The understanding and self-reported use of emotional display rules in children with autism spectrum disorders

Two studies examined the understanding and self-reported use of rules for the expressive display of emotions in children with high functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASD) and in typically developing children. In Study 1, children from the two groups reported display rules equally often when presented with hypothetical situations that provided clear motives for using display rules, although emotion-masking displays were more commonly identified for vignettes with prosocial rather than self-protective motives. In Study 2, children were interviewed about display rule use in real life. Children with HFASD reported display rules less often, included more prototypical examples, and referred less often to prosocial motives than typically developing children. Children with HFASD appear to be aware of display rules, but are less adept at identifying the interpersonal functions of such rules than their typically developing peers.     

孤独症谱系障碍者的情绪韵律识别

情绪韵律识别是从声学线索变化中提取情绪信息,进而推断他人情绪状态的过程。情绪韵律识别缺陷是孤独症谱系障碍者的一种常见表现,此缺陷会受到情绪韵律强度、字面语义、情景语境、心理声学能力和共患疾病的影响。目前,该人群情绪韵律识别缺陷的原因探析集中于心智化能力不足、社会动机缺失和经验匮乏假说等。孤独症谱系障碍者情绪韵律识别的神经机制研究主要集中于与健康人群的比较,相关发现包括情绪韵律识别的右半球优势效应、局部脑区激活增多、大脑网络连接不足和早期注意模式异常。未来,应该进一步提高实验范式的生态效度,注重孤独症个体差异因素,整合相关理论解释,并开发有效的测评工具和干预策略。     

Auditory preference of children with autism spectrum disorders

Research on children with autism spectrum disorders suggests differences from neurotypical children in the preference for ‘social’ versus ‘nonsocial’ sounds. Conclusions have been based largely on the use of head-turn methodology which has various limitations as a means of establishing auditory preference. In the present study, preference was assessed by measuring the frequency with which children pressed a button to hear different sounds using an interactive toy. Contrary to prior results, both groups displayed a strong preference for the highly social sounds. These findings have implications for approaches to language intervention and for theoretical debates regarding social motivation.     

Reduced chromatic discrimination in children with autism spectrum disorders

Atypical perception in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is well documented ( Dakin & Frith, 2005 ). However, relatively little is known about colour perception in ASD. Less accurate performance on certain colour tasks has led some to argue that chromatic discrimination is reduced in ASD relative to typical development ( Franklin, Sowden, Burley, Notman & Alder, 2008 ). The current investigation assessed chromatic discrimination in children with high-functioning autism (HFA) and typically developing (TD) children matched on age and non-verbal cognitive ability, using the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test (Experiment 1) and a threshold discrimination task (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, more errors on the chromatic discrimination task were made by the HFA than the TD group. Comparison with test norms revealed that performance for the HFA group was at a similar level to typically developing children around 3 years younger. In Experiment 2, chromatic thresholds were elevated for the HFA group relative to the TD group. For both experiments, reduced chromatic discrimination in ASD was due to a general reduction in chromatic sensitivity rather than a specific difficulty with either red–green or blue–yellow subsystems of colour vision. The absence of group differences on control tasks ruled out an explanation in terms of general task ability rather than chromatic sensitivity. Theories to account for the reduction in chromatic discrimination in HFA are discussed, and findings are related to cortical models of perceptual processing in ASD.     

Attenuation of change blindness in children with autism spectrum disorders

Change blindness refers to the difficulty most people find in detecting a difference between two pictures when these are presented successively, with a brief interruption between. Attention at the site of the change is required for detection. A number of studies have investigated change blindness in adults and children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Some have produced evidence that people with ASD find changes to social stimuli harder to detect and changes to non‐social stimuli easier to detect, relative to comparison participants. However, other studies have produced entirely contradictory findings. There is a need for consistency in methodology to aid understanding of change blindness and attentional processes in ASD. Here, we replicate a change blindness study previously carried out with typically developing (TD) children and adults and with adults with ASD. Results reveal attenuated change blindness for non‐social stimuli in children with ASD relative to TD norms. Our results are interpreted, alongside others' findings, as potentially indicative of a complex relationship between different influences on attention over time.     

孤独症儿童动作发展障碍的神经机制

动作发展障碍(Developmental motor disorders)是孤独症谱系障碍的常见特征。通过系统回顾孤独症儿童动作发展障碍的神经科学研究, 发现γ-氨基丁酸和5-羟色胺浓度的改变及γ-氨基丁酸相关蛋白和Shank蛋白的表达异常不仅会损害中枢神经系统的发育, 而且还能导致突触兴奋性与抑制性失衡, 进而改变孤独症儿童小脑和大脑皮层运动区的功能连接。孤独症儿童小脑、基底神经节和胼胝体结构的改变对全脑的连通性产生了负面影响。神经生化机制和脑结构的异常共同导致了脑功能的异常, 最终造成孤独症儿童的动作发展障碍。此外, 动作发展障碍与孤独症核心症状共同的神经基础主要包括镜像神经元系统紊乱, 丘脑、基底神经节和小脑异常以及SLC7A5和PTEN 基因突变。未来研究需要关注与运动密切相关的其他神经递质, 如乙酰胆碱和多巴胺; 探索动作发展障碍神经网络的动态机制及其形成; 剖析该障碍的神经机制和自闭症核心症状神经机制的相互作用。     

The role of culture in families' treatment decisions for children with autism spectrum disorders

There is little information available about how and why parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) make decisions regarding which of the many available treatments to implement with their children. Given the lack of available information regarding treatment efficacy, it is likely that parents' beliefs about child development, interpretation of the symptoms of ASD, its etiology and course, and their experiences with the health system influence treatment decisions. This article addresses these issues within the context of cultural influences. We review the small body of existing literature regarding cultural influences on decisions regarding ASD and draw implications for the study and treatment of ASD from the larger body of literature on culture and other health conditions of childhood. In addition to examining the potential for differences in clinical presentation by culture and different experiences with the healthcare system, we use Kleinman's framework of questions for understanding the role of culture in the interpretation and treatment of ASD. These questions address interpretation of symptoms and beliefs about their cause, course, and treatment. Finally, we present specific language for clinicians to use in discussion with families with different cultural beliefs about the use of less traditional treatment strategies.     

学龄前孤独谱系障碍儿童汉语核心语法的习得

学龄前孤独谱系障碍(Autism Spectrum Disorders; ASD)儿童对语言的习得程度是决定ASD儿童早期科学干预效果和最终预后水平的关键。以往ASD儿童语言研究多局限于英语ASD儿童, 较少有研究探讨不同语种ASD儿童语言习得的普遍机制。本研究拟结合汉语独特的语法属性, 通过多通道优先注视范式眼动实验考察2~5岁ASD儿童汉语核心语法的理解程度, 通过共同注意游戏评估ASD儿童的社会交流能力, 同时分析ASD儿童语言环境中相关语法结构的输入频率。研究旨在通过探讨学龄前ASD儿童的语法习得, 进一步探索人类语言习得的深层机制, 包括探索人类特有的语言机能对包括ASD儿童语言习得在内的人类语言习得的作用, 同时考察社会交流障碍与语言环境对人类语言习得过程的影响。     

言语行为的关系框架理论视角:孤独症谱系障碍的新探索

语言功能异常是孤独症谱系障碍(ASD)的典型症状之一。1957年,斯金纳从行为学角度提出"言语行为",认为人们获得表达和理解语言的能力与学会走路、跳舞等行为的原理相同。2001年,海斯等人在斯金纳的基础上提出关于人类语言和认知的新视角——关系框架理论(Relational Frame Theory,RFT),澄清了语言的推衍性实质,认为言语行为是将一个刺激与其他刺激建立关系框架的过程。研究表明基于RFT的多范例训练可以提升ASD患者的推衍关系反应水平,且推衍关系反应与语言和认知功能的发展高相关。未来RFT的研究可以探索如何通过推衍关系反应训练修复ASD患者的语言和认知功能缺陷。     

Teaching multiply controlled intraverbals to children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

Reciprocal conversations, instructional activities, and other social interactions are replete with multiply controlled intraverbals, examples of which have been conceptualized in terms of conditional discriminations. Although the acquisition of conditional discriminations has been examined extensively in the behavior‐analytic literature, little research has evaluated procedures to establish multiply controlled intraverbals. Thus, the purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of procedures based on conditional discrimination training on the acquisition of multiply controlled intraverbals with 7 participants who had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. We evaluated the effects of prompt delay with error correction, a differential observing response (DOR), and a DOR plus blocked trials on the acquisition of intraverbals using a multiple baseline design. Accuracy of intraverbal performance increased for at least 1 set of stimuli for all participants under prompt delay with error correction conditions; however, 4 participants required additional teaching (i.e., DOR, modified DOR, modified prompt delay with error correction). Based on these findings, when prompt delay with error correction is not sufficient to establish multiply controlled intraverbals, prompted DORs may be an effective alternative.     

Understanding autism: how family therapists can support parents of children with autism spectrum disorders

The number of children diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder has increased dramatically in the last 20 years. Parents of children with autism experience a variety of chronic and acute stressors that can erode marital satisfaction and family functioning. Family therapists are well-suited to help parents stay connected to each other as they create a "new normal." However, family therapists need updated information about autism, and they need to understand how family therapy can help parents of children with autism. Because having a child with autism affects multiple domains of family life, this paper explores how family therapists can utilize an integrative approach with parents, enabling them to flexibly work with the domains of action, meaning, and emotion.     

Rapid facial reactions to emotional facial expressions in typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorder

Typical adults mimic facial expressions within 1000 ms, but adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) do not. These rapid facial reactions (RFRs) are associated with the development of social-emotional abilities. Such interpersonal matching may be caused by motor mirroring or emotional responses. Using facial electromyography (EMG), this study evaluated mechanisms underlying RFRs during childhood and examined possible impairment in children with ASD. Experiment 1 found RFRs to happy and angry faces (not fear faces) in 15 typically developing children from 7 to 12 years of age. RFRs of fear (not anger) in response to angry faces indicated an emotional mechanism. In 11 children (8-13 years of age) with ASD, Experiment 2 found undifferentiated RFRs to fear expressions and no consistent RFRs to happy or angry faces. However, as children with ASD aged, matching RFRs to happy faces increased significantly, suggesting the development of processes underlying matching RFRs during this period in ASD.     

Temporal discounting of monetary rewards in children and adolescents with ADHD and autism spectrum disorders

It has been difficult to differentiate attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in terms of some aspects of their cognitive profile. While both show deficits in executive functions, it has been suggested that they may differ in their response to monetary reward. For instance, children with ADHD prefer small immediate over large delayed rewards more than typically developing controls. One explanation for this is that they discount the value of rewards to a higher degree as they are moved into the future. The current study investigated whether children with ADHD can be differentiated from those with ASD in terms of reward discounting. Thirty‐nine children (8–16 y) with ADHD, 34 children with ASD and 46 typically developing controls performed a hypothetical monetary temporal discounting task. Participants were instructed to make repeated choices between small variable rewards (0, 5, 10, 20, 30€) delivered immediately and large rewards delivered after a variable delay. Children with ADHD but not ASD discounted future rewards at a higher rate than typically developing controls. These data confirm steeper discounting of future rewards in ADHD and add to a small but growing literature showing that the psychological profile of ADHD can be distinguished from that of ASD in terms of disrupted motivational processes.     

Transitive inference in adults with autism spectrum disorders

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) exhibit intact rote learning with impaired generalization. A transitive inference paradigm, involving training on four sequentially presented stimulus pairs containing overlapping items, with subsequent testing on two novel pairs, was used to investigate this pattern of learning in 27 young adults with ASDs and 31 matched neurotypical individuals (TYPs). On the basis of findings about memory and neuropathology, we hypothesized that individuals with ASDs would use a relational flexibility/conjunctive strategy reliant on an intact hippocampus, versus an associative strength/value transfer strategy requiring intact interactions between the prefrontal cortex and the striatum. Hypotheses were largely confirmed. ASDs demonstrated reduced interference from intervening pairs in early training; only TYPs formed a serial position curve by test; and ASDs exhibited impairments on the novel test pair consisting of end items with intact performance on the inner test pair. However, comparable serial position curves formed for both groups by the end of the first block.     

Genetics of autism spectrum disorders

Characterized by a combination of abnormalities in language, social cognition and mental flexibility, autism is not a single disorder but a neurodevelopmental syndrome commonly referred to as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Several dozen ASD susceptibility genes have been identified in the past decade, collectively accounting for 10-20% of ASD cases. These findings, although demonstrating that ASD is etiologically heterogeneous, provide important clues about its pathophysiology. Diverse genetic and genomic approaches provide evidence converging on disruption of key biological pathways, many of which are also implicated in other allied neurodevelopmental disorders. Knowing the genes involved in ASD provides us with a crucial tool to probe both the specificity of ASD and the shared neurobiological and cognitive features across what are considered clinically distinct disorders, with the goal of linking gene to brain circuits to cognitive function.     

Ambiguous figure perception and theory of mind understanding in children with autistic spectrum disorders

Researchers in early social‐cognition have found that the ability to reverse an ambiguous figure is correlated with success on theory of mind tasks (e.g. Gopnik & Rosati, 2001 ). The present experiment examined children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) without mental delay to see whether a similar relationship existed. Ropar, Mitchell, and Ackroyd (2003) demonstrated that children with ASD with mental delay were impaired on theory of mind tasks, but were as likely as mentally delayed controls to generate both interpretations of an ambiguous figure when informed of its ambiguity. The present study replicated this finding on children with ASD without mental delay. However, overall perception of ambiguous figures was different. These children were less likely to spontaneously generate both interpretations of the figure, and more likely to perseverate on a single interpretation than the comparison children. Like Ropar et al., we found no correlation between theory of mind and informed reversals, but spontaneous reversals were correlated with performance on an advanced theory of mind task. These data suggest that reversals of ambiguous figures are linked to higher‐level representational abilities, which might also be involved in social functioning, and impaired in children with ASD.     

Moral judgment in adults with autism spectrum disorders

The ability of a group of adults with high functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger Syndrome (AS) to distinguish moral, conventional and disgust transgressions was investigated using a set of six transgression scenarios, each of which was followed by questions about permissibility, seriousness, authority contingency and justification. The results showed that although individuals with HFA or AS (HFA/AS) were able to distinguish affect-backed norms from conventional affect-neutral norms along the dimensions of permissibility, seriousness and authority-dependence, they failed to distinguish moral and disgust transgressions along the seriousness dimension and were unable to provide appropriate welfare-based moral justifications. Moreover, they judged conventional and disgust transgressions to be more serious than did the comparison group, and the correlation analysis revealed that the seriousness rating was related to their ToM impairment. We concluded that difficulties providing appropriate moral justifications and evaluating the seriousness of transgressions in individuals with HFA/AS may be explained by an impaired cognitive appraisal system that, while responsive to rule violations, fails to use relevant information about the agent’s intentions and the affective impact of the action outcome in conscious moral reasoning.     

任务难度对自闭症儿童视觉搜索优势显现的影响

探究自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)儿童视觉搜索优势的显现是否受任务难度影响及优势存在机理。本研究采集ASD和正常发育(TD)儿童完成不同难度等级视觉搜索任务的行为和眼动数据。结果发现：在高难度等级任务中ASD组的准确率显著高于TD组;ASD组在任务中对目标刺激的回视次数、对靶子和外周感兴趣区的注视时间显著少于TD组,且ASD组偏好注视刺激的右侧区域。结果表明ASD儿童视觉搜索优势显现受任务难度影响,且可能与其对干扰刺激增强的知觉能力有关。     

The role of the school psychologist in the inclusive education of school-age children with autism spectrum disorders

Two independent trends are impacting school psychologists with regard to their involvement in the education of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs): increasing prevalence estimates of ASDs and an emphasis on the inclusion of students with special needs in regular education classrooms. In light of these trends and growing awareness of the need for evidence-based practices in the field, school psychologists can expect to be involved in the educational programming of students with ASDs and should be knowledgeable about empirically supported strategies relevant to inclusive education of these children. The purpose of this review is to familiarize school psychologists with currently available intervention techniques by describing each strategy and outlining the degree of empirical support for each. Strategies for managing disruptive behaviors, promoting learning, and facilitating social integration are reviewed.