Wk 12 - Autism

Question 1

Autism is…(x1)
Whose causes are…(x1)
Which is characterised by…(x1)
Which results in issues within…(x2)

Answer 1

Life-long developmental disability
Genetic - no solid evidence for environmental, eg vaccinations
Various levels of impairment of person’s understanding of what they see/hear/sense
Social/communicative domains, and ‘flexibility’

Question 2

Under the DSM 4, autism was separate from…(x2)
But within DSM 5, those conditions are seen as…(x3)
With prevalence at…(x2)

Answer 2

Asperger’s, PDDNOS
A spectrum -
One of keys to place in spectrum is whether you have ability to develop
Aspergers (as high-functioning autism) have language ability
1 in 88 kids, 1 in 54 boys

Question 3

Prominent symptoms of autism…(x6)

Answer 3

Aloof
Lack eye contact
Object not people oriented - Extensive/elaborate fascination with items, not people
Difficulties in social relationships - not incapable of having relationships, but maybe difficult to establish and maintain bonds
Problems with verbal and non-verbal communication - acquisition of language occurs through interaction, so if uninterested in interaction, hard to develop language skills

Question 4

Measuring the attention that 2-6 month olds pay to eyes involves…(x1)
And finds that… (x2)

Answer 4

Hot maps of where abouts on face/screen ASP and TD kids are looking during video presentation
Those who later get diagnosis of ASD are all over the place,
TD focus on the eyes, at least stay with the face

Question 5

The relationship between empathy and autism may be indicated in Gowan, Vanman, Nielsen study which involved…(x2)
Finding…(x3)
With implications being that..(x2)

Answer 5

Mapped eye gaze on someone reading story about grandmother getting sick
Measured empathy
Typical empathy are on eyes, lips
Low empathy all up and down the face, no eye fixation
High empathy don’t deviate from the eyes
Autism commonly labelled as diminished empathy capacity – not quite accurate, but…
We see that the eyes are critical to typical development

Question 6

Five characteristics of ASD…

Answer 6

Take things very literally
Speech is odd – tend to talk at people, monotone, lacking emotion, unaware of others dis/interest – eg non-stop monologue about timetables
More candid and expressive with their emotions than typicals
Tend to have unusual sensory experiences - eg a sense being too/less sensitive, and/or difficulty interpreting a sense (can translate to avoidance of touch).
Strange fascination with objects that can turn into obsession

Question 7

Autism rates are…(x3)

But….(x4)

Answer 7

Increasing - 1 in 5000 in 1975, to 1 in 100 in 2009
No one knows why…
Maybe environmental change to way we interact
Better awareness, diagnostic methods
Less social stigma now

Question 8

Prevalence of autism in Australia is…(x1)

Which makes it more common than…(x5)

Answer 8

1 in 160 kids aged 6-12 yrs

Blindness, deafness, cerebral palsy, leukaemia and diabetes combined.

Question 9

Autism is not…(x5)

Answer 9

Mental retardation - can be high IQ
Savant syndrome - occurs, but most aren’t
No relationships
No imagination
No empathy -many of the factors involved in reading another’s feelings are affected – interferes with empathy, doesn’t mean you’re incapable

Question 10

Many people with autism have discussed how forming affective connections with others has involved…(x2)

Answer 10

Having to explicitly examine behaviour, and

Have rules about how to react to different decisions/behaviours

Question 11

How do the elements of the course relate to both cumulative culture and autism? (x3 to ignore, plus x5 to consider)

Answer 11

Everyone has childhood, and grandmothers, can be taught,

Left with pretence, social motivation, overimitation, TOM, mirror system

Question 12

What patterns of results do ASD kids display regarding imitation? (x4)

Answer 12

Long viewed as deficient ability
Evidence points to not imitating in same way as typicals, but
Deficient in non-meaningful or body-oriented gestures, are fine with reproducing others’ object-directed actions
ie when there is a clear functional outcome

Question 13

Hobson and Lee (1999) conducted study into imitation in ASD, involving…(x3)
Finding…(x4)

Answer 13

16 each ASD and typical
Showed them various actions – stick dragged across timber thing makes clacking sound
To do slow or fast, close to the body or further away
Typical and autistic could reproduce the action
But differed in the way they would do it
Autistic would do at random speed, whereas typical would do slow or fast, as required
And less likely to copy if demonstrated close to the body

Question 14

Nielsen and Hudry (2010) looked at reproduction of redundant actions in study involving…(x1)
Finding…(x1)

Answer 14

Demonstrating the use of an object to open box

No difference in results for object directed task, between ASD and down syndrome

Question 15

Nielsen, Slaughter and Dissanayake (2013) looked at overimitation tasks in ASD, involving…(x1)
Finding…(x2)
But this may be a function of…(x1)

Answer 15

Comparing high-functioning autism against typicals
Found no diffs in eg IQ, mental age
Nor in overimitation tasks
Training in intervention programs

Question 16

Differences in research conclusions about imitation in ASD are likely due to…(x5)

Answer 16

Mark tested HFA, they tested low
Mark’s tasks were novel, little social aspect
Theirs were less novel, less outcome oriented
eg building a tower of blocks is very different process to opening a box
So when tasks start to become social in nature, you start to see a difference

Question 17

Vivanti et al (2011) conducted study into rational imitation by ASD kids, involving conceptual replication of the hands free/occupied light switch paradigm…(x2)
Finding…(x1)

Answer 17

Measured looking time at video pushing drawer in, with box in hand
Both typical and autistic had longer looking times for hands free condition

Question 18

Vivanti et al (2011) conducted study into gaze fixation in ASD kids, involving…(x3)
Finding..(x2)

Answer 18

Neutral condition - head still while stacking alternate coloured blocks
Head-turning - stacks, then turns head to incorrect colour
Kids task is to choose correct block
Head turning disrupted all kids ability to work it out right
But autistic performed four times worse

Question 19

Custance et al (2013)measured imitation in ASD kids using a ghost condition, involving…(x4)
Finding… (x1)

Answer 19

Measuring difference with demonstration by model, ghost condition where object moves without person present, mime of actions without object, and control condition
Same pattern of decreasing imitation through the four conditions

Question 20

The relationship between pretend play and autism…(x4)

Answer 20

First noted in 1979 (Wing & Gould)
Problems in imagination and pretending are used, in part, in diagnosis of autism
Absence of pretence might be a predictor of later diagnosis - usually no video of kids pretending
Nearly every study has found a deficit

Question 21

Libby et al (1998) measured the amount of various types of play in autistic, down syndrome, typical and Kruskal-Wallis kids, finding…(x1)

Answer 21

Almost no symbolic play by ASDs

Question 22

Charman and baron-Cohen (1997) looked at whether ASD had capacity for pretence in study involving…(x1)
Finding…(x1)
Which raises the question of whether…(x1)

Answer 22

Giving them block of wood, and encouraging use as a cup
They could engage in these kind of acts
Pretending is deficient, or whether they’re just not interested

Question 23

Loth and Gomez (2006) have asserted, re autism and pretend play, that…(x2)
But this means that…(x1)

Answer 23

ASDs are well-documented not to role play or enact cultural scenes
Deficits in pretend and imitation, language, obstruct cultural learning
They show a lack of interest in pretend play, not that they can’t do it
Interest is the critical factor

Question 24

Craig and Baron-Cohen (1999) tested capacity for creativity in ASD, aspergers and typicals, involving…(x1)
Finding…(x1)

Answer 24

Eg torens test - how many things can you make out of series of lines or shapes?
Significantly less creative solutions by autistic than typical

Question 25

Craig and Baron-Cohen (1999) tested capacity for creativity in ASD, aspergers and typicals, by asking how to make an elephant more fun, through…(x4)
Finding…(x3)

Answer 25

Additions (e.g., “Give him a hat)
Manipulation (e.g., “Take him to the park”)
Movement (e.g., “Flap his ears”)
Imaginative (e.g., “He could fly)
Typicals generally fell within the imaginative category
Aspergers added something
Autistic changed the situation over the object – manipulation

Question 26

Pring et al (2012) compared the skills of savant artists, ASD and art students, involving…(x1)
Finding…(x1)
Which suggests that…(x2)

Answer 26

Eg torens test - how many things can you make out of series of lines or shapes?
No diffs except that art students out-performed other groups
Autistic traits and abilities tend to be very specific, eg savant drawing doesn’t translate to other creative measures
But the capacity for creativity is not as absent as previously assumed

Question 27

False belief tasks have shown historically that ASD…(x1)

Such as Happe’s (1995) meta-analysis which found…(x2)

Answer 27

Struggle with TOM tasks

Mean pass rates of 33%, despite most Ps being in teens

Question 28

Peterson et al (2013) looked at ToM in ASD, in study involving…(x5)
Finding…(x2)

Answer 28

Scenario with child in front of two boxes, in front of two Es (X and Y)
If seeker finds prize, kid doesn’t get it, and they know if E gets it wrong they will
First put item in box 2, X leaves, prize is moved to box 1, then Y leaves
X thinks it’s in 2, Y knows it’s in 1
Who should kid ask to seek the prize? Obviously X, so kid gets prize
Making it a game brings out the big difference - autistic kids nail it
TOM is essential to do this

Question 29

The key conclusion of all the literature on ASD is that…(x4)

Answer 29

Autistic kids aren’t interested in social interactions that lack purpose
Eg why pretend to be a dragon? I’m not one, and never will be
Not going to engage in socially motivated behaviours like overimitation, if no interest in social tasks…
So without social motivation, pretence, overimitation and ToM start to drop away

Question 30

The general views on ASD and the mirror system are that…(x3)

Answer 30

MNS supports imitation and inferences of goals and intentions
It’s deficient in children with ASD = impaired performance on imitation, goals and intentions
These low level impairments cause poor ToM and social abilities

Question 31

de C. Hamilton et al (2007) conducted study into mirror system/movement copying in ASD, involving…(x3)
Finding…(x1)

Answer 31

E touches dot on table - copy using same, opposite or both hands, and
Choose which hand you think belongs in the picture - eg the posture used to hold the iron, salute the major
Tasks should be difficult for those with autism, if it’s mirror system…
But typical and autistic kids both scored the same

Question 32

Martineau et al (2010) used fMRI to test mirror activation in ASD, in study involving…(x3)
Finding…(x2)

Answer 32

Observe video of a right hand performing a flexion-extension movement
Execute (while watching static image of hand)
Rest
Found some differences in patterns of activation
But, those areas aren’t speculated to be part of the mirror system…

Question 33

Overall, a decade of research on mirror system involvement in ASD…(x2)

Answer 33

Doesn’t support the broken mirror theory in its standard form -
Lots of the literature is really contradictory