AUTISMO E SVILUPPO DELL'INTELLIGENZA SOCIALE

Autistic Spectrum Disorders are characterized by significant impairments in social cognition, which consists in the ability to infer others’ mental states from complex combinations of behavioural cues. Social cognition includes a series of human information processes, specialized in the perception and in the analysis of social stimuli. After a brief description of the leading research areas that investigate social cognition, this article describes the psychological processes involved in this abilities and its underlie neural networks. Finally, the principal evidence-based intervention to promote social cognition in Autistic Spectrum Disordered are illustrated and discussed.