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Apprehending attitudes and actions: Separable abilities in early development?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2009

R. Peter Hobson
R. Peter Hobson*
Affiliation:
Tavistock Clinic and UCL Medical School, London
*
R. Peter Hobson, Tavistock Clinic, 120 Belsize Lane, London, NW3 5BA, UK.
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Abstract

In this article, I explore whether there might be two separable components to person-perception and interpersonal engagement in infancy: the ability to apprehend other people's attitudes on the one hand, and the ability to perceive actions on the other. In support of this approach, I summarize some evidence from recent study of autistic adolescents' judgments of attitudes and actions manifest in moving point-light displays of people. I highlight the far-reaching cognitive as well associal-developmental implications of early interpersonal-affective engagement. I conclude by speculating that certain abnormalities that would stem from autistic individuals' impaired ability to perceive and engage with people's attitudes may be somewhat mitigated by their relative ability to perceive the actions of others.

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 7 , Issue 1: Emotions in Developmental Psychopathology , Winter 1995 , pp. 171 - 182
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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