Autism: beyond “theory of mind”

The theory of mind account of autism has been remarkably successful in making specific predictions about the impairments in socialization, imagination and communication shown by people with autism. It cannot, however, explain either the non-triad features of autism, or earlier experimental findings of abnormal assets and deficits on non-social tasks. These unexplained aspects of autism, and the existence of autistic individuals who consistently pass false belief tasks, suggest that it may be necessary to postulate an additional cognitive abnormality. One possible abnormality - weak central coherence - is discussed, and preliminary evidence for this theory is presented.     

Dimensions of health‐related dispositions in elderly people: relationships with health behaviour and personality traits

The principal aim of this study was to examine a health‐related disposition construct in elderly Italians by explorative factor analysis of the Multidimensional Health Questionnaire. The questionnaire had a two‐factor structure. The first factor was loaded by cognitive variables such as Health‐Efficacy, Health Control, Optimism, etc.; it predicted compliance with self‐rating health seeking behaviours and it was correlated with personality traits such as Emotional Stability and the Lie scale. The second factor comprised emotional dispositions including Health Anxiety, Health Depression, Health Preoccupation, etc. and it was negatively associated with Conscientiousness and Energy. Interesting results emerged for sex by age differences in both health factors. Moreover, men and women showed different correlation patterns between the health factors and the Five Factor Model. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assisted ambulation and activity for restless or passive persons with profound multiple disabilities: assessing performance and preferences

Two adults with profound multiple disabilities and restlessness or passivity were exposed to two occupational conditions involving (a) robot‐assisted ambulation and activity in a fairly large area and (b) unassisted ambulation and activity in a small area. The aim was to examine the participants' performance (independent activities, ambulation, and challenging behavior) in the two conditions and their possible preferences between those conditions. Data showed that the participants had higher percentages of independent activities, higher percentages of ambulation, and somewhat lower percentages of challenging behavior in the condition with the robot. The participants also seemed to prefer this condition over the one without the robot. Implications of the findings were discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improving accepting and giving compliments with individuals with developmental disabilities

Individuals with developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder, typically exhibit conversation skill deficits, with two prevailing deficits including giving and accepting compliments. The current study used an individualized approach to assess and teach accepting and giving compliments specific to performance, possession, and appearance with three adolescents and young adults with developmental disabilities. We taught these skills using behavioral skills training and prompting during conversations utilizing a multiple-baseline design across participants. We also observed generalization and treatment extension of the participants' skills in conversations with adults not associated with teaching and in the absence of any teaching procedures. The results support the efficacy of the procedures used toward improving giving and accepting compliments within the context of a conversation. We discuss considerations to improve the social acceptability of and refinements to the teaching procedures and acquired skills.     

Promoting fluency of performance during morning dressing by two persons with multiple disabilities

This study investigated the possibility of promoting fluency of performance, i.e., a performance independent of caregiver's guidance and without serious interruptions, during morning dressing in two adults with multiple disabilities. The intervention program relied on the use of assistive technology including optic and pressure sensors to monitor the participants' task responding and tape players to present preferred stimuli in relation to such responding, as well as messages of encouragement. Analysis showed that the intervention program was effective with both participants. In fact, they became capable of performing the dressing sequence with only occasional guidance from research assistants, and the time they required for dressing dropped significantly from baseline levels. Implications of the results are discussed.     

A technique for simulating visual field losses in virtual environments to study human navigation

The following paper describes a new technique for simulating peripheral field losses in virtual environments to study the roles of the central and peripheral visual fields during navigation. Based on Geisler and Perry's (2002) gaze-contingent multiresolution display concept, the technique extends their methodology to work with three-dimensional images that are both transformed and rendered in real time by a computer graphics system. In order to assess the usefulness of this method for studying visual field losses, an experiment was run in which seven participants were required to walk to a target tree in a virtual forest as quickly and efficiently as possible while artificial head and eye-based delays were systematically introduced. Bilinear fits were applied to the mean trial times in order to assess at what delay lengths breaks in performance could be observed. Results suggest that breaks occur beyond the current delays inherent in the system. Increases in trial times across all delays tested were also observed when simulated peripheral field losses were applied compared to full FOV conditions. Possible applications and limitations of the system are discussed. The source code needed to program visual field losses can be found at lions.med.jhu.edu/archive/turanolab/Simulated_Visual_Field_Loss_Code.html.     

Working memory components and imagery instructions in the elaboration of a spatial mental model

The paper investigates the involvement of verbal and visuo-spatial working memory during the processing of spatial texts via a dual-task paradigm. Subjects were presented with three texts describing locations from a route perspective, and had either to imagine themselves moving along a route in surroundings or to rehearse verbal information. Concurrently they had to perform a spatial tapping task, an articulatory task, or no secondary task. Performance on a verification test used to assess the product of comprehension showed that the concurrent tapping task impaired performance in the imagery instructions group but not in the repetition instructions group, and caused the beneficial effect of imagery instructions to vanish. This result was not observed with the articulatory task, where interference effects were similar in both instructions groups. Performance on the concurrent tasks confirmed the pattern obtained with the verification test. In addition, results seem partly dependent on the capacity of spatial working memory as measured by the Corsi Blocks Test. We argue that these results clarify the processes of the construction of a spatial mental model, and confirm that the visuo-spatial working memory is involved in mental imagery.     

Doing the opposite to what another person is doing

The three studies presented here aim to contribute to a better understanding of the role of the coordinate system of a person's body and of the environment in spatial organization underlying the recognition and production of gestures. The paper introduces a new approach by investigating what people consider to be opposite gestures in addition to identical gestures.     

Early interactive behaviours in preterm infants and their mothers: Influences of maternal depressive symptomatology and neonatal birth weight

The study evaluated the quality of preterm infant–mother interactions, considering severity of birth weight (ELBW and VLBW) and maternal depression, compared to full term babies. 69 preterm infants (29 ELBW and 40 VLBW) and 80 full-term (FT) infants and their mothers were recruited. At 3 months of corrected age, the quality of mother–infant interaction was evaluated through Global Rating Scales; moreover, infant level of development and maternal depression were assessed through Griffith Development Mental Scales and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Results showed adequate sensitivity in preterm infants’ mothers and higher involvement with their infants, compared to full term mothers, but ELBW ones exhibited an intrusive interactive pattern and a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms. The study underlined the relevance of paying special attention to both ELBW infants and their mothers, in order to support the parenting role and the co-construction of early interactions.     

When Sex Is on the Air: Impression Formation After Exposure to Sexual Music

The present study examines how young men and women, when primed with sexual cues in entertainment media, incorporate these cues into their first impressions of an unfamiliar target. Respondents (n = 188) were exposed to popular music either with or without sexual lyrics. Respondents in the sexual music condition recognized the sexual conveyance of that music. Respondents in the other condition rated the sexuality in their music as low. After exposure, respondents evaluated unknown targets—job applicants represented by their resumés. Sexual conveyance elevated ratings of sexual qualities attributed to the targets, suggesting sexual objectification of the targets. Sexual quality ratings then predicted evaluations of the targets’ merit, including knowledge and integrity. Although the association between sexual quality and overall merit ratings were positive for both men and women, men exhibited a significantly stronger association than women did. Findings support a postconscious automatic processing interpretation of media priming effects and corroborate prior observations that sexual media primes yield sexualized evaluations. Findings also suggest a need to measure initial affective responses to media primes, as different sexual depictions might trigger sexual thoughts with either a positive or negative connotation.