Possible sources for Uta Frith

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Notes and ideas for improvement

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The in the media section seems a little pointless, but if it is staying there it can be improved since the last thing was in 2015.

Update her research since the last thing is a little old and she has been contributing to research recently. Since she is a scientist her research section can be greatly expanded.

The section of "women in science" is small and I can probably add more things.

Adding more recent things to her awards section, if applicable, since the last thing is from 2015.

All citations seem up to date.

Working Changes

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Opening: yes

arguing for autism to be considered a mental condition rather than being caused by parenting (psychoscience). She is credited for creating the Sally-Anne test along with fellow scientist Alan Leslie and Simon Baron-Cohen (ncbi2)(acamh). She also pioneered the work with child dyslexia (psychoscience).

Education: yes

Her initial education plan was in art history, but quickly changed to psychology after learning of its empirical nature. She was inspired by the work of many psychologist and psychoanalyst, such as Hans Eysenck, and decided to intern at the Institute of Psychiatry in London. While at the Institute of Psychiatry, she worked closely with Reg Beech. (NCBI)

Research: yes

Frith, along with Alan Leslie and Simon Baron-Cohen (psychoscience), created two theories of autism. The first is the "lack of implicit metalization" (royal society), which is the lack of the ability to know ones own mental state (mental help). The second theory is "weak central coherence" (royal society), which causes the individual to have difficulties applying context to stimuli (dictionary). In 1985, Frith, Leslie, and Baron-Cohen also created the Sally-Anne test as a way to measure a child's cognitive understanding. A child with autism would generally get the Sally-Anne questions incorrect, while a typical child or a child with Down Syndrome would generally get the questions correct (ncbi2)(acamh). In 1996, Frith, Eraldo Paulesu, and Maggie Snowling conducted a longitudinal research study showing that, while completing tasks requiring phonological processing, people with autism have a lack of connectivity between the front and back of their brain (Pailesu).

Frith also denounced the theory that dyslexia was connected to a lack of intelligence (psychoscience) or caused by an impairment in visual recognition. In 1980, Frith published a book on Dyslexia. Her research found that a patient with Dyslexia can be a perfectly apt readers but have persistent spelling errors, where before the common thought was that these two entities were not mutually exclusive (ncbi). Her research, along with Maggie Snowling, showed that people with dyslexia tend to struggle with phonological processing (Frith).

In the media: yes

On 13 December 2017 Frith did an interview for The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health where she talked about her early life and her passion for autism research in children (acahm).

Frith is also active on twitter (@utafrith).

Awards: yes

In 2009, Uta Frith, along with her husband Chris Frith, received the European Latsis Prize for their contributions to psychology research (archives).

Williams James Fellow Award in 2013 (psychoscince).

In 2014, her and her husband won the Jean Nicod Prize (institute).

Personal Life: yes
She holds the title of Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Development at University College London (iris).