Common Sense in Persons with Intellectual Disabilities: The Challenge of Deciding to Say No to Social Manipulation

Common sense is the intuitive exercise of good judgment in situations that could place an individual in social or practical danger. Intellectual disability (ID) along with other brain-based conditions involving cognitive impairments can be described as a “common sense deficit disorder” in that people with cognitive limitations are at increased risk of making risk-oblivious decisions. However, one can find examples of good (or at least non-foolish) judgment being exercised by a person who has ID and, of course, many examples of people without ID behaving foolishly. This paradox can be largely explained by the fact that cognition is not the only reason why people make good or poor decisions. A four-factor model is used to shed light on decisions made by people, with (or without) ID, in situations that are potentially risky. Previous writings based on this model have dealt with its problematic (such as gullible) applications. But in keeping with this book series’ emphasis on positive psychology, this chapter shows how the model can also help to explain instances where a person with ID makes (or can be helped to make) decisions that can be described as safe or competent.