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Challenges to the social motivation theory of autism: The dangers of counteracting an imprecise theory with even more imprecision

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2019

Mirko Uljarević Open the ORCID record for Mirko Uljarević [Opens in a new window] ,
Giacomo Vivanti ,
Susan R. Leekam  and
Antonio Y. Hardan
Mirko Uljarević
Affiliation:
Stanford Autism Center, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305. mirkoulj@stanford.eduhardanay@stanford.eduhttps://profiles.stanford.edu/mirko-uljarevichttps://profiles.stanford.edu/antonio-hardan
Giacomo Vivanti
Affiliation:
A. J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Giacomo.vivanti@drexel.eduhttp://drexel.edu/autisminstitute/about/our-team/all-staff/Giacomo-Vivanti/
Susan R. Leekam
Affiliation:
Wales Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, Wales, United Kingdom. leekamsr@cardiff.ac.ukhttps://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/888797-leekam-sue
Antonio Y. Hardan
Affiliation:
Stanford Autism Center, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305. mirkoulj@stanford.eduhardanay@stanford.eduhttps://profiles.stanford.edu/mirko-uljarevichttps://profiles.stanford.edu/antonio-hardan
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Abstract

The arguments offered by Jaswal & Akhtar to counter the social motivation theory (SMT) do not appear to be directly related to the SMT tenets and predictions, seem to not be empirically testable, and are inconsistent with empirical evidence. To evaluate the merits and shortcomings of the SMT and identify scientifically testable alternatives, advances are needed on the conceptualization and operationalization of social motivation across diagnostic boundaries.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 42 , 2019 , e112
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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Footnotes

1.

Mirko Uljarević and Giacomo Vivanti should be considered joint first authors.

References

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