Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

The Power of Systemizing in Autism

  • Article
  • Published:
Child Psychiatry & Human Development Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Identifying autism in clinical practice is complex because the causes of autism are still unclear and the features of autism are highly diverse. The Empathizing–Systemizing theory is successful in interpreting the core features of autism, both social and non-social, compared to other current theories of autism. This study provides an overview of the current state of research regarding the systemizing concept. High systemizing abilities are characteristic and specific in autism and as a result, three non-social features of autism are seen: restricted and repetitive behavior, obsessional interests, and, savant skills. We found solid evidence that, in order to identify autism in clinical practice, at least the use of an instrument which is specialized in measuring one’s systemizing abilities is required.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Availability of Data and Materials

The datasets/literature during and analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

References

  1. Decety J, Meyer ML (2008) From emotion resonance to empathic understanding: a social developmental neuroscience account. Dev Psychopathol 20:1053–1080

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Gillberg C (1992) Subgroups in autism: are there behavioral phenotypes typical of underlying medical conditions? J Intellect Disabil Res 36:201–214

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. American Psychiatric Association (2013) DSM 5 diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th edn. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC

    Book  Google Scholar 

  4. Baron-Cohen S (2009) Autism: the empathizing-systemizing (E-S) theory. Year Cogn Neurosci 2009(1156):68–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04467.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Ellis H, Gunter HL (1999) Asperger syndrome: a simple matter of white matter? Trends Cogn Sci 3:192–200

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Baron-Cohen S (1995) Mindblindness: an essay on autism and theory of mind. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  7. Baron-Cohen S (2002) Is Asperger syndrome necessarily viewed as a disability? Focus Autism Dev Disabil 17(3):186–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Baron-Cohen S (2002) The extreme male brain theory of autism. Trends Cogn Sci 6(6):248–254

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Wakabayashi A, Baron-Cohen S, Uchiyama T, Yoshida Y, Kuroda M, Wheelwright S (2007) Empathizing and systemizing in adults with and without autism spectrum conditions: cross-cultural stability. J Autism Dev Disord 37(10):1823–1832

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Dennett D (1987) The intentional stance. The MIT Press/Bradford Books, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  11. Wheelwright S, Baron-Cohen S, Goldenfeld N, Delaney J, Fine D, Smith R, Weil L, Wakabayashi A (2006) Predicting autism spectrum quotient (AQ) from the systemizing quotient-revised (SQ-R) and empathy quotient (EQ). Brain Res 1079(1):47–56

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Baron-Cohen S, Knickmeyer R, Belmonte MK (2005) Sex differences in the brain: implications for explaining autism. Science 310:819–823

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Baron-Cohen S, Ashwin E, Ashwin C, Tavassoli T, Chakrabarti B (2009) Talent in autism: hyper-systemizing, hyper-attention to detail and sensory hypersensitivity. Philos Trans R Soc 364:1377–1383. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Van der Zee E, Derksen JJL (2017) Identifying autism through empathizing and systemizing abilities. Soc Sci 6(4):124–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Baron-Cohen S (2006) The hyper-systemizing, assortative mating theory of autism. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 30(5):865–872. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2006.01.010

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Baron-Cohen S (2003) The essential difference: male and female brains and the truth about autism. Basic Books, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  17. Baron-Cohen S, Richler J, Bisarya D, Gurunathan N, Wheelwright S (2003) The systemizing quotient: an investigation of adults with Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism, and normal sex differences. Philos Trans R Soc. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Kimura D (1999) Sex and cognition. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  19. Baron-Cohen S (2000) The cognitive neuroscience of autism: implications for the evolution of the male brain. In: Gazzaniga M (ed) The cognitive neurosciences (2nd edn). MIT Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  20. Caldwell-Harris C, Jordan C (2014) Systemizing and special interests: characterizing the continuum from neurotypical to autism spectrum disorder. Learn Individ Differ 29:98–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Dickerson AS, Pearson DA, Loveland KA, Rahbar MH, Filipek PA (2014) Role of parental occupation in autism spectrum disorder diagnosis and severity. Res Autism Spectr Disord 8(9):997–1007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2014.05.007

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Grove R, Baillie A, Allison C, Baron-Cohen S, Hoekstra R (2013) Empathizing, systemizing, and autistic traits: latent structure in individuals with autism, their parents, and general population controls. J Abnorm Psychol 122(2):600–609

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Baron-Cohen S, Lombardo M (2017) Autism and talent: the cognitive and neural basis of systemizing. Transl Res Dialogues Clin Neurosci 19(4):345–353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S, Burtenshaw A, Hobson E (2007) Mathematical talent is linked to autism. Hum Nat 18:125–131

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Greenberg D, Warrier V, Allison C, Baron-Cohen S (2018) Testing the empathizing-systemizing theory of sex differences and the extreme male brain theory of autism in half a million people. Psychol Cogn Sci. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811032115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Kidron R, Kaganovskiy L, Baron-Cohen S (2018) Empathizing-systemizing cognitive styles: effects of sex and academic degree. PLoS ONE 13(3):e0194515. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194515

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Harvey I, Bolgan S, Mosca D, McLean C, Rusconi E (2016) Systemizers are better code-breakers: self-reported systemizing predicts code-breaking performance in expert hackers and naïve participants. Front Hum Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00229

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Boyd BA, McDonough SG, Bodfish JW (2012) Evidence-based behavioral interventions for repetitive behaviors in autism. J Autism Dev Disord 42(6):1236–1248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1284-z

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  29. Richler J, Bishop SL, Kleinke JR, Lord C (2007) Restricted and repetitive behaviors in young children with autism spectrum disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 37(1):73–85

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Evans DW, Leckman JF, Carter A, Reznick JS, Henshaw D, King RA, Pauls D (1997) Ritual, habit, and perfectionism: the prevalence and development of compulsive-like behavior in normal young children. Child Dev 68(1):58–68

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Turner MA (1999) Annotation: repetitive behaviour [sic] in autism: a review of psychological research. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 40(6):839–849

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Joseph L, Thurm A, Farmer C, Shumway S (2013) Repetitive behavior and restricted interests in young children with autism: comparisons with controls and stability over 2 years. Autism Res 6(6):584–595. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1316

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Manor-Binyamini & Schreiber-Divon (2019) Repetitive behaviors: listening to the voice of people with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. Res Autism Spectr Disord 64(2019):23–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Goldman S, Wang C, Salgado MW, Greene PE, Kim M, Rapin I (2009) Motor stereotypies in children with autism and other developmental disorders. Dev Med Child Neurol 51(1):30–38. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2008.03178.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Charman T, Taylor E, Drew A, Cockerill H, Brown JA, Baird G (2005) Outcome at 7 years of children diagnosed with autism at age 2: predictive validity of assessments conducted at 2 and 3 years of age and pattern of symptom change over time. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 46(5):500–513

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Harrop C, McConachie H, Emsley R, Leadbitter K, Green J, PACT Consortium (2014) Restricted and repetitive behaviors in autism spectrum disorders and typical development: cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons. J Autism Dev Disord 44(5):1207–1219

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Honey E, Leekam S, Turner M, McConachie H (2007) Repetitive behaviour and play in typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 37:1107–1115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0253-4

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Kohls G, Yerys BE, Schultz RT (2014) Striatal development in autism: repetitive behaviors and the reward circuitry. Biol Psychiatry 76(5):358–359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.07.010

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  39. Wolff JJ, Botteron KN, Dager SR, Elison JT, Estes AM, Gu H, Hazlett HC, Pandey J, Paterson SJ, Schultz RT, Zwaigenbaum L, Piven J, Network IBIS (2014) Longitudinal patterns of repetitive behavior in toddlers with autism. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 55(8):945–953. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12207

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Troyb E, Knoch K, Herlihy L, Stevens MC, Chen CM, Barton M, Treadwell K, Fein D (2016) Restricted and repetitive behaviors as predictors of outcome in autism spectrum disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 46(4):1282–1296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2668-2

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Lidstone J, Uljarevic M, Sullivan J, Rodgers J, McConachie H, Freeston M, Couteur A, Prior M, Leekam S (2014) Relations among restricted and repetitive behaviors, anxiety and sensory features in children with autism spectrum disorders. Res Autism Spectr Disord 8:82–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2013.10.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Mercier C, Mottron L, Belleville S (2000) A psychosocial study on restricted interests in high-functioning persons with pervasive developmental disorders. Autism 4(4):406–425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Epstein LJ, Taubman MT, Lovaas OI (1985) Changes in self-stimulatory behaviors with treatment. J Abnorm Child Psychol 13(2):281–293

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Klin A, Danovitch JH, Merz AB, Volkmar FR (2007) Circumscribed interests in higher functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders: an exploratory study. Res Pract Pers Severe Disabil 32(2):89–100

    Google Scholar 

  45. South M, Ozonoff S, McMahon WM (2005) Repetitive behavior profiles in Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism. J Autism Dev Disord 35(2):145–158

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Attwood T (1998) Asperger’s syndrome: a guide for parents and professionals. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London

    Google Scholar 

  47. Vismara LA, Lyons G (2007) Using perservative interests to elicit joint attention behaviors in young children with autism: theoretical and clinical implications for understanding motivation. J Posit Behav Interv 9:214–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Sasson NJ, Dichter GS, Bodfish JW (2012) Affective responses by adults with autism are reduced to social images but elevated to images related to circumscribed interests. PLoS ONE 7(8):e42457. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0042457

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  49. Wallace GL (2008) Neuropsychological studies of savant skills: can they inform the neuroscience of giftedness? Review 30(4):229–246

    Google Scholar 

  50. O’Connor N, Hermelin B (1991) Talents and preoccupations in idiot savants. Psychol Med 21:959–964

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Heaton P, Wallace GL (2004) Annotation: the savant syndrome. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 45:899–911

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Down JL (1887) Lettsomian lectures on some of the mental affections of childhood and youth. BMJ 1(1362):256–259. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.1.1362.256

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Treffert D (1989) Extraordinary people: understanding “idiot savants”. Harper & Row, New York

    Google Scholar 

  54. Tredgold A (1914) Mental deficiency. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  55. Meilleur AAS, Jelenic P, Mottron LJ (2015) Prevalence of clinically and empirically defined talents and strengths in autism. J Autism Dev Disord 45:1354–1367

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Happé F (2018) Why are savant skills and special talents associated with autism? World Psychiatry 17(3):280–281

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  57. Happé F, Vital P (2009) What aspects of autism predispose to talent? Philos Trans R Soc B: Biol Sci 364:1369–1375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Bölte S, Poustka F (2004) Diagnostic observation scale for autistic disorders: initial results of reliability and validity. Zeitschrift fur Kinder und Jugendpsychiatrie und Psychotherapie 32(1):45–50

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Howlin P (2012) Understanding savant skills in autism. Dev Med Child Neurol. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2012.04244.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Brosnan M, Hollinworth M, Antoniadou K, Lewton M (2014) Is empathizing intuitive and systemizing deliberative? Pers Individ Differ 66:39–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.03.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Lawson J, Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S (2004) Empathising and systemising in adults with and without Asperger syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 34(3):301–310

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Goldenfeld N, Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S (2005) Empathizing and systemizing in males, females and autism. Clin Neuropsychiatry 2(6):338–345

    Google Scholar 

  63. Stauder JEA, Cornet LJM, Ponds RWHM (2011) The extreme male brain theory and gender role behaviour in persons with an autism spectrum condition. Res Autism Spectr Disord 5:1209–1214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2011.01.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Park S, Cho S, Cho I, Kim B, Kim J, Shin M, Chung U, Park T, Son J, Yoo H (2012) Sex differences in children with autism spectrum disorders compared with their unaffected siblings and typically developing children. Res Autism Spectr Disord 6:861–870

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Baron-Cohen S, Cassidy S, Auyeung B, Allison C, Achoukhi M, Robertson S, Pohl A, Lai M (2014) Attenuation of typical sex differences in 800 adults with autism vs. 3,900 controls. PLoS ONE 9(7):e102251. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0102251

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  66. Borja Avilés C (2013) The Systemizing quotient in adults with Asperger’s syndrome, ADHD, and a control group. Doctoral dissertation. Retrieved from PQDT Open

  67. Auyeung B, Wheelwright S, Allison C, Atkinson M, Samarawickrema N, Baron-Cohen S (2009) The children’s empathy quotient and systemizing quotient: sex differences in typical development and in autism spectrum conditions. J Autism Dev Disord 39(11):1509–1521. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0772-x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  68. Vanegas S, Davidson D (2015) Investigating distinct and related contributions of weak central coherence, executive dysfunction, and systemizing theories to the cognitive profiles of children with autism spectrum disorders and typically developing children. Res Autism Spectr Disord 11:77–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  69. Johnson S, Filliter J, Murphy R (2009) Discrepancies between self- and parent-perceptions of autistic traits and empathy in high functioning children and adolescents on the autism spectrum. J Autism Dev Disord 39:1706–1714

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  70. Allison C, Baron-Cohen S, Stone M, Muncer S (2015) Rasch modeling and confirmatory factor analysis of the systemizing quotient-revised (SQ-R) scale. Span J Psychol 18(e16):1–11

    Google Scholar 

  71. Groen Y, Fuermaier A, Den Heijer A, Tucha O, Althaus M (2015) The empathy and systemizing quotient: the psychometric properties of the dutch version and a review of the cross-cultural stability. J Autism Dev Disord 45:2848–2864

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  72. Morsanyi K, Primi C, Handley S, Chiesi F, Galli S (2012) Are systemizing and autistic traits related to talent and interest in mathematics and engineering? Testing some of the central claims of the empathizing–systemizing theory. Br J Psychol 103:472–496

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  73. Pellicano E, Smith A, Cristino F, Hood B, Briscoe J, Gilchrist L (2010) Children with autism are neither systematic nor optimal foragers. PNAS 108(4):421–426

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

No funding was received.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. EZ praktijk voor psychodiagnostiek, Schoudee 3, 4617 NH, Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands

    Evi van der Zee

  2. Department of Clinical Psychology, Radboud University, Montessorilaan 3 A7, 6525 HR, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Jan J. L. Derksen

Authors
  1. Evi van der Zee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jan J. L. Derksen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

EZ searched and analyzed the available literature, and designed and wrote the paper. JD made substantial contributions to the design of the work and substantively revised it. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Evi van der Zee.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

van der Zee, E., Derksen, J.J.L. The Power of Systemizing in Autism. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 52, 321–331 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-020-01014-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-020-01014-4

Keywords