What theory best explains savant syndrome?

Psychological. No widely accepted cognitive theory explains savants’ combination of talent and deficit. It has been suggested that individuals with autism are biased towards detail-focused processing and that this cognitive style predisposes individuals either with or without autism to savant talents.

How does a savants brain work?

Certain individuals, often called savants, demonstrate amazing abilities: near total recall of memories, the ability to count a large number of items simply by glancing at them (numerosity), incredible musical talent, etc. Savants display these cognitive feats while often suffering from a neural disorder like Autism.

What is the most powerful explanation out there used to describe how or why savants do what they do?

Although specialists today are better able to characterize the talents of savants, no overarching theory can describe exactly how or why savants do what they do. The most powerful explanation suggests that some injury to the left brain causes the right brain to compensate for the loss.

What are some possible explanations for savant abilities?

Treffert believes savants are the best example of innate talent and “represent ‘nature’ in its most basic form.” To explain the emergence of savant skills, Treffert proposes the notion of “genetic memory,” which he defines as the biological transfer of proclivities and knowledge that don’t require additional …

What does the existence of savant syndrome tell us about the theory of multiple intelligences vs single general ability?

Terms in this set (26) How does the existence of savant syndrome support Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences? According to Howard Gardner, this suggests that our abilities come in separate packages rather than being fully expressed by one general intelligence that encompasses all of our talents.

Which theory of intelligence does savant syndrome support the most?

How do Gardner’s and Sternberg’s theories of multiple intelligences differ, and what criticisms have they faced? Savant syndrome seems to support Howard Gardner’s view that we have multiple intelligences.

Can you be a savant without autism?

Approximately one in 10 persons with autistic disorder has some savant skills. In other forms of development disability, mental retardation or brain injury, savant skills occur in less than 1\% of such persons. Thus, not all savants are autistic, and not all people with autism are savants.

What is the savant brain and how does it work?

This explanation of the savant brain is based on a groundbreaking view of human memory, suggesting that neurons store memories as remembered combinatorial patterns in the arrays of their receiving dendrites.

Can a person with savant syndrome learn anything?

But not all people with savant syndrome have such fantastic abilities — something in their cognitive makeup, however, makes it possible to learn in a different way than those without the condition. Savant syndrome can accompany developmental differences, a traumatic brain injury or, in rare cases, can emerge apropo of nothing.

Are savant skills linked to massive memory?

Whatever the particular savant skill, it is always linked to massive memory. This paper presents a brief review of the phenomenology of savant skills, the history of the concept and implications for education and future research. Keywords: savant syndrome, autism, memory, brain, education

What do we learn from the work of savants?

The brilliance displayed by savants in narrow areas, such as mathematics, calendar calculation, art, memory, musical ability, or spacial skills provide explanations for human creativity. Darold Treffert said “By finding out how savants work, we learn how we work.”