http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/48138/abstract
The 1997 study above refers to personality differences found in parents of autistic children. It also leans, however, toward a genetic interpretation of the data. We no longer wish or are allowed to do otherwise. Stephen, I noted that you were asking questions about Massie's research implying that you have not bothered to take a look at it. It's not I who is making conclusions about the impact of early interactions on a child's emotional and social health but the videos as analyzed by Massie and his various research assistants. Henry Massie is still alive I believe but clearly performed these studies very rigorously. Of course the observers were not told what the future status of the infants were! If that was not the case, his research would be useless. The correlational data between MZ twins is impressive but not conclusive. Have ANY of you read the research by Henry Massie? Without any knowledge about of what the future of these infants was, the prediction rate of which infants would develop problems was amazingly accurate when the interaction betweeen parent and child was observed but NOT when simply by observing the infant. That is, Massie's data implies that the infants in their early months all appeared normal and similar. However, by age 3 months and definitely by 6 months there were signs of problems. Finally, why are we now constantly saying that the responses of parents to their children is due to the children's behaviors without empirical support for such? Fairly radical conclusion based on unproven assumptions. > Hi > > Do these estimates of heritability control for the different intrauterine > environments of MZ and DZ twins? That is, MZ twins are more likely to > share single placenta and chorion than DZ. I believe controls for this > have been undertaken in some areas, although tremendously challenging > work, as one can imagine. Stephens point still remains with respect to > parental interactions, although interpretation would differ. > > Take care > Jim > > James M. Clark > Professor of Psychology > 204-786-9757 > 204-774-4134 Fax > [email protected] > >>>> <[email protected]> 08-Feb-09 11:07:37 AM >>> > On 8 Feb 2009 at 4:00, Allen Esterson wrote: > >> In response to Joan Warmbold's suggestion that >> >Henry Massie, M.D. was onto something with his research >> >in the 1970's in which he analyzed videos of the interactions >> >between parents and children BEFORE the onset of 'autistic-like' >> >behaviors. His analysis determined that there was a distinct lack >> >of appropriate response to the infants' signals... >> <snip>> >> To which question I would add: >> Did Massie do the same research with a corresponding number of (blind) >> controls to eliminate the possibility of confirmation bias in his >> analyses? >> >> Judging by this: >> http://www.childdevelopmentmedia.com/intervention-prevention/91936p.html >> the answer is "No". > > There is a major obstacle to claims that parental interaction is somehow > responsible or predisposes the child to autism. This is that MZ-DZ twin > studies of autism have consistently shown that the heritability of autism > is very high, among the highest of behavioural disorders. These studies > usually have shown as well that there is only a small unshared > environmental component and no contribution of the shared environment. > Claims that autism is caused by the parents would require substantial > input from the shared environment. > > For example, one of the more recent studies (Ronald et al, 2006) > concludes that "extreme autistic-like traits show high heritability, no > shared environment, and modest nonshared environment". Their estimates > vary with the type of model fitting carried out, but ranged from 0.64 to > 0.92. > > Their summary Figure 1 shows MZ correlations around 0.8 with DZ around > 0.3. Using the conventional formula of h2 = (MZ-DZ) x2 gives heritability > of 1.0, which surely doesn't leave much room for parental effects. > > As Allen noted, it seems more plausible that the parents in Massie's > study are reacting to subtle signs of autism in their children rather > than creating them. It's also possible that it is genes that are > responsible both for the autism of the children and the claimed > unresponsive behaviour of the parents. Admittedly, Massie's proposal is > kinder than Bettelheim's pernicious pseudoscience, but it still lays a > heavy load on the parents. It's best to be careful with such claims. > > Source (for the heritability data): > > Ronald, A, Happe, F., Bolton, P., Butcher, L., Price, T., Wheelwright, > S., Baron-Cohen, S., and Plomin, R. (2006). Genetic heterogeneity between > the three components of the autism spectrum: a twin study. Journal of the > American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 45, 691-699. > > Available on-line at http://web.mit.edu/autism/ronald~1.pdf > > Stephen > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology, Emeritus > Bishop's University e-mail: [email protected] > 2600 College St. > Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 > Canada > > Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of > psychology at http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([email protected]) > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([email protected]) > > --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
