自闭症碎镜理论之迷思:缘起、问题与前景

自闭症患者在社会沟通和交往障碍上主要涉及社会情感互动缺陷、非语言行为交流缺陷、发展维持和理解人际关系的缺陷。该群体在社会认知过程中潜在自动的直觉成分受损被视为其独特的临床症状。鉴于镜像神经元系统在社会认知的直觉成分上扮演的重要角色,该系统的功能障碍假说(或称"碎镜"理论)被提出并用以解释自闭症的成因及其异常表现。然而,在经历了10年的发展与证据检验后,该理论潜在的问题逐渐暴露。当前的研究显示,迄今为止人类镜像神经元系统的研究存在内在缺陷,镜像神经元系统至多是社会认知的附带原因,该系统功能障碍也并非自闭症患者社会认知障碍的必要条件。碎镜理论面临来自临床行为研究与认知神经科学实验证据的广泛质疑。未来,伴随自闭症研究对象的变化,镜像神经元的社会响应学说的提出,双个体范式、第二人称神经科学范式与计算精神病学的兴起,镜像神经元与自闭症的真正关系将有望得以阐明。     

TEACHING YOUTHS WITH AUTISM TO OFFER ASSISTANCE

Three adolescent boys with autism were taught to offer assistance to a person stating inability to complete a task. The study used a multiple baseline across the 3 youths and a multiple baseline across three tasks for each student. Both designs provided clear support for the ability of the youths to discriminate those settings in which offers of assistance were desired. All 3 participants showed relatively rapid acquisition of responding. Generalization was assessed to a new person in the training setting, to a familiar person in a new room at the center, to the mother in the youth's home, and to three novel tasks. Generalization to a new person in the familiar setting was most likely to occur, with very high levels of responding for all 3 youths. Generalization to the other conditions varied across youths, although all 3 boys showed some transfer of skills to all conditions.     

TEACHING SOCIAL SKILLS TO STUDENTS WITH AUTISM TO INCREASE PEER INTERACTIONS IN AN INTEGRATED FIRST-GRADE CLASSROOM

We investigated the use of social skills groups to facilitate increased social interactions for students with autism and their nonhandicapped peers in an integrated first-grade classroom. Social skills groups consisted of training students and peers in initiating, responding, and keeping interactions going; greeting others and conversing on a variety of topics; giving and accepting compliments; taking turns and sharing; asking for help and helping others; and including others in activities. Training occurred during the first 10 min of 20-min play groups, four times per week. Using a multiple baseline across subjects design, results demonstrated increases in the frequency of, time engaged in, and duration of social interactions, as well as the responsivity of students and peers to each other. Results were maintained when students were monitored and given feedback on social performance in play groups and during follow-up.     

TEACHING CHILDREN WITH AUTISM TO SEEK INFORMATION-ACQUISITION OF NOVEL INFORMATION AND GENERALIZATION OF RESPONDING

A time delay procedure was used to teach 3 children with autism to ask the question “What's that?” when novel stimuli were presented during an instructional task. Once the ability to ask the question was acquired, the children's ability to learn novel information by asking the question was assessed. The children were then taught to ask the question within a less structured context. All three studies used a multiple baseline across participants. Generalization was assessed in a different room, to a new person, and to novel stimuli. All of the children learned to ask the question within the instructional context, while on a walk in the school building, and to request information about three-dimensional objects. The acquisition of novel information was consistent for receptive and expressive tests for 2 of the children, with varied results for the 3rd. These studies indicate that children with autism can be taught to ask questions that lead to the acquisition of new information.     

自闭症儿童行为评定与社会认知发展的研究

本研究用自闭症儿童发展评定量表,自闭症儿童基本社会认知问卷以及“ＴｏＭ”实验,对４９名自闭症儿童及３０名弱智儿童进行了行为评定与社会认知的研究。研究结果为目前国内自闭症的诊断和治疗提供了新的有效工具及进一步明确化的理论依据,并为其教育训练提供了标准的新的启示。