Week 7-Clinical Aspects of Social Development Flashcards
Why is a core diagnostic feature of autism that it’s defined at a behavioural level?
Currently, there are no reliable diagnostic biological indicators (e.g. specific brain abnormalities)
■ Earliest possible age of diagnosis: 2-3 years; More commonly: 4-5 years
What does the DSM-IV criteria based on “The triad of atypical behaviours” (Wing & Gould, 1979) include in diagnosis?
-impairments in social interaction
-impairments in communication
-repetitive behaviours within a narrow set of interest
True or false: Studies have shown these subtype distinctions in autism are not entirely useful for research purposes or in clinical practice (e.g., Huerta et al., 2012; Ozonoff, 2012)
True
What are the requirements to meet diagnostic criteria for ASD in children?
a child must have persistent deficits in each of 3 areas of social communication and interaction + at least 2 of 4 types of restricted, repetitive behaviours
What are the symptom severity levels used in ASD diagnosis?
Level 3:”Requiring very substantial support”
Level 2:”Requiring substantial support”
Level 1:”Requiring support”
–Important for clinical planning
–Explicit recognition of the quantitative variability of the
condition (i.e. spectrum)
Explanations for autism: Define Central Coherence Hypothesis (Frith, 1989)
–Autism is related to a lack of central coherence, reflected in the tendency to process information piecemeal, rather than to integrate it (Frith & Happé, 1994).
Explain the embedded figures test
-locating a ‘hidden’ figure (e.g. triangle) in a larger, more complex design.
“Field-Independent” individuals= locate the shape more quickly, being more ready to perceive the constituent parts.
“Field-dependent” individuals= process the “whole”, and are less likely to perceptually deconstruct the visual array into constituent parts.
Individuals with autism tend to be “field-independent” (their tendency towards processing the details is viewed as a processing bias, though not necessarily an impairment.)
What did Happé & Frith, 2006 find?
–Some abilities to integrate at a “global” (bigger picture) level but there is a processing bias for local>global levels of info.
–This is not reducible to executive dysfunction, and is only weakly related to social cognition deficits.
Explaining autism: Define the Executive Function Hypothesis (Ozonoff, Pennington, & Rogers, 1991):
autism might be related to a deficit in executive function.
What is executive function?
the ability to maintain an appropriate problem-solving mindset for the attainment of a future goal., including behaviours such as:
■ planning
■ impulse control, and inhibition of irrelevant responses
■ problem-solving mindset maintained
■ organized search
■ flexibility of thought and action
What is the behaviour of autistic children in relation to executive function deficits?
1.rigid and inflexible:they often become distressed over trivial environmental changes, and insist on following routines in precise detail.
2.perseverative: often focus on one narrow interest or repetitively engage in one stereotyped behaviour.
3.not future-oriented:they do not anticipate long-term consequences of behaviour well, and have great difficulty self-reflecting and self-monitoring.
4.impulsive: they seem unable to delay or inhibit responses.
Explaining autism: Define the Theory of mind hypothesis (Baron-Cohen, Leslie, & Frith, 1985)
the view that people with autism have difficulties in understanding that others have thoughts and beliefs.
Explain what the False Belief Test demonstrates
typically developing children will pass this around 4 yrs old those with autism generally fail indicating that they have an impoverished level of social understanding.
What are the 3 impairments in Wing’s triad of impairments characteristic of autism (Wing & Gould, 1979)?
■ Social relationships
■ Communication
■ Imagination
How is a lack of imagination seen in children with autism?
-Autistic children are severely impaired in their pretend play production.
Leslie (1987) suggested a correspondence between:
■The imaginative disengagement from current reality needed for false belief/exhibited in pretend play.
How is socialisation and communication seen in children with autism?
–Individuals would be in danger of misjudging social situations,
of acting in an inappropriate way, and of saying inappropriate
things. (underdeveloped ToM)
-Social skill often depends on being able to diagnose
other people’s sensitivities, attitudes and knowledge
What was found in Baron-Cohen, Leslie and Frith (1985) false belief test success wise?
–20 participants with autism
(mental age ≥ 4 years)=20% success
–14 participants with Down’s syndrome (mental age ≥ 4 years)=86%
–27 typically developing participants (chronological age ≥ 4 years)=85%
-The difficulty in acknowledging false belief therefore seemed to arise from autism rather than any associated learning disabilities.
Explain the false photo test
■ a doll sat on a box (scene 1) and the participant took a photo of it.
■ the doll was then moved to a mat (scene 2).
■ participants were asked which scene (1 or 2) would show in the developed photo.
What did Leslie and Thaiss (1992) find in both types of false tests?
–Typically developing children would pass both tests.
–Autistic children would only pass the False Photo Test.
ALSO
Cassidy, Ropar, Mitchell, & Chapman, 2014:
–Adults with autism found to be less capable of retrodicting (guessing what causes a reaction) events involving recognition of genuine and feigned positive emotions.
What about autistic individuals who pass the false belief test?
Baron-Cohen (1989) suggested second-order belief attribution: Not what a person thinks about an aspect of reality (e.g., where Sally thinks her ball is)
BUT what a person thinks another person thinks about an aspect of reality (e.g., where Mary thinks Sally thinks her ball is)
■ Individuals with autism who passed a simple false belief test failed this complex test more frequently than those typically developing, or with Down’s syndrome.
Give contradictory evidence on the false belief test results seen given by Bowler, 1992
–Some high functioning adults with autism pass both belief tests.
–Although they can process simple and complex beliefs, these individuals still present the defining features of
autism.
Give 3 facts about social anxiety
1.One of the most common anxiety disorders, with a lifetime prevalence of 13.3% (Kessler et al., 1994)
2.Severe and disabling and, without treatment, tends to run a chronic course(Solyom et al., 1986)
3.Characterised by a marked fear of scrutiny and evaluation by others(Rapee, 1995)
What does social anxiety result in?
–severely restricted social functioning
–significant somatic(body), affective(emotions) and cognitive disturbances
What can be some causes/contributors to social anxiety?
■ Aggregates in families
– 25% children of affected parents develop anxiety disorder
■ Genetic contribution is modest
■ Parenting likely to be important(Murray, Creswell, & Cooper, 2009)