The Essential Difference: Male And Female Brains And The Truth About AutismWe all appreciate that there are differences in the typical psychology of men and women. Yet underlying these subtle differences, Simon Baron-Cohen believes, there is one essential difference, and it affects everything we do: Men have a tendency to analyze and construct systems while women are inclined to empathize. With fresh evidence for these claims, Baron-Cohen explores how these sex differences arise more from biological than cultural causes and shows us how each brain type contributes in various ways to what we think of as "intelligence." Emphasizing that not all men have the typically "male" brain, which he calls Type "S," and not all women have the typically female brain (Type "E"), Baron-Cohen explores the cutting-edge research that illuminates our individual differences and explains why a truly "balanced" brain is so rare. Filled with surprising and illuminating case studies, many from Baron-Cohen's own clinical practice, The Essential Difference moves beyond the stereotypes to elucidate over twenty years of groundbreaking research. From gossip to aggression, Baron-Cohen dissects each brain type and even presents a new theory that autism (as well as its close relative, Asperger's syndrome) can be understood as an extreme form of the male brain. Smart and engaging, this is the thinking person's guide to gender difference, a book that promises to change the conversation about-and between-men and women. |
Contents
13 | |
Biology | 95 |
Evolution of the Male and Female Brain | 117 |
The Extreme Male Brain | 133 |
A Professor of Mathematics | 171 |
The Reading the Mind in the EyesTest | 187 |
The Empathy Quotient EQ | 201 |
The Systemizing Quotient SQ | 209 |
The Autism Spectrum Quotient AQ | 217 |
References | 223 |
235 | |
265 | |
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Common terms and phrases
ability adults aggression agree agree disagree agree disagree disagree agree slightly agree agree strongly agree asked autism average Baron-Cohen behavior better boys called cause Chapter child communication disagree slightly disagree disagree strongly disagree emotional empathizing evidence example extreme eyes face fact feel female brain friends girls give hemisphere higher human individuals input interest involves language lead less levels look lower male brain mathematical mean mind mother natural normal object operation output parents person physics play predict relationships result rules score seen sex differences simply skills slightly agree slightly slightly disagree slightly slightly slightly strongly social someone strongly agree strongly strongly disagree strongly strongly slightly slightly studies suggests systemizing talk task tell tend testosterone theory things thought tion understand Wheelwright women
Popular passages
Page 248 - Are the central nucleus of the amygdala and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis differentially involved in fear versus anxiety?
Page 239 - Sex, succession and stratification in the first six civilizations: How powerful men reproduced, passed power on to their sons, and used their power to defend their wealth, women and children.
Page 254 - How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature which interest him in the fortunes of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it.
Page 235 - U. (1999). The neuroanatomy of autism: a voxel-based whole brain analysis of structural scans.
Page 3 - Systemizing is the drive to analyze, explore, and construct a system. The systemizer intuitively figures out how things work, or extracts the underlying rules that govern the behavior of a system.
Page 2 - Empathising is the drive to identify another person's emotions and thoughts, and to respond to these with an appropriate emotion.