Lecture 15 - Autism (Part 2)

Question 1

Evidence for cognitive theory for autism

Answer 1

No spontaneous imaginative pretend play

Additional problems with Social referencing/joint attention, Imitation???

Question 2

Observations of false belief tasks with AS children

Answer 2

Failure with false beliefs - ‘look first’ procedure doesn’t help children with autism

High functioning AS pass verbal false belief tasks, but don’t show anticipatory looking of typical developing children

Question 3

Photograph task

Answer 3

4 yr olds pass photo task and belief task
Children with autism pass the photo task, but fail the belief task
-shows problems are restricted to thinking about mental states (domain specific)

Question 4

“Second order” false belief tasks

Answer 4

Typically passed by 6-7 yr olds, failed by kids on AS even if they pass Sally-Ann

Question 5

On Autism Quotient (AQ) questionnaire, how do AS participants measure for empathic thinking and systematic thinking?

Answer 5

Less proficient on empathic thinking, better on systematic thinking

Question 6

80% of individuals with high functioning AS diagnoses score over _____ on AQ for systematic/mechanical thinking

Answer 6

__30__

Question 7

Treatment outcomes affected by…

Answer 7

…severity of impairment and how early diagnosis and intervention happens

Question 8

Treatments tend to focus on…

Answer 8

…key ‘pivotal’ abilities in hopes that these have broad cascading positive effects on other social skills