Re: Do Animals Think Like Autistic Savants?

[Guest guest]

Newland wrote:

>

> Do Animals Think Like Autistic Savants?

>

> ScienceDaily (Feb. 20, 2008) — When Temple Grandin argued that animals

[ snip ]

's cut-and-paste was incomplete. Adding back the missing bits make

the article *much* more interesting.

Herewith all of it:

______________________________________________________________

Do Animals Think Like Autistic Savants?

ScienceDaily (Feb. 20, 2008) — When Temple Grandin argued that animals

and autistic savants share cognitive similarities in her best-selling

book Animals in Translation (2005), the idea gained steam outside the

community of cognitive neuroscientists. Grandin, a professor of animal

science whose best-selling books have provided an unprecedented look at

the autistic mind, says her autism gives her special insight into the

inner workings of the animal mind. She based her proposal on the

observation that animals, like autistic humans, sense and respond to

stimuli that nonautistic humans usually overlook.

In a new essay,* Giorgio Vallortigara and his colleagues, argue that,

while Grandin's book " shows extraordinary insight into both autism and

animal welfare, " the question of equivalent cognitive abilities between

savants and animals " deserves scrutiny from scientists working in animal

cognition and comparative neuroscience. "

Vallortigara et al. argue that savant abilities -- for example,

exceptional skills in music, math, or art -- come at a cost in other

aspects of processing and, therefore, appear to be unrelated to the

extraordinary species-specific adaptations seen in some taxa.

Furthermore, the authors argue, rather than having privileged access to

lower level sensory information before it is packaged into concepts, as

has been argued for savants, animals, like non-autistic humans, process

sensory inputs according to rules, and that this manner of processing is

a specialized feature of the left hemisphere in humans and nonhuman animals.

At the most general level, they argue, " the left hemisphere sets up

rules based on experience and the right hemisphere avoids rules in order

to detect details and unique features that allow it to decide what is

familiar and what is novel. This is true for human and nonhuman animals,

likely reflecting ancient evolutionary origins of the underlying brain

mechanisms. "

Grandin, who responds to the authors' critique in a special commentary,

suggests that " the basic disagreement between the authors and me arises

from the concept of details--specifically how details are perceived by

humans, who think in language, compared with animals, who think in

sensory-based data. Since animals do not have verbal language, they have

to store memories as pictures, sounds, or other sensory impressions. "

And sensory-based information, she says, is inherently more detailed

than word-based memories. " As a person with autism, all my thoughts are

in photo-realistic pictures, " she explains. " The main similarity between

animal thought and my thought is the lack of verbal language. "

Though Grandin appreciates the authors' " fascinating overview of the

most recent research on animal cognition, " she suggests that " further

experiments need to be done with birds to either confirm or disprove

Vallortigara et al.'s hypothesis that birds such as the 's

nutcracker, which has savant-like memory for food storage, has retained

good cognition in other domains. My hypothesis is that birds that have

savant-like skills for food storage sites or remembering migration

routes may be less flexible in their cognition. " Grandin welcomes the

discussion following the publication of her book--we invite readers to

join in that discussion by posting their own Reader Response.

*Journal reference: Vallortigara G, Snyder A, Kaplan G, Bateson P,

Clayton NS, et al. (2008) Are animals autistic savants " PLoS Biol 6(2):

e42. doi:10.1371/journal. pbio.0060042

Adapted from materials provided by PLoS Biology, via EurekAlert!, a

service of AAAS.

Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the

following formats:

APA: PLoS Biology (2008, February 20). Do Animals Think Like Autistic

Savants?.

MLA: ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 20, 2008, from

http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/02/080219203603.htm

______________________________________________________________

IMHO, Grandin's point(s) are right on the mark. See above: " Grandin,

who responds to the authors' critique... "

- Bill, 75, AS; ...whose wife, wide-eyed, says " HUMBLE?? "

--

WD " Bill " Loughman - Berkeley, California USA

http://home.earthlink.net/~wdloughman/wdl.htm

[Guest guest]

ahhhh the extra bit added by bill was an important step. yes thinking in sensory packets not words. yet i am forced to think and communicate in words, and have diffs with this. can bill clarify the online discussion link or is it outdated? 36 m diagnosed AS who isnt a savant but thinks like a cow.WD Loughman wrote: Newland wrote:> > Do Animals Think Like Autistic Savants?> > ScienceDaily (Feb. 20, 2008) — When Temple Grandin argued that animals[ snip ]'s cut-and-paste was incomplete. Adding back the missing bits make the article *much* more interesting.Herewith all of it:______________________________________________________________Do Animals

Think Like Autistic Savants?ScienceDaily (Feb. 20, 2008) — When Temple Grandin argued that animals and autistic savants share cognitive similarities in her best-selling book Animals in Translation (2005), the idea gained steam outside the community of cognitive neuroscientists. Grandin, a professor of animal science whose best-selling books have provided an unprecedented look at the autistic mind, says her autism gives her special insight into the inner workings of the animal mind. She based her proposal on the observation that animals, like autistic humans, sense and respond to stimuli that nonautistic humans usually overlook.In a new essay,* Giorgio Vallortigara and his colleagues, argue that, while Grandin's book "shows extraordinary insight into both autism and animal welfare," the question of equivalent cognitive abilities between savants and animals "deserves scrutiny from scientists working in animal

cognition and comparative neuroscience."Vallortigara et al. argue that savant abilities -- for example, exceptional skills in music, math, or art -- come at a cost in other aspects of processing and, therefore, appear to be unrelated to the extraordinary species-specific adaptations seen in some taxa. Furthermore, the authors argue, rather than having privileged access to lower level sensory information before it is packaged into concepts, as has been argued for savants, animals, like non-autistic humans, process sensory inputs according to rules, and that this manner of processing is a specialized feature of the left hemisphere in humans and nonhuman animals.At the most general level, they argue, "the left hemisphere sets up rules based on experience and the right hemisphere avoids rules in order to detect details and unique features that allow it to decide what is familiar and what is novel. This is true for

human and nonhuman animals, likely reflecting ancient evolutionary origins of the underlying brain mechanisms."Grandin, who responds to the authors' critique in a special commentary, suggests that "the basic disagreement between the authors and me arises from the concept of details--specifically how details are perceived by humans, who think in language, compared with animals, who think in sensory-based data. Since animals do not have verbal language, they have to store memories as pictures, sounds, or other sensory impressions." And sensory-based information, she says, is inherently more detailed than word-based memories. "As a person with autism, all my thoughts are in photo-realistic pictures," she explains. "The main similarity between animal thought and my thought is the lack of verbal language."Though Grandin appreciates the authors' "fascinating overview of the most recent research on animal cognition,"

she suggests that "further experiments need to be done with birds to either confirm or disprove Vallortigara et al.'s hypothesis that birds such as the 's nutcracker, which has savant-like memory for food storage, has retained good cognition in other domains. My hypothesis is that birds that have savant-like skills for food storage sites or remembering migration routes may be less flexible in their cognition." Grandin welcomes the discussion following the publication of her book--we invite readers to join in that discussion by posting their own Reader Response.*Journal reference: Vallortigara G, Snyder A, Kaplan G, Bateson P, Clayton NS, et al. (2008) Are animals autistic savants" PLoS Biol 6(2): e42. doi:10.1371/journal. pbio.0060042Adapted from materials provided by PLoS Biology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following

formats:APA: PLoS Biology (2008, February 20). Do Animals Think Like Autistic Savants?.MLA: ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 20, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/02/080219203603.htm______________________________________________________________IMHO, Grandin's point(s) are right on the mark. See above: "Grandin, who responds to the authors' critique..."- Bill, 75, AS; ...whose wife, wide-eyed, says "HUMBLE??"-- WD "Bill" Loughman - Berkeley, California USAhttp://home.earthlink.net/~wdloughman/wdl.htm