05.12.2023“Our latest paper on autism and schizophrenia presents them as both illnesses and adaptive strategies with cognitive advantages,”, says Marcin Moskalewcz, leader of the “Psychiatry and Computational Phenomenology” research team at IDEAS NCBR.
Marcin Rządeczka and Maciej Wodziński are members of the team. All three researchers work at Institute of Philosophy, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, Poland and IDEAS NCBR.
Abstract:
This article presents a novel theoretical perspective on the role of cognitive biases within the autism and schizophrenia spectrum by integrating the evolutionary and computational approaches. Against the background of neurodiversity, cognitive biases are presented as primary adaptive strategies, while the compensation of their shortcomings is a potential cognitive advantage. The article delineates how certain subtypes of autism represent a unique cognitive strategy to manage cognitive biases at the expense of rapid and frugal heuristics. In contrast, certain subtypes of schizophrenia emerge as distinctive cognitive strategies devised to navigate social interactions, albeit with a propensity for overdetecting intentional behaviors. In conclusion, the paper emphasizes that while extreme manifestations might appear non-functional, they are merely endpoints of a broader, primarily functional spectrum of cognitive strategies. The central argument hinges on the premise that cognitive biases in both autism and schizophrenia spectrums serve as compensatory mechanisms tailored for specific ecological niches.
Read the article at “Frontiers of Psychiatry” here.
