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A theoretical approach to the deficits in infantile autism
Abstract
Deficits specific to the syndrome of infantile autism appear in imitation, emotion sharing, theory of mind, pragmatics of communication, and symbolic play. Current competing theories of Hobson and of Baron-Cohen, Frith, and associates account for some, but not all, of these specific deficits. The present article suggests that early social capacities involving imitation, emotion sharing, and theory of mind are primarily and specifically deficient in autism. Further, these three capacities involve forming and coordinating social representations of self and other at increasingly complex levels via representational processes that extract patterns of similarity between self and other. Stern's theory of interpersonal development is offered as a continuous model for understanding the development and deficits of the autistic child and as a means for integrating competing theories about the primary deficits in autism. Finally, the article suggests a neuropsychological model of interpersonal coordination involving prefrontal cortex and executive function capacities that is consistent with the social deficits observed in autism.
... Particularly relevant to the aims of the current study are the deficits affecting praxis, i.e., the ability to perform skilled movements (Smith and Bryson, 2007) that cannot be ascribed to basic coordination impairments ( Gibbs et al., 2007;Gizzonio et al., 2015). Common deficits in praxis include recognition of motor intentions (action goals) and production and comprehension of gestures ( Rogers and Pennington, 1991;Rogers et al., 1996;Mostofsky et al., 2006;Hamilton et al., 2007;Knaus et al., 2017). In the experimental literature on ASD, such symptoms have been mainly investigated in relation to action imitation abilities (e.g., Rogers et al., 1996;Schunke et al., 2016;Xavier et al., 2018; for a discussion: Rogers and Pennington, 1991;Williams et al., 2004;Vivanti and Hamilton, 2014). ...
... Common deficits in praxis include recognition of motor intentions (action goals) and production and comprehension of gestures ( Rogers and Pennington, 1991;Rogers et al., 1996;Mostofsky et al., 2006;Hamilton et al., 2007;Knaus et al., 2017). In the experimental literature on ASD, such symptoms have been mainly investigated in relation to action imitation abilities (e.g., Rogers et al., 1996;Schunke et al., 2016;Xavier et al., 2018; for a discussion: Rogers and Pennington, 1991;Williams et al., 2004;Vivanti and Hamilton, 2014). Research on imitation in autism may be relevant not only to the investigation of imitative skills as such, but also to the investigation of the pathogenesis of ASD ( Rogers and Pennington, 1991;Rogers and Williams, 2006;Cattaneo et al., 2007;Cossu et al., 2012). ...
... In the experimental literature on ASD, such symptoms have been mainly investigated in relation to action imitation abilities (e.g., Rogers et al., 1996;Schunke et al., 2016;Xavier et al., 2018; for a discussion: Rogers and Pennington, 1991;Williams et al., 2004;Vivanti and Hamilton, 2014). Research on imitation in autism may be relevant not only to the investigation of imitative skills as such, but also to the investigation of the pathogenesis of ASD ( Rogers and Pennington, 1991;Rogers and Williams, 2006;Cattaneo et al., 2007;Cossu et al., 2012). Indeed, Rogers and Pennington (1991) proposed that impairments in imitation in ASD might be related to a deficit in forming and coordinating specific social representations of the self and the others. ...
Impairments of motor representation of actions have been reported as a core component of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Individuals with ASD have difficulties in a number of functions such as assuming anticipatory postures, imitating body movements, producing and understanding gestures, and recognizing motor intentions. Such cognitive-motor abilities are all involved in pantomime. However, the available evidence on the production and comprehension of pantomime in individuals with ASD is still inconclusive. The current investigation assessed pantomime comprehension in 40 children with high-functioning ASD and 40 children with typical development balanced for age, IQ, level of formal education, and cognitive profile. The participants were asked to watch video recordings of pantomimes representing simple transitive events enacted by actors and match them to the corresponding pictorial representations. Such pantomimes were delivered in two conditions with different levels of information content (i.e., lean or rich). The two groups of children performed similarly on these tasks. Nonetheless, children with ASD who were administered the pantomimes in the lean condition performed worse than participants who were administered the informatively richer pantomimes. The methodological implications for interpretation of previous findings and future studies are discussed.
... Imitation difficulties are well documented in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (DeMyer et al., 1972;Ritvo & Provence, 1953;Rogers & Pennington, 1991;Tunçgenç et al., 2021;Vivanti & Rogers, 2014). Children with ASD have been found to imitate others less frequently than do children with typical development (TD) and children with other developmental delays (Töret, 2021). ...
... Theories explaining reduced IA in children with ASD, have referred to these children's poor perceptual encoding, failed self-other mapping, sensory-motor disturbances and/or abnormal social top-down modulation (Mostofsky & Ewen, 2011;Rogers & Pennington, 1991;Vivanti et al., 2008;Wang & Hamilton, 2012;Williams et al., 2001). Among these theories a strong contraposition exists between sensorymotor theories and social theories. ...
This study applies methods used in sign language and gesture research to better understand reduced imitation accuracy (IA) of actions and gestures in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and we addressed contrasting theories on IA in ASD and the role of objects and meanings in imitation. Eight male children with ASD with a mean chronological age (CA) of 86.76 months (SD = 10.74, range 70.5–104.4) and 22 male and female peers with typical development (TD) and a mean CA of 85.44 months (SD = 7.95, range 73.4–96.7) imitated videos of an adult performing actions with objects, representational gestures, conventional gestures and meaningless gestures. We measured accuracy as ability to effectively reproduce features (handshape, palm orientation, location, movement direction and type) and timing (speed) of observed actions/gestures, after ruling out cases of specular (i.e., mirror-like) versus anatomical imitation. Results highlighted significantly lower feature and timing accuracy in children with ASD with respect to the TD group across tasks, and these findings supported sensory-motor theories of IA in ASD. Our data also showed the different impact of objects and meanings within groups. Overall, these results suggest validity to our assessment method and suggested the importance of considering both discreet variables (i.e., variables describing action/gesture feature accuracy, e.g. handshape, movement direction) and continuous variables (i.e., kinematic variables, e.g. speed) in evaluating IA in autism.
... Teaching episodes are built on the child's interests and embedded in naturalistic and intrinsically rewarding joint activities. Theoretical foundations of the ESDM include a focus on the role of active experiential learning, early interaction, and social motivation for learning and development (Dawson et al., 2004;Rogers & Pennington, 1991). Within this context, skill acquisition and management of unwanted behaviors are promoted using operant conditioning principles and behavioral strategies derived from Pivotal Response Training (PRT; Ingersoll & Schreibman, 2006;Koegel et al., 1987). ...
... Within this context, skill acquisition and management of unwanted behaviors are promoted using operant conditioning principles and behavioral strategies derived from Pivotal Response Training (PRT; Ingersoll & Schreibman, 2006;Koegel et al., 1987). Early social learning processes are specifically targeted by ESDM, based on research highlighting the importance of early social orienting and early participation in dyadic exchanges in the development of children with ASD (Dawson et al., 2004Fein et al., 2013;Rogers & Pennington, 1991). According to this notion, as infants with ASD are less responsive to social stimuli and initiate social interactions less frequently, social learning experiences during critical periods of brain plasticity are limited, which affects the development of neural specialization and behavioral expertise in the social communication domain. ...
In children with autism spectrum disorder, atypical gesture use is a core deficit with consequences for social learning, social interaction, and language development. Little is known about the relevance of early gesture use in predicting developmental outcomes of children receiving early interventions targeting social-communicative behaviors such as the Early Start Denver Model. We found that the parent-rated “Gestural Approach Behavior” subscale of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory was predictively associated with developmental changes after 1 year of intervention as assessed by the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. This subscale was as strong a predictor as the Mullen nonverbal development quotient before intervention. Our findings suggest that children who use more gestures for social communication might be better equipped to respond to the learning opportunities offered by the Early Start Denver Model.
Lay abstract
Although there is growing evidence of the effectiveness and importance of certain early intervention programs for children with autism spectrum disorders, little is known about predictive information before intervention to search for the most accurate therapeutic approach for the individual child and his family. In children with autism spectrum disorder, atypical gesture use is one core deficit with consequences for the development of social interaction and language, but there is little knowledge about the relevance of early gesture use in predicting developmental outcomes of children receiving early interventions targeting social-communicative behaviors such as the Early Start Denver Model. In this study, we found that the parent-rated “Gestural Approach Behavior” subscale of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory was predictively associated with clinically assessed developmental changes after 1 year of intervention. This subscale was as strong a predictor as nonverbal development before intervention. Our findings suggest that children who use more gestures in daily life might be better equipped to respond to learning opportunities offered by early interventions targeting social communication strategies such as the Early Start Denver Model. Furthermore, we conclude that the parent-rated questionnaire might be a valuable and economic set of questions with high relevance for clinical assessments.
... The performance of this subgroup can be established by solving the tasks in the Wisconsin Sort Card Test or the subtests of WAIS-R. [8] These aspects do not imply a low IQ, although sometimes intelligence quotient scores do not reflect real ability. Individuals may have superior intelligence and even excel in solving problems, especially those with a high degree of structure and consistency. ...
... They are easily enraged and can physically or verbally attack children of the same age. [8] Many adults with ADHD manage their emotional sphere with difficulty, especially in situations in which they feel intense fury or frustration. Common emotional symptoms include: feelings of failure or lack of achievement; inability to control frustration; nervousness, irritability and rapid mood changes; hypersensitivity to criticism and low self-esteem. ...
This article represents an overview of the main assessment criteria for adults manifesting attention deficit and hyperactivity syndrome (ADHD), the medication utilised, as well as a series of aspects related to attention function, and planning capacity, learning capacity, inhibition and responses, abstract thinking, emotional adaptation and social traits found in such individuals.
... Some autistic children did show most of the early social behaviours and doubt remains about the existence of sub-groups related to higher ability. Rogers and Pennington (1991) have also argued that the primary deficit in autism may be a social-cognitive one, which results in mentalising deficits as well as the emotion recognition problems. They suggest, too, that infants with autism may have deficits in imitation and emotion sharing which limits the baby's capacity to use the mother's bodily expressions as a source of social and emotional data. ...
... The attachment system, in which notable differences have been found between autism and control groups, is intimately linked with the processes of representational 'mapping' (Rogers & Pennington 1991) and the development of the reflective function of the self. ...
In this thesis, maternal attachment of mothers having a child with autism is compared with that of two control groups of mothers, one having Down syndrome children and the other, Rett syndrome children. Attachment status was rated using the Adult Attachment Interview. It was hypothesised that having a child with autism may serve to disorganise the attachment system in mothers and this in turn may complicate the parent -child relationship which is clinically observed in this group. The hypothesis was explored in the context of a detailed study of the narratives of a small group of mothers with learning impaired children. The thesis reviews the literature using the Adult Attachment Interview in the context of psychological disturbance and parent-child relationships, together with the smaller body of work on the Reflective Function Scale, a measure of mentalisation derived from AAI narratives. The literature on maternal attachment in cases of severe psychological disturbance is reviewed along with relevant developmental and psychoanalytic writings. The role of primitive emotional containment in mental development and learning is investigated and related to the factors involved in maternal attunement and the generation of attention. Attunement and attention, both associated with secure personality development, are manifestly deficient in the autistic child. The study samples were 58 subjects (autism group = 27, Down syndrome group = 16, Rett syndrome group = 15). Methods pertinent to parent-child relationships in autism were identified through close scrutiny of the content and form of mothers' narratives of their own attachment histories. The scoring and classification of the interviews is described. A range of variables was found to distinguish the autism group. These involve references to violence, concerns about space and the incidence of disruptions of turn taking and interruptions of the interview process. Results show consistent differences between the index and control groups, supporting the hypothesis of higher levels of disturbances in the attachment system of mothers with children with autism. The results are discussed in terms of the clinical value of recognising these differences in the course of individual and family treatments of these children. More generally, the approach taken in this thesis, combining quantitative and qualitative research methods in the study of parent-child relationships in families with major psychiatric disturbance in the child, are explored and evaluated.
... La relación existente entre la imitación y las neuronas espejo derivada de la intimidad que se establece entre el yo y el otro, puede considerarse como el primer paso hacia la empatía, que es uno de los pilares de la cognición social [42,43]. ...
La empatía ha sido ampliamente estudiada por numerosas disciplinas a lo largo de la historia, pero a pesar de ello en la actualidad no hay una base clara y unificada de lo que es la empatía y las bases neuronales de la misma. Objetivo: Unificar los diferentes conceptos de empatía y revisar las distintas bases neuronales descubiertas hasta la actualidad con la finalidad de poder recopilar, esclarecer y sintetizar todos los descubrimientos. Con ello se pretende alcanzar una visión clara y concisa de lo que es la empatía y que mecanismos anatomofisiológicos son los encargados de la misma. Desarrollo: La visión actual de la empatía es multidimensional, estando integrada por un componente afectivo, las neuronas espejo principalmente, y por un componente cognitivo, que es la Teoría de la Mente. Conclusión: El componente afectivo está constituido por una cadena de neuronas espejo que es el componente esencial y en el que participa la imitación, la comprensión y el lenguaje. El componente cognitivo está ligado a la corteza prefrontal principalmente y a la encrucijada temporo-parietal (en adelante ETP).
... The ability to reason about others' thoughts develops in humans after the emergence of joint attention and imitation (Camaioni, 1992;Rogers & Pennington, 1991;Tomasello, 1995). Non-human animals follow similar developmental trends although pointing and gaze following appear to function slightly differently for dolphins (Table 1). ...
Critical to advanced social intelligence is the ability to take into consideration the thoughts and feelings of others, a skill referred to as Theory of Mind (ToM) or mindreading. In this article, we present a critical review of the comparative methodology and utility of the nonverbal FBT along with a description of an attempted FBT replication conducted with a bottlenose dolphin prior to the implementation of the more successful approaches used currently. Attempting to replicate Tschudin’s (2001, 2006) methodology with dolphins highlighted several flaws that may explain the failures of socially complex mammals to display competency: (1) reliance on a containment invisible displacement procedure that is difficult for non-human animals and especially dolphins to follow, (2) a complex procedure which demands extensive training time, (3) a long trial duration with several moving parts which taxes the animal’s memory and attention, and (4) a restricted number of two-choice FBT test trials, which limits statistical power given the small pool of trained animals. Although recent research paradigms for primates have corrected for some of these flaws, it is critical that comparative psychologists address these limitations for other species or taxa to be tested validly. Future research in ToM understanding through a false belief approach should move toward more ecologically valid designs and appropriate implicit measures that facilitate comparative approaches that can be replicated.
... A major theme across theories that followed the introduction of the DSM III is the view of autism as a developmental condition (e.g., Mundy and Sigman 1989;Rogers and Pennington 1991;Sigman et al. 1999). A key notion from developmental conceptualizations is that altered engagement with the social and physical world during early sensitive periods can change developmental trajectories, and that resulting abnormalities at the neural and behavioral level might exacerbate initial differences in an iterative fashion. ...
The purely descriptive definition of autism introduced by the DSM III in 1980 marked a departure from previous DSM editions, which mixed phenomenological descriptions with psychoanalytic theories of etiology. This provided a blank slate upon which a variety of novel theories emerged to conceptualize autism and its treatment in the following four decades. In this article we examine the contribution of these different theoretical orientations with a focus on their impact on research and practice, areas of overlap and conflict between current theories, and their relevance in the context of the evolving landscape of scientific knowledge and societal views of autism.
... L'estudi neurobiològic del desenvolupament humà primerenc també revela que la imitació està profundament vinculada amb el desenvolupament d'habilitats socials importants, com l'empatia i el seu dèficit en les persones amb autisme (Rogers & Pennington, 2001;Whiten et al., 1999;Williams et al., 2001). ...
The discovery of the theory of mirror neurons as the neurological substrate of
imitative behavior, empathy and ego awareness, and the deficit of these
aspects in autistic individuals, gives new meaning to imitation in psychotherapy.
The integration of non-verbal and verbal imitation in the design of a
psychoanalytic treatment consisting of 20 sessions for 4-year old children
with severe autism is presented. Different moments of treatment are shown
through the use of clinical vignettes, and reflections made regarding the use
of techniques adequate to each individual patient depending on his or her
psychopathology and development.
La descoberta de la teoria de les neurones mirall com a
substrat neurològic de la conducta imitativa, l’empatia i el
sentit de jo, i el dèficit d’aquests aspectes en les persones amb
autisme, revaloritza l’ús de la imitació en psicoteràpia. Es
presenta la integració de la imitació no verbal i vocàlica en el
disseny d’un tractament psicoanalític de 20 sessions, adreçat
a infants de 4 anys amb autisme sever. S’expliquen amb
vinyetes clíniques diferents moments de la intervenció. Es
reflexiona sobre l’ús de tècniques adequades per a cada
pacient en funció de la seva psicopatologia i moment
maduratiu.
El descubrimiento de la teoría de las neuronas espejo como substrato
neurológico de la conducta imitativa, la empatía y el sentido del yo, y el
déficit de estos aspectos en las personas con autismo, revaloriza el uso de la
imitación en psicoterapia. Presentamos la integración de la imitación no
verbal y vocálica en el diseño de un tratamiento psicoanalítico de 20 sesiones,
dirigido a niños de 4 años con autismo severo. Explicamos con viñetas
clínicas diferentes momentos de la intervención. Reflexionamos sobre el uso
de técnicas adecuadas para cada paciente en función de su psicopatología y
momento madurativo.
... Taking Stern's (1985) and Neisser's formulation of the interpersonal self together, we can identify three aspects of the intersubjective development of the self, which Mundy and Hogan (1994) term instrumental action states, sensory or perceptual action states and affective action states. Rogers and Pennington (1991) offered a model of the cognitive basis for such an intersubjective process in their concept of representational mapping (the process of coordinating representations of self and other) which is thought to underlie the sharing of affect, attention, and higher order aspects of cognition such as beliefs. The existence of imitation skills from the 38 neonatal stage represents strong evidence for the model (Meltzoff & Gopnik, 1993). ...
... Patients with ASD show cognitive impairments in several domains such as social cognition, language, attention, executive function, and working memory (Baron-Cohen et al. 1985;Rogers and Pennington 1991;Charman et al. 2011). RSFC studies have indicated a variety of functional network changes associated with ASD, with these changes including both overconnectivity and underconnectivity in areas associated with the cognitive impairments seen in ASD (for a review see Hull et al. 2017). ...
A wide variety of mental disorders have been associated with resting-state functional network alterations, which are thought to contribute to the cognitive changes underlying mental illness. These observations appear to support theories postulating large-scale disruptions of brain systems in mental illness. However, existing approaches isolate differences in network organization without putting those differences in a broad, whole-brain perspective. Using a graph distance approach-connectome-wide similarity-we found that whole-brain resting-state functional network organization is highly similar across groups of individuals with and without a variety of mental diseases. This similarity was observed across autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and schizophrenia. Nonetheless, subtle differences in network graph distance were predictive of diagnosis, suggesting that while functional connectomes differ little across health and disease, those differences are informative. These results suggest a need to reevaluate neurocognitive theories of mental illness, with a role for subtle functional brain network changes in the production of an array of mental diseases. Such small network alterations suggest the possibility that small, well-targeted alterations to brain network organization may provide meaningful improvements for a variety of mental disorders.
... The ESDM is an early intervention approach for children with ASD aged 12 to 48 months that includes a manualized set of treatment procedures and a comprehensive curriculum covering multiple developmental areas (Rogers & Dawson, 2010a, 2010b. The theoretical foundations of the ESDM include a focus on the role of active experiential learning, early interaction, and social motivation for learning and development (Dawson et al., 2004;Rogers & Pennington, 1991). Additionally, the ESDM is informed by developmental research documenting how typical children learn best in the context of affectively rich interactions, self-driven goals, and in response to the natural contingencies of their self-initiated behavior (e.g., Begus, Gliga, & Southgate, 2014;Kushnir, Wellman, & Gelman, 2009). ...
The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is an evidence-based early intervention approach for young children with autism spectrum disorder. Although the ESDM is described by its authors as being rooted in applied behavior analysis (ABA), some states, agencies, and scholars consider the ESDM to qualify as ABA practice, whereas others do not. The purpose of this article is to examine the status of the ESDM in relation to the 7 dimensions established by Baer, Wolf, and Risley (“Some Current Dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis,” Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1): 91–97, 1968) to define applied behavior-analytic research and intervention, as well as to discuss implications for the field.
... However, some studies of children with autism having difficulties copying movements, have involved complex movements and older children and therefore do not inform us about the infant child with autism and their primitive imitation abilities. Rogers and Pennington (1991) propose that a biologically based deficit in imitation could be the root factor involved in later failure of the child with autism to share affect with care-givers. However, other studies have found intact imitation in children with autism (e.g., Charman and Baron-Cohen, 1994) and Happe and Frith (1996) conclude that there is not enough evidence to suggest that children with autism lack neonatal imitation. ...
Schizotypal Personality Disorder was first introduced as a diagnostic entity in 1980 and has increasingly attracted research focusing on diagnosis and treatment, and the etiological relationship of this personality disorder to schizophrenia (Raine and Lenz 1996). The diagnosis with respect to children remains unclear, as does the relationship of Schizotypal Personality Disorder to autism, Asperger syndrome and schizophrenia. Executive function deficits have been found in people with Asperger's, with schizophrenia and with adult SPD, but there has been little research that clearly describes a neuropsychological profile of children identified as having Schizotypal Personality Disorder. The aim of this study was to describe the neuropsychological deficits of children with Schizotypal Personality Disorder. If distinct profiles could be described, then this would contribute to differentiating neuropsychologically the schizotypal category from the Schizophrenia Spectrum of Disorders or from the Pervasive Developmental Disorders and support the diagnostic validity of this disorder. The participants were 6 children and adolescents with a psychiatric diagnosis of Schizotypal Personality Disorder. Their IQ was measured using the WISC and the executive functions of set-shifting, planning, fluency, sustained attention and attentional control/inhibition were measured using the Trail Making Test (Part A and B), the WISC Mazes subtest, the Thurstone Word Fluency test, and the Opposite Worlds and Walk Don't Walk subtests from the TEA-Ch battery, respectively. The results do not delineate specific neuropsychological profiles for the six children and therefore do not neuropsychologically differentiate the diagnosis of Schizotypal Personality Disorder from that of a Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder or a Pervasive Developmental Disorder. Therefore, the neuropsychological validity of SPD and the diagnostic validity of this disorder in children are questioned. The reliability and validity of the TEA-Ch subtest Opposite Worlds is also discussed.
... Conventional gestures are linked to social routines, they are the result of conventions within different communities (Mc Neill 1998). Imitation is an important mechanism for learning these type of gestures, and this is an area in which children with ASD have special difficulties (Rogers and Pennington 1991;Charman and Baron-Cohen 1994;Charman et al. 1997;Rogers et al. 2003). ...
This study focuses on the multimodal communication of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) compared to typically developing (TD) children. Eleven children with ASD (aged from 28 to 79 months) and 11 TD children (from 12 to 30 months) were matched by their productive vocabulary. We observed their communicative production in a semi-structured play situation. Results showed no differences in the combinations of gestural and vocal elements between children with ASD and TD. By contrast, regarding the production of the three-element multimodal combinations, we found a different pattern between ASD and TD children depending on their lexical development. These results provide clues to understand some controversial findings regarding multimodal production of people with ASD described in the literature.
... Effect of Dance Movements pn Stereotypical and Repetitive Behaviours of Cases with Autism Spectrum Disorder which is proved by the further studies demonstrating increased frontal lobe functions in children with autism (Ozonoff, 1995;Ozzonoff et al, 1994;Prior & Hoffman, 1990). Some researchers argued that autism is a disorder of prefrontal cortex (Minshew & Godlstein, 1993;Rogers & Pennington, 1991). But others explained these behaviours in terms of combination of social cognitive and executive functions that may be linked to frontal brain areas. ...
Objective
The objective of the study was to observe the effects of dance movements on stereotypical and repetitive behaviours of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Method
The sample consisted of 5 patients within the age range of 9 to 16 years. Of the pool of 15 patients, 5 were lying in the range of moderate autism spectrum disorder with a higher score on stereotypical and repetitive behaviours. There were three male and two female patients. The cases were regularly coming to the day care centre of a hospital located in the southern part of India. Participants were assessed by Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) and BASIC-MR Part-B. Dance movement intervention was planned for these five cases.
Results
Pre- and post-test scores were taken to observe the effects of dance movements on their behaviours. Fifteen sessions with a duration of 60 minutes per session were given. The results showed improvement in the repetitive behaviour in the sample, in which of these five, three showed greater improvement.
Conclusion
Hence, the result shows that dance movement could be used as an effective method to improve stereotypical and repetitive behaviour in children diagnosed with ASD.
... This result is possibly due to these cortical areas being part of cortical network, which is thought to be involved in the perception and comprehension of other persons' motor actions and motor imagery in higher-order cognitive processes, such as imitation [Rizzolatti, Fogassi, & Gallese, 2001;Ramachandran, 2000] and empathy [Carr, Iacoboni, Dubeau, Mazziotta, & Lenzi, 2003]. Based on Rogers and Pennington's [1991] theory, the root of social deficits and impaired social interactions in children with ASD is the inability of the child to form and to coordinate between self-other representations and perspectives, which first manifests in impaired imitation followed by a cascade of impairments in emotion-sharing, joint attention, and pretend play. Ramsey, Hansen, Apperly, and Samson [2013] showed that the DLPFC is involved in selecting the appropriate viewpoint by inhibiting irrelevant perspectives in a viewpoint-independent manner. ...
Dysfunctional frontal cortical areas associated with clinical features are observed in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study attempted to identify any potential therapeutic effects of bilateral anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied over the left and right prefrontal and motor areas on the clinical characteristics of children with ASD. Fifty children with confirmed ASD medical diagnoses were divided equally and randomly into a tDCS treatment group and a control group. The tDCS treatment group underwent 10 sessions (20‐min durations, five per week) of bilateral anodal tDCS stimulation applied simultaneously over the left and right prefrontal and motor areas, whereas the control group underwent the same procedures but with the use of sham tDCS stimulation. Total scores and sub‐scores of autism treatment evaluation checklist (ATEC) (language and communication; sociability; sensory awareness; and behavioral, health, and physical conditions) were measured before and after the tDCS treatment sessions of both groups. There were significant decreases in total ATEC scores (P = 0.014), sociability sub‐scores (P = 0.021), and behavioral, health, and physical condition sub‐scores (P = 0.011) in the tDCS treatment group. No significant changes were observed in total ATEC scores and sub‐scores in the control group. In conclusion, compared to the control group, bilateral anodal tDCS showed potential therapeutic effects on children with ASD in terms of improvements in sociability, behavior, health, and physical conditions with no reported side effects. Autism Res 2020, 13: 828–836. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Lay Summary
Dysfunctional frontal cortical areas are associated with clinical features in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is found to be a safe, noninvasive method to stimulate cortical regions and thus have therapeutic effects on children with ASD. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
... Recently, robots have been involved in the development of the social behavior of autistic children who showed a better interaction with robots than with their peers. One of the striking social impairments that is widely described in autism literature is the deficit of imitating the others [Rogers and Pennington 1991; Williams et al., 2004]. Trying to make use of this point, therapists and robotic researchers have been interested in designing triadic interactional (Human -Robot-Child) imitation games, in which the therapists starts to perform a gesture then the robot imitates it, and then the child tries to do the same, hoping that these games will encourage the autistic child to repeat these new gestures in his daily social life. ...
Autism is a highly variable neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication , and by restricted and repetitive behavior. The problematic point concerning this neuro-developmental disorder is its causes which are unknown till now, and therefore it cannot be treated medically. Recently, robots have been involved in the development of the social behavior of autistic children who showed a better interaction with robots than with their peers. One of the striking social impairments that is widely described in autism literature is the deficit of imitating the others. Trying to make use of this point, therapists and robotic researchers have been interested in designing triadic interactional (Human-Robot-Child) imitation games, in which the therapists starts to perform a gesture then the robot imitates it, and then the child tries to do the same, hoping that these games will encourage the autistic child to repeat these new gestures in his daily social life.
... Although attributing the social deficits present in ASD to a single aetiological factor is difficult due to the considerable degree of heterogeneity in both the ASD phenotype and social functioning, one avenue of work has specifically focused on the role of imitative capability. Imitation, the process by which an individual observes and replicates the behavior of another, is considered to be key to the development of a multitude of abilities inherent to social functioning including language, theory of mind, and empathy (Ingersoll 2008;Rogers and Pennington 1991;Sowden et al. 2016). Given that research has highlighted that those with ASD display specific deficits in these areas, a burgeoning literature has suggested that difficulties in imitation may in fact underlie the social deficits observed in ASD. ...
Research has observed evidence for both hypo-(supposedly due to a broken mirror neuron system) and hyper-(thought to be the result of deficits in adaptive control) imitation in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This work sought to adjudicate between these findings using an automatic imitation (AI) paradigm with the novel manipulation of the need to engage adaptive control of imitation. Results demonstrated that ASD participants do not display a specific deficit in AI capability, are able to engage in proactive control of AI, and that relative to a well-matched effector condition, AI is not selectively associated with ASD symptom severity. These data cast doubt upon the notion of impairments in imitation or its control in ASD.
... Impaired imitative performance has been documented in ASD at least since the 1970s [DeMeyer et al., 1972;Edwards, 2014;Sevlever & Gillis, 2010]. Some theorists believe impaired imitation to be the central deficit in ASD [Rogers & Pennington, 1991;Vivanti & Rogers, 2014]. Building on those theories, we have previously posited that impairments in learning via imitation contribute to autism-associated impairments in development not only of motor skills but of social/communicative skills as well [Mostofsky & Ewen, 2011]. ...
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) consists of altered performance of a range of skills, including social/communicative and motor skills. It is unclear whether this altered performance results from atypical acquisition or learning of the skills or from atypical “online” performance of the skills. Atypicalities of skilled actions that require both motor and cognitive resources, such as abnormal gesturing, are highly prevalent in ASD and are easier to study in a laboratory context than are social/communicative skills. Imitation has long been known to be impaired in ASD; because learning via imitation is a prime method by which humans acquire skills, we tested the hypothesis that children with ASD show alterations in learning novel gestures via imitation. Eighteen participants with ASD and IQ > 80, ages 8–12.9 years, and 19 typically developing peers performed a task in which they watched a video of a model performing a novel, meaningless arm/hand gesture and copied the gesture. Each gesture video/copy sequence was repeated 4–6 times. Eight gestures were analyzed. Examination of learning trajectories revealed that while children with ASD made nearly as much progress in learning from repetition 1 to repetition 4, the shape of the learning curves differed. Causal modeling demonstrated the shape of the learning curve influenced both the performance of overlearned gestures and autism severity, suggesting that it is in the index of learning mechanisms relevant both to motor skills and to autism core features. Autism Res 2020, 13: 777–784.. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Lay Summary
Imitation is a route by which humans learn a wide range of skills, naturally and in therapies. Imitation is known to be altered in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but learning via imitation has not been rigorously examined. We found that the shape of the learning curve is altered in ASD, in a way that has a significant impact both on measures of autism severity and of other motor skills.
... One ID:p0110 explanation for this imitation deficit could be problems with information-processing and perceptual organization, as demonstrated by the cognitive inflexibility and difficulty with attention, memory, coding, and motor skills often seen in children with autism (Smith & Bryson, 1994). These difficulties may manifest themselves in an imitation deficit through difficulty relating visual "other" to motor "self" information (Rogers & Pennington, 1991) or understanding intention behind action (for review see Vanvuchelen, Schuerbeeck, Roeyers, & De Weerdt, 2013;Vivanti & Hamilton, 2014). Others have suggested that the mirror neuron system is impaired in children with ASD (Dickerson, Gerhardstein, & Moser, 2017;Fabbri-Destro, Cattaneo, Boria, & Rizzolatti, 2009); this is also a possible explanation of the imitation deficit in children with ASD. ...
Typically developing (TD) children exhibit a transfer deficit imitating significantly less from screen demonstrations compared to a live demonstrations. Although many interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) include video materials, little research exists comparing the effectiveness of video demonstration over live instruction. The current study compared imitation learning from live and screen-based demonstrations of how to make a puzzle by 3- to 4.5-year-old TD children ( n = 68) and children with ASD ( n = 17). Children were tested on either on a three-dimensional (3D) magnet board (MB) with magnetic puzzle pieces or a 2D touch screen (TS) with virtual puzzle pieces. Neither TD nor ASD children exhibited a transfer deficit suggesting that for this task, the transfer deficit ends around 3 years of age. Children with ASD were less efficient overall than TD children on the task and performed worse than their TD counterparts when they were tested with the 3D MB puzzle. These findings suggest that children with ASD have greater difficulty acting on 3D objects than 2D TSs. Future studies should investigate if TSs can be used to teach children with ASD other tasks (184 words).
... Voluntary imitation is essential for learning new actions and behaviours from others, transferring cultural knowledge and strengthening affiliative bonds (Farmer, Ciaunica, & Hamilton, 2018;Nadel, 2014). Due to this link between imitation and social behaviours, it has been proposed that altered imitation in autistic individuals could contribute to some of their social deficits (Rogers & Pennington, 1991). Indeed, some emerging therapies use imitation training to improve broader social behaviours such as reciprocity, joint attention and using emotions in an interactive manner (Ingersoll, 2012;Ingersoll, Berger, Carlsen, & Hamlin, 2017). ...
This study investigated whether reduced visual attention to an observed action might account for altered imitation in autistic adults. A total of 22 autistic and 22 non-autistic adults observed and then imitated videos of a hand producing sequences of movements that differed in vertical elevation while their hand and eye movements were recorded. Participants first performed a block of imitation trials with general instructions to imitate the action. They then performed a second block with explicit instructions to attend closely to the characteristics of the movement. Imitation was quantified according to how much participants modulated their movement between the different heights of the observed movements. In the general instruction condition, the autistic group modulated their movements significantly less compared to the non-autistic group. However, following instructions to attend to the movement, the autistic group showed equivalent imitation modulation to the non-autistic group. Eye movement recording showed that the autistic group spent significantly less time looking at the hand movement for both instruction conditions. These findings show that visual attention contributes to altered voluntary imitation in autistic individuals and have implications for therapies involving imitation as well as for autistic people’s ability to understand the actions of others.
... The action-perception-emotion links outlined above may be particularly important in autism. It has long been noted that autistic children are less likely to imitate others compared to their neurotypical peers, and it is suggested that these early difficulties slow the development of social and emotional skills, causing cascading effects across the lifespan (Rogers and Pennington, 1991;Williams et al., 2001). Moreover, as imitation is suggested to facilitate recognition of others' facial expressions (Niedenthal, 2007) and establish social rapport (Chartrand and Bargh, 1999), diminished imitation in development may lead to difficulties with emotion recognition and social success in autistic people later in life ( Winkielman et al., 2009). ...
Emotion is inherently embodied, formulated through bodily sensation, as well as expressed and regulated through action. Both expressing one’s own emotions and understanding the emotional actions of others are common areas of difficulty in autism. Moreover, reduced emotional awareness is also thought to be problematic in autism, and such difficulties may be mediated by impaired motor cognition. We aimed to examine how intensity of emotional experience and ability to differentiate between one’s own emotions relates to motor empathy and autistic traits. We hypothesized that greater motor cognition would be associated with greater emotional intensity and more refined emotion differentiation. Participants from the general population (N = 160) completed the Actions and Feelings Questionnaire (AFQ), a self-report measure assessing motor cognition, alongside the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire and an emotion elicitation task. Motor cognition was significantly associated with more intense emotional experiences but not with ability to differentiate between similar emotions. Autistic traits, particularly social aloofness, predicted less emotion differentiation and lower scores on the animation subscale of the AFQ. We suggest that whereas as intensity of experience may be dependent on sensorimotor representation of emotions, differentiation requires additional cognitive functions such as language understanding. A dissociation between awareness of intensity and differentiation may be critical for understanding emotional difficulties in autism.
... That is, in comparison to a control group, those with ASD exhibited more jerk in their movements, and moved with greater velocity and acceleration. Indeed, several researchers have proposed that motor impairments are central to the ASD phenotype, often presenting in early infancy and influencing both subtle anticipatory adjustments and gross motor control (Mostofsky et al., 2006;Rogers & Pennington, 1991). Similarly, in SAD, individuals often exhibit visible movement anomalies when placed in a social setting, including psychomotor agitation or retardation (i.e., the slowing or quickening of movements, Clark & Wells, 1995). ...
Viewed under the broad theoretical umbrella of an embodied–embedded approach to psychological activity, body movements can be seen to play an essential role in shaping social interaction. Of note, research concerning the embodiment of social cognition has documented key differences in non‐verbal behaviour during social interaction for individuals diagnosed with a range of disorders, including social anxiety disorder and autism spectrum disorder. The present work sets out to extend these findings by better understanding the interplay between subclinical variation in psychopathology and social‐motor coordination, a key component of effective interaction. We asked participants, in pairs, to swing hand‐held pendula that varied in their intrinsic movement characteristics. Extending previous clinically oriented work (Varlet et al., 2014, Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8, 29), our results indicated that subclinical variation in mental health status was predictive of disruption to the patterns of coordination dynamics that characterize effective social exchange. This work provides further evidence for the utility of theorizing social interaction as a self‐organizing dynamical system and strengthens support for the claim that disruption to interpersonal coordination may act as an embodied–embedded marker of variation in mental health.
... It is involved in both the movement production and action observation [42,91]. While some researchers reported autism-specific impairments in imitation [67,94] and a dysfunctional MNS [51,79], others showed intact ability to engage in imitation [12,44,84], preserved action representation and thus a functional MNS [20,23,43]. However, neuroimaging studies evidenced that neural activity and connectivity in regions for imitation may be abnormal in ASD [10,29]. ...
A growing number of studies investigate robot intervention in the case of Autism. Most of these studies are either focused on social skills or robot design. However, a large number of autistic children also suffer from motor deficits which are directly correlated with impaired communication skills and severity of autism. While several robot-centered reviews or reviews interested in social robotics for autism have already been made, a review on robot-based motor rehabilitation in autism was still lacking. In this paper, we dedicate our review to motor rehabilitation in autism, notably using robots. To do so, we searched the PubMed, IEEE, PsycNet and Science Direct databases. We show that although this research is promising, it has been neglected and would benefit from more consideration. The goal of this review is to highlight the relevance of past work and insist on the dire need to develop this research.
... A limitation of many extant studies, including the present study, is that imitation measures do not distinguish between the constructs of imitation and motor abilities when assessing one's ability to imitate modeled actions. Therefore, deficits in motor planning and execution, rather than deficits in imitation, may prevent individuals from accurately copying the actions of the experimenter (Rogers and Pennington 1991). ...
Numerous studies have investigated the predictors of language in pre-verbal toddlers and verbally fluent children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study investigated the concurrent relations among expressive language and a set of empirically-selected social communication variables—joint attention, imitation, and play—in a unique sample of 37 minimally verbal (MV) children and adolescents with ASD. Results revealed that imitation and play were significantly correlated with expressive language, even when controlling for non-verbal IQ, but joint attention was not. Imitation was the only predictor variable to reach significance within the regression model. Findings demonstrate that predictors of expressive language vary for subpopulations of the autism spectrum, and have broader implications for intervention design for older, MV individuals with ASD.
... Researchers have provided a variety of plausible explanations for the differences and similarities in imitation performance between children with ASD and other children. Differences in imitation abilities may be partly explained by: (1) atypical visual attention to people and their actions (Vivanti et al. 2008(Vivanti et al. , 2011(Vivanti et al. , 2014; (2) ASD-specific deficits in social-emotional understanding and processing (Meindl and Cannella-Malone 2011;Rogers and Pennington 1991) and; (3) sensorimotor difficulties (Vanvuchelen et al. 2007). It is likely that no single explanation can account for imitation deficits in children with ASD. ...
The Motor and Vocal Imitation Assessment (MVIA) was developed to evaluate a proposed hierarchy of imitation skills that could be used to formulate an experimentally-validated instructional guide for intervention. Imitation performance was assessed via the MVIA in 30 typically developing (TD) children and 30 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Children with ASD and TD demonstrated similar patterns of imitation. Children had higher performance scores in object imitation, followed by body, then vocal, and lastly facial imitation. The results revealed a pattern of imitation performance that provides the basis for an experimentally-validated instructional guide for intervention.
Imitation is foundational to early social learning, yet autistic children often exhibit significant impairments in imitation, potentially impacting their social communication skills. This study examined the relationship between imitation abilities and social communication in autistic children and evaluated the effectiveness of the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) intervention. The study included 52 autistic children aged 2–5, divided into an experimental group receiving ESDM intervention and a control group undergoing standard rehabilitation. We assessed the children’s imitation and social communication skills before and after the intervention. Results indicated a significant positive correlation between imitation and social communication skills both before and after the intervention. Specifically, various forms of imitation (e.g., vocal, gestural, object-related) were closely linked to different domains of social communication (e.g., expressive communication, joint attention, social skills). Baseline imitation levels and improvements in imitation were significant predictors of enhanced social communication, jointly accounting for over half of the observed improvements in social communication, with imitation improvement being the strongest predictor. Age positively moderated the relationship between imitation and social communication, with older children showing a stronger impact of imitation on social communication. Although these effects were evident across groups, the ESDM group showed greater gains in imitation skills compared to the control group. However, we did not find evidence of an intervention effect on social communication skills. This study underscores the critical role of imitation in the social communication development of autistic children. These findings support the enhancement of imitation skills in early interventions for autistic children, highlighting the effectiveness of ESDM in fostering imitation abilities.
The Early Start Denver Model has historically been implemented primarily within early education as a comprehensive approach with an interdisciplinary perspective. The Denver Model follows the student’s lead and is applied in only naturally occurring opportunities. With a focus on communication, the Denver Model integrates related skills while working concurrently across domains. This model includes assessment, curriculum, activities, and analysis to provide a comprehensive teaching program.
Статья посвящена вопросу взаимосвязи в процессе развития таких субъектных функций, как понимание ментального мира (рассмотренное как модель психического и ее предикторы) и саморегуляции (рассмотренной как контроль поведения). Представлены результаты лонгитюдного исследования взаимосвязи уровня развития модели психического и контроля поведения у детей 3–5 лет (22 человека). Показано, что для предсказания уровня развития модели психического на основе уровня развития контроля поведения в более раннем возрасте наиболее существенными оказываются такие компоненты контроля поведения, как когнитивный контроль (через опосредующую роль речи и вербальный ментальный возраст) и контроль действий. Тревожность как показатель эмоционального контроля приводит к более быстрому становлению модели психического между 3 и 4 годами, способствуя повышенному вниманию детей к социальным маркерам желаний, намерений и пр., других людей. Контроль импульсивности развивается раньше, чем понимание ментального мира, что говорит о важности регуляторного обеспечения для понимания ментального мира Другого.
Imitation skills play a crucial role in social cognitive development from early childhood. Many studies have shown a deficit in imitation skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Little is known about the development of imitation behaviors in children with ASD. This study aims to measure the trajectories of early imitation skills in preschoolers with ASD and how these skills impact other areas of early development. For this purpose, we assessed imitation, language and cognition skills in 177 children with ASD and 43 typically developing children (TD) aged 2 to 5 years old, 126 of which were followed longitudinally, yielding a total of 396 time-points. Our results confirmed the presence of an early imitation deficit in toddlers with ASD compared to TD children. The study of the trajectories showed that these difficulties were marked at the age of two years, and gradually decreased until the age of 5 years old. Imitation skills were strongly linked with cognitive, language skills and level of symptoms in our ASD group at baseline. Moreover, the imitation skills at baseline were predictive of the language gains a year later in our ASD group. Using a data-driven clustering method, we delineated different developmental trajectories of imitation skills within the ASD group. The clinical implications of the findings are discussed, particularly the impact of an early imitation deficit on other areas of competence of the young child.
Children with autism have displayed imbalances in responding to feedback and feedforward learning information and they have shown difficulty imitating movements. Previous research has focused on motor learning and coordination problems for these children, but little is known about their motoric responses to visual live animation feedback. Thus, we compared motor output responses to live animation biofeedback training in both 15 children with autism and 15 age- and sex-matched typically developing children (age range: 8–17 years). We collected kinematic data via Inertial Measurement Unit devices while participants performed a series of body weight squats at a pre-test, during live animation biofeedback training, and at post-test. Dependent t-tests (α = 0.05), were used to test for statistical significance between pre- and post-test values within groups, and repeated measures analyses of variance (α = 0.05) were used to test for differences among the training blocks, within each group. The Model Statistic technique (α = 0.05) was used to test for pre- and post-test differences on a single-subject level for every participant. Grouped data revealed little to no significant findings in the children with autism, as these participants showed highly individualized responses. However, typically developing children, when grouped, exhibited significant differences in their left hip position (p = 0.03) and ascent velocity (p = 0.004). Single-subject analyses showed more individualistic live animation responses of children with autism than typically developing children on every variable of interest except descent velocity. Thus, to teach children with autism new movements in optimal fashion, it is particularly important to understand their individualistic motor learning characteristics.
Based on the distinction between "hot" and "cool" executive functions
(Zelazo & Müller, 2002), a research line that aims to study the relationship
between executive functions related to emotions (―hot") and socio-emotional
deficits observed in ASD, began. The main objective of this study is to analyze
the psychopathological correlates of emotional deficits in ASD.
This work arises in this theoretical framework and aims to study socioemotional
deficits in adults with autism, in relation to both "hot" and ―cool‖
executive dysfunctions, social maturity, autistic traits and comorbid
psychopathology, specifying which variables influence or explain the perception
of emotions in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Four experiments were designed,
linked to the 4 general objectives of the research:
1. Confirm the presence of emotional perception deficits in adults with ASD, compared to the control group (no TEA).
2. Confirm the presence of deficits in executive functions attributed to the ASD group, compared to the control group (no TEA).
3. Specify which variables influence, or explain, the perception of emotions in adults with autism, in order to find out the nature of emotional deficits in people with autism.
4. Establish if certain emotional permeability exists in the experimental group (TEA), through a task of emotion induction.
Editors Costel Vasile SISERMAN and Cristian DELCEA FILODIRITTO INTERNATIONAL PROCEEDINGS
Conventional observation-based intervention, though powerful, it might pose limitations given restricted availability of adequately trained resources, high cost of intervention, etc. Thus, researchers had been exploring the use of alternate technology-assisted intervention techniques that can serve as a complementary tool in the hands of the clinician, offer quantitative estimates, etc. In this chapter, I introduce the reader to the various types of technology-assisted intervention techniques, such as Robot-assisted and Computer-assisted techniques along with various applications for skill training of individuals with autism.
The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM; Rogers and Dawson in The Early Start Denver Model for Young Children with Autism: Promoting Language, Learning, and Engagement. Guilford Press, New York, 2010) is an evidence-based early intervention designed to promote developmental and social communication skills in young children with autism spectrum disorder between the ages of 12 and 60 months. The ESDM is characterized as a Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI; Schreibman et al. in Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions: Empirically validated treatments for autism spectrum disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 45(8):2411–2428, 2015), indicating that it shares commonalities with a number of similar types of early interventions including delivery in natural contexts, shared control between the child and clinician, and use of behavioral principles/natural contingencies. The ESDM is particularly well suited for an interdisciplinary approach to care for young children on the autism spectrum given that it promotes the development of an interdisciplinary treatment team, benefits from collaboration across disciplines, and values the input of varied perspectives. Several other ways in which the ESDM approach provides a range of opportunities to collaborate and coordinate interdisciplinary care are described throughout the chapter.
Background: Individuals with BPD are characterised by extreme difficulties in their interpersonal functioning. Recently, a deficit in Theory of Mind abilities (ToM) has been proposed to underlie these difficulties. Although there has been little research investigating this claim, studies by Stokes (2001) and Fonagy et al. (1996) have provided some initial support. Clinical observations of individuals with BPD in therapy suggest that ToM abilities may fluctuate. To date, studies using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) have indicated that the 'anxious-preoccupied' attachment style is the most frequently assigned attachment style for individuals with BPD. A high proportion of them are also categorised as 'unresolved in relation to loss, trauma and abuse' (Fonagy et al. 1996; Patrick et al., 1994). This category best relates to the most recently identified attachment style, 'disorganised attachment', and Fonagy et al. (2000) suggest that this is the characteristic attachment style of individuals with BPD. The present study investigates the constructs of attachment and ToM in women with BPD. Method: There are two parts to the present study. A pilot study was undertaken to create the short, equivalent forms of two ToM measures, the Story Comprehension Test (SCT) and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMIET). These equivalent forms were required for the main study. In the main study, a group of pardcipants diagnosed with BPD (n = 22) were compared to a mixed clinical comparison group (n = 17) on a new attachment measure (Attachment Q-Sort, Fonagy et al., 2002) and the two ToM measures. The equivalent forms of the ToM measures were administered under two different conditions; a control/non-primed condition and a second condition where participants were primed to think about their personal attachment histories. Results: Contrary to the study's hypothesis, no deficit in ToM was found in BPD participants as compared to the clinical comparison group. The study provided some support that women with BPD may have a better ToM ability than women with mood-related disorders on one measure (which may be comparable to a non clinical population as measured in previous research), although this may be connected to whether or not they were in individual therapy at the time of testing, and their younger age. Whilst the Stokes (2001) study concluded that individuals with BPD may have a slight deficit compared to healthy individuals in understanding social situations (as measured in the SCT), the present study concluded they do not have a deficit compared to other women with mood-related disorders. It may be that general psychopathology is a contributing factor to any subtle deficit. In line with clinical observations, the current study provided a little support for a state or context dependent ToM deficit in women with BPD although again, differences in age and current therapy status between the two groups is associated with this finding. The results of the attachment component of this study provide further evidence that the preoccupied attachment style is the one most associated with individuals with BPD. It proposes further research with more participants to investigate the disorganised attachment style. The present study hints that these findings relate to the higher levels of psychopathology inherent in individuals with BPD but encourages more research to assess this notion further. Contrary to the study's hypothesis, it provides no support for a direct one-to-one correspondence between ToM and secure attachment in adults. The present study highlights the need for replication given the relatively low number of participants involved. Although more research is required, it suggests that the Attachment Q-Sort may be a useful tool for assessing attachment styles. Finally, suggestions for future research into both attachment and ToM are proposed.
Although research studies have demonstrated that children with ASD display impairments in their motor
imitation skills, understanding underlying factors that can influence the imitation problems of children is
complicated. Neuropsychological model, one of the current theoretical models, proposes that the visual
attention of children with ASD directed towards people’s motor actions may negatively affect these children’s
imitation performance. This study has been carried out based on this hypothesis to evaluate the differences of
visual attention patterns of children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children via the use of eye
tracking technology. A total of 84 children, 40 children with ASD and 44 children with TGG aged between 18
and 36 months participated in this study through the use of a comparative research model. A total of 84 young
children aged between 18-36 months participated in the study, in that, 40 of them in the ASD group, and 44 of
them in the TD group. Results of the study showed that children with ASD displayed significant differences in
their eye tracking patterns when compared to TD children. Findings of the study indicated that the TD children
were significantly looked more at the Face area and Movement area and there was no significant difference
on the Movement area. Findings also suggested that TD children directed their visual attention first to
Movement area, second to Face area and lastly to Outside area, whereas children with ASDdirected their visual
attention respectively to Outside area, Face area and the Movement area. Research findings were discussed,
and suggestions for future research were provided.
The reduced efficacy of voluntary imitation in autism is suggested to be underpinned by differences in sensorimotor processing. We examined whether the imitation of novel atypical biological kinematics by autistic adults is enhanced by imitating a model in a predictable blocked practice trial order. This practice structure is expected to facilitate trial-to-trial sensorimotor processing, integration and encoding of biological kinematics. The results showed that neurotypical participants were generally more effective at imitating the biological kinematics across all experimental phases. Importantly, and compared to a pre-test where imitation was performed in a randomised (unpredictable) trial order, the autistic participants learned to imitate the atypical kinematics more effectively following an acquisition phase of repeatedly imitating the same model during blocked practice. Data from the post-test showed that autistic participants remained effective at imitating the atypical biological kinematics when the models were subsequently presented in a randomised trial order. These findings show that the reduced efficacy of voluntary imitation in autism can be enhanced during learning by facilitating trial-to-trial processing and integration of sensorimotor information using blocked practice.
Lay Abstract
Autistic people sometimes find it difficult to copy another person’s movement accurately, especially if the movement is unfamiliar or novel (e.g. to use chop sticks). In this study, we found that autistic people were generally less accurate at copying a novel movement than non-autistic people. However, by making a small adjustment and asking people to copy this movement for a set number of attempts in a predictable manner, we showed that autistic people did successfully learn to copy a new movement. This is a very important finding for autistic people because rather than thinking they cannot copy new movements, all that needs to be considered is for parents/guardians, teachers and/or support workers to make a small adjustment so that learning occurs in a predictable manner for new skills to be successfully acquired through copying. The implications from this study are wide-ranging as copying (imitation) and motor learning are important developmental processes for autistic infants and children to acquire in order to interact within the world. Therefore, practising these behaviours in the most effective way can certainly help the developmental pathway.
The article features basic violations and absence of “mental model” as an ability to identify with another person’s actions in the process of imitation. 124 preschoolers were studied to compare the development of mental model and imitation. They were divided into three contrasting groups: normally developing children, children with special needs, and children with delayed speech development. The study revealed imitation differences in relation to the level of the mental model. The obtained data complement the understanding of the innate foundations of social cognition. Violations associated with imitation can explain the cognitive aspects of the mental development deficit in preschool children. They can be a universal symptom that disrupts early social interaction and ultimately leads to various social and communication deficits. For a productive implementation of simulation schemes, it is necessary to understand and recognize the mental states of the interlocutor and their organization into mental models (single, situational, or extra-narrative). Imitation arises when the children are able to integrate information about themselves and about others and can combine their own intentions and the intentions of others in relation to an external object (triadic relations).
Les Troubles du Spectre de l'Autisme (TSA) sont devenus une priorité nationale et internationale en matière de santé publique. À ce titre, de nombreux outils et différents types de prises en charge sont proposés avec plus ou moins de résultats pour les personnes qui en sont atteintes. C'est pourquoi, les dernières recommandations de la Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS, 2012) ainsi que le plan gouvernemental autisme 2013-2017 insistent sur l'importance de mener des études objectives concernant l'évolution et les prises en charge des personnes porteuses de TSA. Cette recherche qui comprend 2 études distinctes, vise à (1) objectiver l'efficacité d'un dispositif innovant d'intervention développementale en milieu ordinaire pour les personnes porteuses de TSA (le programme IDDEES : Intervention - Développement - Domicile - Ecole - Entreprise - Supervision) et à (2) démontrer le bénéfice de l'utilisation de nouvelles technologies (applications LearnEnjoy) associées à ce programme sur la dysrégulation fonctionnelle et les comportements restreints et répétitifs. Les participants de l'étude 1 sont des enfants âgés de 1 à 9 ans, ayant un TSA et bénéficiant tous du programme IDDEES (N = 51 enfants). Le diagnostic a été établi sur la base des critères du DSM-5 (APA, 2013) et de l'échelle d'évaluation quantitative, la CARS (Schopler, Reichler & Renner, 1988). Les enfants sont évalués à 3 temps différents (10 mois d'intervalle) sur le plan développemental (PEP-3, Schopler, Lansing, & Reichler, 2010 ; EDEI-R, Perron-Borelli, 1996 ; etc.) et comportemental (CARS, Schopler, et al., 1988). La population de l'étude 2 est constituée de 31 enfants et adolescents âgés de 3 ans à 17 ans et de 9 adultes âgés de 17 à 38 ans, bénéficiant du programme IDDEES et de l'utilisation des applications LearnEnjoy dans leur programme de remédiation. Tous les 3 mois durant 2 ans, les accompagnants de ces personnes cotent des échelles permettant d'analyser l'évolution de leur dysrégulation (GRAM, Adrien, 1996) et de leurs comportements répétitifs et restreints (EC2R, Bourreau, Gomot, Roux et Barthélémy, 2009). Les résultats de la 1ère étude mettent en évidence une évolution des âges de développement et une diminution de la symptomatologie autistique des personnes bénéficiant du programme IDDEES, indépendamment de l'âge réel et de l'intensité du trouble autistique au début de l'étude. Les résultats de la seconde, montrent que les personnes bénéficiant à la fois du programme IDDEES et des applications LearnEnjoy, après un temps d'adaptation nécessaire, parviennent à se réguler de mieux en mieux au fil des mois. De plus, leur comportements restreints et répétitifs et leur résistance au changement diminuent au profit d'une plus grande souplesse cognitive. Le programme IDDEES qui tient compte du développement atypique et du fonctionnement dysrégulé et si particulier des personnes avec TSA, constitue ainsi une bonne méthode pour favoriser leur développement et leur adaptation à l'environnement physique et social. Pour les professionnels respectueux de l'éthique et soucieux d'améliorer la qualité de vie de ces personnes, il est indispensable de proposer des interventions de qualité et reconnues comme telles.
The authors of this study examined the relationship between motor imitation behaviors and social communication behaviors in 15–18-month-old infants, using a quantitative correlational research design. Imitation behaviors have been shown to be an index of later social cognition and language development, and a critical mechanism in language learning for typically developing infants. Social communication behaviors have also been demonstrated to predict later language skills. The authors looked for quantifiable correlations between motor imitation and social communication in typically developing 15–18-month-olds and the authors found a significant positive correlation between motor imitation and the social communication variable of language understanding. The authors demonstrated that motor imitation can be measured reliably in infants between 15 and 18 months, and that a demonstrable increase in imitation behaviors occurs in this age group. The naturalistic home-based play context of this study provided robust reliable scores and ecological validity to the results. The results suggest that motor imitation in 15–18-month-olds has a unique relationship to social communication that is specific to language understanding, and separate from verbal expression or gesture.
The number of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is on the rise. Evidence-based early intervention is one of the keys to improve outcomes. This article briefly presents the history of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBI) and uses the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) as an exemplary NDBI to illustrate the current evidence and future directions of NDBI. At the end, we call for more efforts to disseminate NDBI across the globe. © Presses Universitaires de France. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays.
L'autisme est un trouble envahissant du développement qui affecte toutes les fonctions sensorielles, perceptives, cognitives, communicatives, émotionnelles et relationnelles de l'enfant. S'appuyant sur la triade symptomatique autistique (altération qualitative des interactions sociales, altération qualitative de la communication et de l'imagination, caractère restreint, répétitif et stéréotypé des comportements, des centres d'intérêts et des activités), la définition de l'autisme de l'enfant a longtemps exclu les particularités sensorielles dont attestent pourtant à la fois les personnes avec autisme et les études scientifiques. Le DSM-5 a aujourd'hui réparé cet oubli. Actuellement si ces dysfonctionnements auditifs peuvent être identifiés par le clinicien à l'aide d'outils diagnostiques ou comportementaux validés, à notre connaissance, il n'existe pas d'outil spécifique pour les évaluer. Le premier objectif de cette recherche est d'élaborer une échelle d'Évaluation des Altérations du Comportement Auditif Autisme - Enfant (EACAA-E) utilisable par les cliniciens dans des situations d'examen de l'enfant avec TSA et qui présentent les qualités métrologiques nécessaires pour un usage en pratique clinique et en recherche. Le second objectif est de montrer que les altérations du comportement auditif chez des enfants avec TSA seraient une composante particulière de l'autisme, puis qu'indépendantes du degré de sévérité de l'autisme et du degré de sévérité du retard mental. Cinquante enfants et adolescents avec troubles du spectre de l'autisme et d'âge réel compris entre 2 ans et 18 ans sont recrutés dans des services de soins médico-psychologiques (Pédopsychiatrie, CAMSP) et inclus dans la recherche après consentement de la famille. Le diagnostic d'autisme est effectué à partir des critères du DSM 5 (rétrospectivement pour certains d'entre eux pour qui avait été utilisé initialement le DSM-IV-TR) et l'évaluation quantitative diagnostique est effectuée à l'aide de la CARS, de l'ADOS et de l'ADI-R. Le développement intellectuel et psychologique et le degré de sévérité du retard mental sont évalués à l'aide de tests appropriés (PEP 3, EDEI-R, BECS). L'échelle l'EACAA-E est une échelle originale qui a fait l'objet d'une première étude (Master recherche) et d'une première analyse psychométrique (Filipova et al. 2014) qui a abouti à sa forme définitive : l'échelle comporte 24 items couvrant 7 dimensions de la sensorialité auditive (bizarrerie, fascination, paradoxe, inconfort, hypoesthésie, hyperesthésie, difficulté). La cotation des items (de 0 à 4) permet de calculer un score global et un score par dimension. L'observation des comportements auditifs de l'enfant est réalisée au cours d'un examen psychologique du développement de la cognition et de la communication. Cet examen peut être enregistré. La cotation des items de comportements de l'échelle est réalisée à la fin de la séance par l'examinateur. Une double cotation inter et intra-cotateur est effectuée à partir du document vidéoscopique de l'examen. Les analyses psychométriques indiquent une bonne homogénéité de l'échelle et une bonne fidélité inter et intra-cotateur. L'étude antérieure préliminaire avait aussi montré que l'échelle EACAA-E est sensible aux changements induits par une prise en charge intégrative incluant la T.E.D (Filipova et al. 2014). Ces résultats attestent les qualités métrologiques de l'échelle. Par ailleurs, le score global est corrélé négativement au quotient de développement global, indiquant l'existence d'un lien entre la sévérité du retard mental et l'intensité des altérations du comportement auditif. Par contre, les scores à l'EACAA-E semblent indépendants de la sévérité globale de l'autisme, telle qu'évaluée quantitativement par la CARS. L'EACAA-E apparaît donc comme une échelle clinique francophone pertinente pour l'évaluation des altérations des comportements auditifs chez les enfants présentant un TSA.
A hypothesized 5-stage developmental sequence of self-recognition behaviors was tested in 48 infants between 6 and 24 mo of age, and the self-recognition sequence was compared to the development of object permanence. The predicted self-recognition sequence consisted of 5 tasks that Ss performed in front of the mirror, with later-developing tasks requiring the coordination of a larger number of behaviors relating to S's mirror image than earlier-developing tasks. The development of object permanence was assessed with the Uzgiris-Hunt scale, and the object-permanence items were assigned to stages that structurally paralleled the 5 stages of self-recognition. The self-recognition tasks formed an almost perfect Guttman scale, with 46 out of 48 Ss fitting the predicted developmental sequence precisely. This finding thus resolves most of the disagreements in previous research on the development of self-recognition: Previous studies examined different behaviors, which develop at distinct stages in the sequence. Object permanence and self-recognition showed a strong correlation, but there was no consistent relationship between the 2 skills across age groups. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Mundy and Sigman (1989) present a challenge to the metarepresentational theory of autism. Their argument holds if it is assumed that the capacity for metarepresentation only emerges at 12–24 months old in normal development, as manifested in pretend play. However, I present reasons for postulating that the capacity for metarepresentation may be present from as early as 7–9 months of age, manifested in joint-attention behaviors. If this account has any validity, then the metarepresentational theory of autism is unaffected by Mundy and Sigman's challenge. In addition, I highlight some problems in Mundy and Sigman's alternative model of autism. These criticisms aside, their article is without doubt important and opens up critical questions both for models of the origins of autism and of a theory of mind in normal development.
Deficits in gestural joint-attention behaviors are a prominent feature of young autistic children. Attempts to explain these deficits have called upon the metarepresentational deficit hypothesis (Baron-Cohen, 1988; Leslie & Frith, 1988). However, developmental research suggests that joint-attention skills emerge prior to the cognitive capacity for metarepresentation. Thus, the metarepresentational hypothesis does not appear to provide a parsimonious explanation of autistic joint-attention deficits. An alternative model is proposed that attempts to explain these deficits in terms of the combined negative impact of developmental disturbances in affective, as well as cognitive, processes.
Abstract Young autistic children were compared to normal and control samples on measures of nonverbal communication skills and object play skills. Deficits in non-verbal indicating behaviors best discriminated the children diagnosed as autistic from the other groups. Although the autistic children also exhibited deficits in object play behavior, these deficits did not add appreciably to the discriminant function based on the non-verbal communication behaviors. These results suggest that a deficit in the development of non-verbal indicating behaviors is a significant characteristic of young children who receive the diagnosis of autism.
The aim of this study was to determine the social and cognitive correlates of language acquisition in autistic children. Functional and symbolic play skills were shown to be associated with language abilities in a sample of young autistic children (mean CA 54.5 months), thereby replicating previous findings. Certain types of nonverbal communication skills were also shown to be significant correlates of language development in this group of autistic children. These involved the ability to use gestures to coordinate visual attention between social partners with respect to objects or events. The play and nonverbal communication variables were not significantly correlated, suggesting that these variables reflect independent psychological factors associated with language development in young autistic children.
This study was designed to examine the degree to which individual differences in gestural joint attention skills predicted language development among autistic children. A group of 15 autistic children (mean CA=45 months) were matched with one group of mentally retarded (MR) children on mental age and another group of MR children on language age. These groups were administered the Early Social-Communication Scales. The latter provided measures of gestural requesting, joint attention, and social behaviors. The results indicated that, even when controlling for language level, mental age, or IQ, autistic children displayed deficits in gestural joint attention skills on two testing sessions that were 13 months apart. Furthermore, the measure of gestural nonverbal joint attention was a significant predictor of language development in the autistic sample. Other variables, including initial language level and IQ were not significant predictors of language development in this sample.
Disturbances in the development of joint attention behaviors and the ability to share affect with others are two important components of the social deficits of young autistic children. We examined the association of shared positive affect during two different communicative contexts, joint attention and requesting. The pattern for the normal children was one of frequent positive affect displayed toward the adult during joint attention situations. Compared to the normal children, the autistic children failed to display high levels of positive affect during joint attention whereas the mentally retarded children displayed high levels of positive affect during requesting as well as joint attention situations. These results lend support to the hypothesis that the joint attention deficits in autistic children also are associated with a disturbance in affective sharing.
This important volume presents a definitive review of the origins and implications of developmental psychopathology and what has been learned about the phenomenon of psychosocial resilience in diverse populations at risk. Chapters by distinguished investigators in clinical psychology, psychiatry, and child development, many of whose work led to the new developmental model of psychopathology, provide a unique review of research on vulnerability and resistance to disorder spanning from infancy to adulthood. The volume is a tribute to Professor Norman Garmezy, a pioneer in developmental psychopathology and a renowned researcher of resilience in children at risk. Highlighted throughout the volume is Professor Garmezy's theme that it is as important to understand successful outcomes as it is to study pathology in the search for better treatments and the prevention of developmental behavioural problems.
Observation of manifestly disordered behavior in children has distinct value for highlighting salient areas of ego development in childhood. Gross deviations from presumptively normal function thus are useful guides to those facets of normal child development that are most profitably selected for psychoanalytic investigation. There is particular profit in the study of childhood schizophrenia as an instance of exceptional failure in ego. Indeed the viewpoint directing the Ittleson Center for Child Research therapeutic and experimental investigations in childhood schizophrenia is that this diagnosis basically means that the clinical observer has been impressed by extensive, though individually varying impairment in ego functions, i.e., those functions which presumptively are involved in the normal child's contact with his environment. These manipulative and orientative functions—cognition, speech, motility, and affectivity—determine the efficacy with which the child gratifies his needs, tests reality, and adapts for purpose of survival.Recently
• The ability to carry out movements on imitation was assessed with a 24-item test in uniterally hemisphere-damaged patients. On the basis of a cutoff score derived from the performances of 100 control patients, 20% of the right brain—damaged patients and 50% of the left brain—damaged patients were classified as apraxic. Most right brain—damaged patients were only mildly defective, but a few showed a striking impairment. In left brain—damaged patients apraxia was not only more frequent, but also much more severe and was nearly always associated with aphasia. However, the correlation between the motor and the language disorder was not particularly high, and the link between the two symptoms was thought to be dependent on the contiguity of the underlying nervous structures.
WITHIN the decade since the syndrome of early infantile autism was first described by Kanner,1-2 terms such as childhood schizophrenia,3 atypical children,4 children with unusual sensitivities,5 and symbiotic psychosis6 were used to conceptualize similar, yet apparently distinctive clinical entities. The tendency to create separate entities was reinforced by a desire for diagnostic specificity and accuracy and etiologic preference. As the symptomatology in these children varies both with the severity of the illness and age, it has been possible to emphasize distinctive clusters of symptoms and relate these to particular theories of causation. For instance, the predominance of disturbances of relating coupled with the prevailing belief in the 1940's and 1950's that specific syndromes in children must be outgrowths of specific parental behaviors or attitudes7 led to attempts to implicate the parents in the development of early infantile autism. The
• Correlations between regional cerebral metabolic rates for glucose (rCmrglc), determined by positron emission tomography using18F-2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose, provide a measure of the functional associations between brain regions. We compared correlations between ratios of resting rCmrglc to global brain metabolism from 14 healthy autistic men (ages, 18 to 39 years) with those from 14 matched control subjects. The autistic group showed significantly fewer large positive correlations between frontal and parietal regions, particularly those with the left inferior frontal region and its right hemispheric homologue, and significantly lower correlations of the thalamus, caudate nucleus, lenticular nucleus, and insula with frontal and parietal regions, with many correlations negative in the autistic group that were positive in the control group. These results are compatible with functionally impaired interactions between frontal/parietal regions and the neostriatum and thalamus, regions that subserve directed attention.
One of the psychologists' great methodological difficulties is how they can make the events they wish to study publicly observable, countable, measurable. It is significant to note that the device most often used for conversion from private to public is language. Thus speech is a crucial problem for psychology. None of their other activities gives the same sort of insight into another person as does their language. Since people spend so many of their waking hours generating and responding to words, and since speech is such a typically human mode of adjustment, no general theory of psychology will be adequate if it does not take account of language. © 1990, Institution of Mechanical Engineers. All rights reserved.
In this study we establish that autistic children have severe and specific difficulty with understanding mental states. Even with a mental age of 7 years, these children mostly fail in tasks which are normally passed around age 3 and 4. We confirm previous results on the poor understanding of false belief but also find that autistic children's grasp of the notion of limited knowledge is grossly delayed. We rule out various other explanations for these results and further show that the autistic child's performance is not limited by failure to understand the causal notion of seeing. Likewise, memory failure cannot be blamed. Language delay can be ruled out as a cause of failure since a group of children with specific language impairment, matched for verbal mental age, performed at ceiling. We propose that autistic children are specifically impaired in their meta-representational capacity and that this impedes their construction of a ‘theory of mind’.
High-ability autistic children were compared with low-ability Down's syndrome children and clinically normal preschool children on a picture sequencing task. When the sequences could be understood in terms of causal-mechanical or simply descriptive-behavioural criteria, the autistic children were at least as good as the controls and often showed superior performance. However, on sequences that evoked understanding in terms of psychological-Intentional criteria, the autistic children performed much worse than the others. This pattern was also seen in the language used by the children in narrating the stories afterwards. In contrast to the controls, the autistic children used causal and behavioural language, but hardly ever mental state language. This experiment confirms and extends a previous study of ours which also tested the hypothesis of a specific cognitive deficit which apparently prevents the development of a ‘theory of mind’ in the autistic child.
A review of recent studies on imitation, particularly during infancy, suggests that imitation may serve two functions: gaining understanding of puzzling observations and communicating mutuality and shared understanding with another person. Although changes in cognitive understanding influence development in imitation, the occurrence of imitation in specific situations may be governed by the interplay of the two functions that imitation can serve. This analysis implies that research needs to consider not only the kinds of acts that are imitated at different developmental levels, but also the child's understanding of the interpersonal interaction during which imitation is obtained in order to elucidate the age-related trends in imitation.
This cross-sectional study explores the extent to which the visually impaired infant and mother are able to use play to facilitate rewarding social interactions. Mother-child interactions were observed in 21 visually impaired infants and 16 nonhandicapped infants. From videotape ratings of five child behaviors and five maternal behaviors, significant differences were found in several variables. Visually impaired infants demonstrated fewer periods of positive vocalization and positive responses to the mother, fewer social initiations to the mother, more negative vocalizations, more periods of negative affect, and more ignoring of the mother than did the controls. Mothers of visually impaired infants demonstrated less en-facing positioning, fewer positive vocalizations, and more periods of neutral vocalizations than did the mothers of nonhandicapped children.
Self‐knowledge is based on several different forms of information, so distinct that each one essentially establishes a different ‘self. The ecological self is the self as directly perceived with respect to the immediate physical environment; the interpersonal self, also directly perceived, is established by species‐specific signals of emotional rapport and communication; the extended self is based on memory and anticipation; the private self appears when we discover that our conscious experiences are exclusively our own; the conceptual self or ‘self‐concept’ draws its meaning from a network of socially‐based assumptions and theories about human nature in general and ourselves in particular. Although these selves are rarely experienced as distinct (because they are held together by specific forms of stimulus information), they differ in their developmental histories, in the accuracy with which we can know them, in the pathologies to which they are subject, and generally in what they contribute to human experience.
This review presents the potential contribution of developmental psychology to a more complete understanding of the nature of frontal lobe functioning in children. The cognitive construct of “executive function” has been adopted as a possible behavioral marker of prefrontal functioning from infancy through childhood. Instead of focusing exclusively on mature, adult‐level functioning of the frontal lobes, our article reviews evidence for the view that frontally mediated executive functions emerge in the first year of life and continue to develop at least until puberty, if not beyond. A key theme in this review is that measures used to detect executive functions must be developmentally appropriate, and suggestions regarding viable executive function measures are offered. The contribution of the animal models tested by Diamond and Goldman‐Rakic to our understanding of rudimentary executive functions in infancy is discussed. Another behavioral domain, self‐control, is proposed as a possible source of frontal assessment tools for very young children. In addition, several cognitive tasks from developmental psychology are highlighted as potential frontal measures for school‐age children. Critical issues and current problems associated with research in developmental neuropsy‐chology are discussed.
Studied the play of 15 relatively able autistic children (aged 6 yrs 6 mo to 15 yrs 8 mo) and that of 15 learning-impaired Ss (aged 5 yrs 10 mo to 10 yrs 8 mo) and 15 young normal controls (aged 3 yrs 10 mo to 5 yrs 6 mo). Play was assessed in 3 conditions: spontaneous, instructed, and elicited. Conventional toys and junk objects were used. In the spontaneous condition, autistic Ss produced significantly less functional play than controls. In the elicited play condition, the autistic Ss produced as much functional play and as much symbolic play as controls. The quality of autistic Ss' play was unimpaired relative to controls with either type of material in any of the 3 conditions. It is argued that autistic Ss' lack of spontaneous creative play relative to controls was due to conative abnormalities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Imitation by 35 12-, 17-, and 22-mo-old infants was examined for actions modeled by the S's mother and by an unfamiliar female. Imitation varied with the type of action modeled and increased with age. There were no reliable differences in imitation as a function of the model. Results are discussed in relation to symbolization and the social context of imitation in infancy. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
I argue that Mundy and Sigman (1989) are right to question Leslie's (1987) explanation of the autistic syndrome, but that they do so for the wrong reasons. They assert that there is a lag between the emergence of joint-attention and pretence. However, evidence for the lag is equivocal because it depends on the behavioral criteria for each skill. Moreover, even if there were a lag, it could be argued that the relatively early appearance of joint-attention simply shows that a decoupling device is available before its recruitment for pretence. More problematic, with regard to Leslie's theory, is the finding that autistic children can engage in certain forms of pretence. This result suggests that autistic children suffer not from a general incapacity to conjure up imaginary entities or properties, but from a more specific impairment in the ability to imagine mental states that they are not currently experiencing.
This article presents our response to the comments of Baron-Cohen, Harris, Hobson, and Leslie and Happé. We suggest that a singular cognitive hypothesis does not provide a parsimonious explanation of autism. We argue that certain aspects of autism, including observations of joint-attention deficits and observations of deficits in the prosodic elements of speech, may best be explained in terms of both cognitive and affective factors. We also acknowledge the validity of the criticism of our contingency processing deficit hypothesis (Mundy & Sigman, 1989a). In response to this criticism, we offer a modification of our model of joint-attention skill deficits in autistic children.
This article examines what it means to have a self. My focus is on the essential components of self-experience, the kind of psychological architecture required to construct a self, rather than on the configurations or qualities of individual “selves.” I adopt a developmental perspective and indicate how early childhood autism may afford unique insights into the role of perceptual-affective and interpersonal experience in determining the normal child's developing awareness of self.
A speech act approach to the transition from pre-linguistic to linguistic communication is adopted in order to consider language in relation to behaviour generally and to allow for an emphasis on the USE of language rather than on its form. The structure of language is seen as non-arbitrary in that it reflects both attention structures (via predication) and action structures (via the fundamental case grammatical form of language). Linguistic concepts are first realized in action. A pilot study focusing on the regulation of JOINT attention and JOINT activity within the context of mutuality between mother and infant is discussed, with emphasis on ritualization in mutual play as a vehicle for understanding the development of the formal structures of language.
Abstract The social interactions of young autistic children and their caregivers were contrasted to interactions involving normal and mentally retarded controls. The autistic children displayed a much lower frequency of attention sharing behaviors, such as pointing to or showing objects. Alternatively, the autistic children directed as much looking, vocalizing and proximity behaviors toward their caregivers as did the other groups. Thus, although the autistic children did not show a clear lack of responsiveness to their caregivers, they did display a significant deficit in indicating behaviors during child-caregiver interaction.
The literature on various aspects of learning and performance in autistic children is reviewed and interpreted as indicating very little that is specific to autism. Inadequate and inconsistent methodology precludes generalizations concerning the nature of the disorder. It is suggested that future research should be particularly concerned with controlling for developmental influences on performance, and with investigation of the higher functioning autistic children who are less governed by retardation factors. The current evidence is considered to support a hypothesis concerning abnormal hemisphere functioning in this group of children.
Autistic children were compared with chronological and mental agematched normal children on two tests of motor imitation and on the Herzig Battery for Non-Focal Neurological Signs. The results indicated that autistic children have significant handicaps in the neurodevelopmental area, with very poor performance on motor imitation tasks and a universal and significant excess of soft signs of neurological dysfunction. Such dyspraxias may underlie the failure of these chlidren to learn to use gesture.
There were two purposes underlying this study: to describe the sensorimotor functioning of mute autistic children and to relate their sensorimotor performance to nonverbal communication. Twelve mute children, diagnosed autistic, ranging from 4 years 9 months to 12 years of age, were administered four scales of sensorimotor development from the Uzgiris and Hunt (1975) series: object permanence, gestural imitation, means for obtaining environmental events, and causality. Subjects performed most poorly on the imitation scale with 9 of 12 performing below Piaget's fifth sensorimotor stage. In contrast, performance was highest on the object permanence scale: No child scored below Stage V. Regarding the subjects' non-verbal communication, Stage V performance on the means and causality scales and Stage III on the imitation scale appeared to form minimal prerequisites for intentional communication in a variety of situations. Finally, none of the subjects, even those with relatively complete sensorimotor development, spontaneously used what Bates (1976) has called protodeclarative gestures to point out or show objects to adults. The absence of protodeclarative gestures may represent a qualitatively distinct pattern of prelinguistic development in certain autistic children.
Although infantile autism was first described as a disorder of “affective contact,” in the past 20 years it has been largely regarded as a cognitive disorder, with socially deviant behavior seen as a secondary manifestation. After a discussion of diagnostic issues, the nature of the socially deviant behavior is described, and a brief history of theories to account for this behavior is presented. It is then suggested that the social symptoms may more fruitfully be viewed as primary because of (1) the dissociability of social and cognitive impairments both within and across developmentally disabled populations, (2) the special difficulty autistic children may have with social or affective stimuli, and (3) the rarity of social isolation even in severely damaged babies, and its resistance to modification in autistic children. In addition, the specific cognitive deficits suggested to be central to autism (4) can be found in at least as severe a form in sociable retarded children, (5) are theoretically inadequate to explain autistic aloofness, (6) cannot be found in all autistic children, and (7) may be the very cognitive abilities which rest most heavily on social functioning. Some implications are drawn for neuropsychological models of autism.
Ethological recording techniques were used to demonstrate that patients with unilateral frontal-lobe lesions exhibit a reduction in spontaneous facial expression, as compared to patients with unilateral parietal- or temporal-lobe lesions. There was no evidence of hemispheric asymmetry on these measures. Observation of patients during preoperative speech testing following an intracarotid injection of sodium Amytal revealed a significant reduction in spontaneous facial expressions, which outlasted any contralateral facial weakness. This result was independent of side of injection, probable lesion site, and hemisphere mediating speech. Subjective assessments of mood change following Amytal testing also showed no consistent relationship between side of injection and direction of mood change.
The notion of a sensorimotor stage in infancy is called into question. First, some of the recent experimental literature on cognitive development in infancy is examined to determine the kinds of representational capacity that these data require. It is concluded that most of the recent work on perceptual development and the object concept in infancy is compatible with the notion of a sensorimotor stage but that other work showing imitation, motor recognition, the acquisition of manual signs, and recall of absent objects is not, requiring, instead, a conceptual form of representation. Such a system is apparent early in development. It is suggested that there is a viable alternative to Piaget's theory that conceptual representation consists of a transformation of sensorimotor schemas into a new, more advanced code. It is proposed that an accessible conceptual system develops simultaneously and in parallel with the sensorimotor system, with neither system being derivative from the other. It is further proposed that the mechanism by which infants encode information into an accessible system consists of a process of perceptual analysis.
The study assessed free play and response to modeled symbolic play with animate toys and realistic and substitute accessories in 10 autistic children and 10 Down's syndrome and 10 normal preschooler controls. Groups were matched on Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test mental age (PPVT MA) range and Mdn (2.5 years). Autistic children played less than controls, imitated less well, and, on structured baseline trials, showed lower level play. Symbolic fluency differentiated all groups in structured play. Symbolic fluency for free and structured play was positively correlated with PPVT MA in autistic children; level of play was most highly correlated with PPVT MA in normal children. Findings suggested impaired imitative capacity and symbolic functioning in autism.
The salience of various precursory requirements for the formation of symbols is discussed. The conclusion is drawn that several necessary precursors could be assumed, and two experiments are described that were designed to test for the presence of these precursors in autistic children compared to matched retarded children. First, there was a study of the children's ability to imitate and form internal images, and then there was a study of their development of a concept of object permanence and ability to anticipate. These studies led to the conclusion that the autistic children could form internal images but seemed to lack the ability to manipulate them in a purposeful and meaningful manner, as reflected in their inability to show symbolic imitations and their lack of tendency to use elements of their perceptions that might allow prediction of future events. The findings are discussed in terms of cognitive and social development.
Thesis (Ph. D. 1981)--Dept. of Psychology, University of Utah. Vita: leaf [103]. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [98]-102).
Children aged 3–14 on one census day, known to the services for severe mental retardation, or having items of behaviour found in early childhood autism, were identified from the Camberwell register. The children can be divided into 3 groups: (a) 42 with no symbolic play; (b) 23 with stereotyped, repetitive, copying play, (c) 43 who have flexible, varied symbolic play. The last occurs only in children with language comprehension age above the 19 month level, and is seen in less than half of the school-age severely retarded children.
The majority of children with no symbolic play, or with stereotyped play, have marked autistic features or the full autistic syndrome. Only 2 of those with true symbolic play have any behaviour like that found in autism and none has the full syndrome. A small group of children with “repetitive” speech and stereotyped play is identified and the relationship with childhood autism is considered.
The educational implications of the findings are discussed.
Two age groups of normal, autistic and subnormal children were tested for their ability to recognize the faces of peers from isolated facial features and inverted photographs. The normal and subnormal subjects found the upper regions of the face most helpful for identification, whereas the younger autistic children found the lower features more helpful. The older autistic children showed no specific reliance on any one area, but were found to have error scores as low as those of the younger autistic children on the recognition of lower parts and error scores as low as the; controls on recognizing upper portions. The results are discussed and are found to favour a hypothesis in which the autistic child's familiarity with the mouth and/or eye areas is related to a cognitive deficit which affects the processing of both verbal and non-verbal interpersonal communication.
We analyze the behavioral and motor disturbances in childhood autism. On the basis of analogy to signs and conditions seen in adult neurology, we propose that the syndrome results from dysfunction in a system of bilateral neural structures that includes the ring of mesolimbic cortex located in the mesial frontal and temporal lobes, the neostriatum, and the anterior and medial nuclear groups of the thalamus. The mesolimbic cortex is cytoarchitectonically, angioarchitectonically, and neurochemically distinct and, along with the striatum, forms the entire target area of dopaminergic mesencephalic neurons. This raises the possibility that autism is related to neuromediator imbalance in those structures. Such dysfunction might be the result of macroscopic or microscopic changes in the target area or in structures functionally influencing them, consequent to a variety of causes such as perinatal viral infection, insult to the periventricular watershed area, or genetically determined neurochemical abnormalities.
Infants between 12 and 21 days of age can imitate both facial and manual gestures; this behavior cannot be explained in terms
of either conditioning or innate releasing mechanisms. Such imitation implies that human neonates can equate their own unseen
behaviors with gestures they see others perform.
A sample of boys aged from 5 to 10 yr with no demonstrable neurological dysfunction, hearing loss or mental retardation, who had a current severe developmental disorder of the understanding of spoken language were examined using standard psychological tests of cognitive, linguistic and social behaviour, together with a standardized interview administered to the parents. Results showed that within this group children diagnosed as autistic had a more deviant language development than nonautistic children, had a more severe comprehension defect, had a more extensive language disability (in that it involved several different modalities), and also showed a defect in the social usage of the language they possessed. There were very few differences in the pattern of nonlinguistic skills, and it is concluded that a language disability is probably necessary for the development of the behavioural syndrome of autism.
This study compared the neuropsychological profiles of individuals with high-functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger's syndrome (AS). In comparison with matched controls, both groups were impaired on executive function tests. Only the HFA group demonstrated deficits in theory of mind and verbal memory, performing more poorly than both controls and AS subjects. These results suggest that: (1) HFA and AS are empirically distinguishable on measures independent of diagnostic criteria, and (2) impairment on theory of mind measures is not universally found among individuals with autistic spectrum conditions. The primacy of executive function and theory of mind deficits to autism is discussed.
A group of high-functioning autistic individuals was compared to a clinical control group matched on VIQ, age, sex and SES. Significant group differences were found on executive function, theory of mind, emotion perception and verbal memory tests, but not on spatial or other control measures. Second-order theory of mind and executive function deficits were widespread among the autistic group, while first-order theory of mind deficits were found in only a subset of the sample. The relationship of executive function and theory of mind deficits to each other, and their primacy to autism, are discussed.
The present study examined attachment behavior in children with autism and children with other developmental or psychiatric disorders. The groups were matched on chronological and mental age, IQ, and socioeconomic status. When a modified Strange Situation paradigm was used, no group differences were found in proximity seeking, contact maintenance, proximity avoidance, or contact resistance; the groups also did not differ in their overall security ratings. Attachment security was related to several developmental variables in the autistic group but not in the nonautistic comparison group. This suggests that attachment formation may involve different processes in autistic children than in nonautistic children of equivalent intellectual level.
Findings from a longitudinal study of language acquisition in a group of autistic children are presented. Six autistic subjects and six children with Down syndrome, matched on age and MLU at the start of the study, were followed over a period of between 12 and 26 months. Language samples were collected in the children's homes while they interacted with their mothers. Samples of 100 spontaneous child utterances from the transcripts were analyzed using the following measures: MLU, Index of Productive Syntax, lexical diversity, and form class distribution. The results indicate that the majority of these autistic children followed the same general developmental path as the Down syndrome children in this study, and normal children reported in the literature, in the acquisition of grammatical and lexical aspects of language, and confirm previous findings suggesting that autism does not involve a fundamental impairment in formal aspects of language.
Data from 39 young children with autism or other pervasive developmental disorders were examined to determine the relevance of the age of social symptom onset and language symptom onset to other developmental variables. Contrary to the authors' hypotheses, earlier onset of social symptoms was not indicative of a greater severity of autistic symptoms, retardation, or incidence of insecure attachments. Early speech loss was associated with lower IQ, greater social deficits, and poorer language development, while the presence of useful speech at age 2 was related to better functioning in multiple domains. Thus, language functions, rather than the social behaviors examined, carried the greatest predictive power regarding short-term outcomes.
Thirty children with autism were observed during their everyday school activities in order to examine patterns of spontaneous communication. The forms, functions, and targets of their communication were recorded by trained observers. The prototypical communicative event consisted of a child directing a motoric form of communication toward the teacher to request something or to attract attention to himself or herself. However, communication patterns were found to vary as a function of the child's cognitive level and severity of autism. Deficits in joint attention functions were observed, and were most striking in the subgroup of children who did not use speech. Results are discussed with reference to Wetherby's (1986) model for the development of communicative functions in autistic children.
Two studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that young autistic children are selectively impaired on emotion perception tasks. Results supporting the hypothesis were found on two of the four measures when the controls used were matched on non-verbal mental age; performance on the other tasks was consistent with global deficits across affective and non-affective domains, rather than specific deficits in emotion perception. When the autistic group was compared with controls matched on verbal mental age, no group differences were found. These results suggest that emotion perception impairment is not likely to be the primary underlying deficit in autism. Additional areas for further investigation were suggested.