?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=The+Image+of+the+Mother's+Eye%3A+Autism+and+Early+Narcissistic+Injury&rft.creator=McDowell%2C+Maxson+J.&rft.subject=Psychobiology&rft.subject=Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Clinical+Psychology&rft.description=Autism+results+from+a+pervasive+cascade+of+developmental+failure.+Prevailing+theory+is+that+the+primary+deficit+in+autism+(primary+cause+of+the+cascade)+is+a+biological+or+genetic+abnormality+in+the+brain.++%0A%0AThis+paper+challenges+that+theory.+Though+a+primary+cause+should+be+both+necessary+and+sufficient%2C+none+of+the+biological+or+genetic+factors+which+are+statistically+linked+to+autism+is+either+necessary+or+sufficient+to+cause+autism.+Another+objection+derives+from+the+logic+of+cascades.+A+cascade%E2%80%99s+primary+cause+is+the+same+in+kind+as+the+events+which+comprise+the+cascade.+Autism+is+a+cascade+of+psychological+failures.+The+associated+biological+and+genetic+factors+must%2C+I+argue%2C+increase+the+incidence+of+a+primary+psychological+deficit.+%0A%0AI+hypothesize%3A+(1)+The+acquisition+of+the+image+of+the+mother%E2%80%99s+eye+is+a+critical+very+early+step+in+development.+Because+the+image+symbolizes+psychological+containment%2C+it+is+an+essential+element+in+the+self-organization+of+the+personality.+(2)+Failure+to+acquire+(or+retain)+that+image+is+the+primary+deficit+in+autism.%0A%0AI+show+that+these+hypotheses+are+consistent+with+Holland%E2%80%99s+paradigm+of+self-organization+in+complex+adaptive+systems.%0A+%0AThe+paper+uses+clinical+data+to+illustrate+the+hypotheses.+It+then+synthesizes+evidence+from+experiments+on+infant+vision%2C+from+Stern%E2%80%99s+observations+of+infant-mother+pairs%2C+and+from+observations+on+the+incidence+of+autism+in+infants+with+cranial+nerve+palsy%2C+or+congenital+blindness%2C+or+severe+early+deprivation.+To+this+it+links+evidence+from+studies+of+evolutionary+changes+in+the+primate+eye+and+from+experiments+on+the+visual+behavior+of+mildly+autistic+adults.+%0A%0ATheories+of+a+biological+cause+have+been+undermined+by+the+recent+dramatic+increase+(273%25+from+1987+to+1998)+in+the+incidence+of+autism+in+California.+This+increase+was+recently+(October++2002)+confirmed+by+Robert+Byrd+and+co-workers%3B+previously+it+had+been+widely+dismissed+as+an+artifact+of+measurement.+The+increase+cannot+be+explained+by+genetic+factors.%0A%0AIt+is+unlikely+that+the+physical%2C+chemical+or+biological+environment+in+California+deteriorated+sufficiently+in+one+decade+to+account+for+such+a+large+increase.+It+is+more+likely+that+a+change+in+social+behavior+(affecting+a+psychological+factor)+could+be+sufficiently+rapid.+++%0A%0ABecause+of+the+significance+to+public+health+of+the+rapid+increase+in+autism%2C+there+is+likely+to+be+a+vigorous+new+effort+to+identify+its+cause(s).+The+problem+should+be+debated+across+disciplinary+lines.+This+paper+is+a+timely+contribution+to+that+debate.+%0A%0AIf+the+primary+deficit+is+psychological+then%2C+to+some+extent%2C+research+should+be+redirected+towards+exploring+autism+at+the+psychological+level.+Scientists+may+need+to+evaluate+suggestions+derived%2C+for+example%2C+from+psychoanalytic+data.+My+paper+attempts+this+difficult+collaboration.+It+shows+that+the+image-of-the-eye+hypothesis+leads+to+a+testable+prediction%3A+that+autism+is+statistically+linked+to+the+early+use+of+daycare.+++&rft.publisher=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.contributor=Finlay%2C+Professor+Barbara+L.&rft.contributor=Gray%2C+Doctor+Jeffrey+A.&rft.date=2002&rft.type=Journal+(On-line%2FUnpaginated)&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F2593%2F1%2Feye22fixed_by_cogprints.html&rft.identifier=++McDowell%2C+Maxson+J.++(2002)+The+Image+of+the+Mother's+Eye%3A+Autism+and+Early+Narcissistic+Injury.++%5BJournal+(On-line%2FUnpaginated)%5D++++(Unpublished)++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F2593%2F