i s 2 o r 3 yea r s o l d
( A m e r i c a n P s yc h i a t r i c A s s o c i a t i o n , 2 0 0 0 ) .

W hen Donna was about 3 years old, she ate
l e t t u c e b e c au s e s h e l i k e d r a b bi t s a nd t h e y
A ver y sma l l percentage of i nd iv idua ls w it h aut ism a re ca l led
a t e l e t t u c e . S he a t e j e l l y b e c au s e it l o o k ed
savants because t hey have incred ible mat h sk i l ls, spat ia l abi lit ies,
l i k e c o l or e d g l a s s a nd s he l i k e d t o l o o k a t
musica l ta lent, or nea r picture-per fect memor y. For exa mple, one
colored glass.
savant memorized 7,600 books; anot her plays 7,000 songs; another
She was told to ma ke f riends, but Donna had her
l ists world events t hat happened on a nyg iven day ; a not her perow n f r i e n d s . S h e h a d a p a i r o f g r e e n e y e s n a m e d
forms amazing calculations, such as doubling 8,388,628 twentyW i l l ie , w h ic h h id u nd e r he r b e d , a nd w i s p s ,
four times in only seconds (answer: 140,737,488,355,328) (D. S.
which were tiny, transparent spots t hat hung in
Fox, 2009; Treffert, 2006; Treffert & Wa llace, 2002).
the air around her.
Don na Wi l l ia ms (1992) is a n exa mple of a sava nt who
When people spoke, their words were strange
d e ve l o p e d e x c e p t i on a l l a n g u a g e s k i l l s . At a g e 2 5 , i n fou r
sou nds w it h no mea ning, li ke mu mble ju mble.
a l mo s t-non s top we e k s , s he w rot e a 5 0 0 -pa ge b o ok t h at
Donna d id lea rn t he sou nds of let ters a nd howd e s c r i b e d w h at it w a s l i k e t o b e aut i s t ic . I n t h i s a nd he r
t he y fi t t o g e t he r t o m a k e word s . A lt hou g h s he
three other autobiographies (D. Williams, 1994, 1999, 2004),
d id n’t lea r n t he mea n i ngs of words, she loved
t hei r sou nds when she sa id t hem out loud . As Some autistic children show Donna describes how common sights, sounds, a ndimages
become st ra ngely d istor ted, which ma kes get t ing t hroug h
r apid hand flapping.
a child, she was tested for deafness because she
a n ord i na r y d ay l i ke f i nd i ng one’s w ay out of a ter r ibly
d id not u s e l a n g u a ge l i k e ot he r c h i ld re n . S he
complex maze.
did not learn t hat words had meaning until she was a teenager.
As we descr ibe Don na’s ex periences, you’ l l see how psycholo W he n p e o pl e t a l k e d t o D on n a , e s p e c i a l l y p e o pl e w it h l ou d or
g i s t s t r y t o a n s we r q u e s t i on s a b ou t c ompl e x b e h av i or s , s u c h a s
excited voices, she heard only “ bla h, bla h, bla h.” Too much excited
autism, as wel l as count less ot her behav iors discussed t hroughout
ta l k or overst imu lat ioncaused Donna to sta re st ra ig ht a head a nd
this text. For example, one question that psychologists have studied
a p p e a r t o b e f r o z e n . D o n n a l a t e r c a l l e d t h i s s t a t e “ i n v o l u nt a r i l y
involves a problem t hat you may be interested in—test an xiet y.
anest hetized.”
D o n n a w a s i n a n d o u t o f m a ny s c h o o l s b e c a u s e s h e f a i l...