Reducing stimulus overselectivity in autistic children. 1977

L Schreibman, and R L Koegel, and M S Craig

It has been repeatedly reported that when presented with a discrimination task involving multiple cues, autistic children, as compared to normal children, tend to respond on the basis of only a restricted portion of the component cues. This phenomenon has been called "stimulus overselectivity" and has been implicated as a possible basis for some of the pronounced behavioral deficits charactertistic of autism. Examination of the results of several previous studies suggests that the overselectivity effect might be reduced with repeated exposure to testing. However, since the previous studies were not designed to test this hypothesis, no conclusions were drawn regarding variables influencing the reduction of the overselectivity phenomenon. The present investigation was therefore conducted to determine if stimulus overselectivity in autistic children is changed as a function of repeated exposure to testing. Nineteen autistic children were trained on a discrimination task with a cue complex composed of two visual cues. After the children reached criterion on the task, they were exposed to a testing phase with probe trials where the cue components were presented singly. The results indicated that 16 of the children initially showed overselectivity and 3 responded to both cues. Of the 16 children who showed overselectivity, 13 decreased their level of overselectivity with continued testing. These results are discussed in relation to variables in the testing procedure itself and to the literature on selective attention.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D010056 Overlearning Learning in which practice proceeds beyond the point where the act can just be performed with the required degree of excellence. Overlearnings
D011214 Practice, Psychological Performance of an act one or more times, with a view to its fixation or improvement; any performance of an act or behavior that leads to learning. Practice (Psychology),Practice, Psychology,Practicing, Psychological,Practicing, Psychology,Psychological Practice,Psychological Practicing,Psychology Practice,Psychology Practicing
D012055 Reinforcement Schedule A schedule prescribing when the subject is to be reinforced or rewarded in terms of temporal interval in psychological experiments. The schedule may be continuous or intermittent. Reinforcement Schedules,Schedule, Reinforcement,Schedules, Reinforcement
D002648 Child A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL. Children
D002675 Child, Preschool A child between the ages of 2 and 5. Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D003463 Cues Signals for an action; that specific portion of a perceptual field or pattern of stimuli to which a subject has learned to respond. Cue
D004193 Discrimination Learning Learning that is manifested in the ability to respond differentially to various stimuli. Discriminative Learning,Discrimination Learnings,Discriminative Learnings,Learning, Discrimination,Learning, Discriminative
D005260 Female Females
D005556 Form Perception The sensory discrimination of a pattern, shape, or outline. Contour Perception,Contour Perceptions,Form Perceptions,Perception, Contour,Perception, Form,Perceptions, Contour,Perceptions, Form

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