How thinking in pictures can explain many characteristic behaviors of autism

Abstract

In this paper, we develop a cognitive account of autism centered around a reliance on pictorial representations. First, we put forth the hypothesis that individuals with autism ldquothink in pictures,rdquo and we discuss supporting empirical evidence from several independent behavioral and neuroimaging studies, each of which shows a strong bias towards visual representations and activity. Second, we show that Thinking in Pictures has significant potential for explaining many behavioral characteristics of autism, as they are defined by the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria.