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Are intuitive physics and intuitive psychology independent? A test with children with Asperger Syndrome.

According to the framework of evolutionary psychology, the human mind should be considered in terms of its evolved adaptedness to the environment (Karmiloff-Smith, Grant, Bellugi & Baron-Cohen, 1995). Two postulated neurocognitive adaptations are intuitive (or folk) psychology, for inferring social causality; and intuitive (or folk) physics, for inferring physical causality. In this paper we test these two aspects of our causal cognition in children with Asperger Syndrome (AS). To do this, we employ new tests of intuitive physics and intuitive psychology. Results show that children with AS are impaired in folk psychology whilst being superior in folk physics. Future work needs to test if intuitive psychology and physics are truly independent of one another (implying separate underlying mechanisms) or are inversely related to one another (implying a single underlying mechanism for both).