CLASSWIDE PEER TUTORING: AN INTEGRATION STRATEGY TO IMPROVE READING SKILLS AND PROMOTE PEER INTERACTIONS AMONG STUDENTS WITH AUTISM AND GENERAL EDUCATION PEERS

A multiple baseline design across subjects with a reversal was used to examine the effects of classwide peer tutoring relative to traditional reading instruction on reading skills and social interaction time for 3 high-functioning students with autism and their typical peers in integrated, general education classrooms. Traditional reading instruction consisted largely of teacher-led instruction with individual student participation and seat work. Classwide peer tutoring consisted of 25 to 30 min of well-specified instruction in which tutor—learner pairs worked together on a classwide basis on reading fluency and comprehension skills. All students participated in 15- to 20-min unstructured free-time activities immediately following reading instruction. Results of reading assessments demonstrated that classwide peer tutoring increased reading fluency and correct responses to reading comprehension questions for students with autism and their peers. The procedure further increased the total duration of free-time social interactions for students with autism and typical peers, with individual variation in performance.     

INCREASING COMPLEX SOCIAL BEHAVIORS IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM: EFFECTS OF PEER-IMPLEMENTED PIVOTAL RESPONSE TRAINING

Two children with autism were taught to engage in a variety of complex social behaviors using peer-implemented pivotal response training (PRT), a set of procedures designed to increase motivation and promote generalization. Typical peers were taught to implement PRT strategies by modeling, role playing, and didactic instruction. After training, peers implemented the procedures in the absence of direct supervision in a classroom environment. After the intervention, both children with autism maintained prolonged interactions with the peer, initiated play and conversations, and increased engagement in language and joint attention behaviors. In addition, teachers reported positive changes in social behavior, with the largest increases in peer-preferred social behavior. Further, these effects showed generality and maintenance. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

恐惧发生与预防的实验研究：──Ⅱ、强噪音下不同处理背景动物身心变化的观察分析

采用生理心理学的实验方法．对强噪音下四组不同处理背景大鼠的旷场反应、援食、饮水、排泄和尿生物化学等方面进行比较。结果发现：①Ⅰ组（强刺激组）的各类指标均发生情绪性（恐惧）改变。与２组（预防训练Ⅰ组）、３组（预防训练Ⅱ组）、４组（控制组）以及自身基线（ＭＡＯ）比较差异显著;②适应性训练有助于防止大鼠恐惧发生及上述各类指标发生异常．③由于训练的方法不同,预防的效果也不同。３组与４组比较无显著差异,２组与４组比较某些指标有显著差异。④１组和２组部分大鼠出现皮肤、消化道病变。     

Teaching spontaneous requests to children with autism using a time delay procedure with multi-component toys

Children with autism were taught spontaneous requests through a time delay procedure. Unlike previous research, which usually employed food as the target stimuli to be requested, the present study used toy pieces from multi-component toys. The procedure involved presenting a child with the target stimulus, with the trainer prompting the child by immediately modeling the request response. When the response was imitated without error, prompting was delayed with the time interval gradually being increased over trials. A spontaneous or imitated response was reinforced by giving the child the requested object. As the stimulus/model interval increased, children with autism were expected to initiate the request by themselves prior to the prompt. The efficacy of the time delay procedure was assessed using a multiple baseline across subject design with three Chinese boys with autism. Results showed that the three children acquired a 100% performance within five to nine sessions of training and the skill was maintained at the one-month and three-month followups. Furthermore, the learned response transferred to various conditions when tested across setting, person, toy, and food items. These results suggest that toys, the multi-component ones in particular, served well as reinforcers for language training. Furthermore these findings confirmed the practical utility of the time delay procedure for promoting spontaneous communication skills in children with autism.     

Facilitator influence in facilitated communication

The use of facilitated communication with individuals with autism has generated considerable controversy over the past several years. Only recently has research begun appearing which examines the procedure using reasonable scientific controls to establish the validity of this form of communication. The present study assessed the validity of facilitated communication and evaluated the effects of facilitator influence with seven individuals with autism and mental retardation. Three individuals showed clear evidence of facilitator influence, another three showed no such influence, and one subject performed at chance levels. A follow-up session with the three subjects who showed no facilitator influence demonstrated that they also showed no unexpected language competence compared to their measured IQ and to assessment under standard conditions. Results are discussed in terms of significance for facilitated communication in general and in terms of the utility of the methodology as a means of demonstrating language competence or facilitator influence.     

Specificity of Dating Aggression and Its Justification Among High-Risk Adolescents

Ninety-five high-risk adolescents were studied to determine whether their dating aggression and its justification as a response to interpersonal problems were specific to the current partner, general to dating relationships, or part of a global age-mate (same-sex peers and opposite-sex dating partners) aggression problem. Approximately one-third of males and two-thirds of females reported physical aggression against their current dating partner. Males' aggression (and its justification) toward their current dating partner was part of a generalized pattern of dating aggression, whereas for females, physical aggression against a current dating partner (and its justification) was partner-specific and unrelated to aggression in other relationships. Findings are discussed with regard to intervention and future research on adolescent dating aggression.     

Increasing participation and improving the quality of discussions in seventh-grade social studies classes

An experiment was conducted to evaluate procedures to improve classroom discussions in seventh-grade social studies classes. An increased number of students participated in discussions when rules were stated for discussions, students were praised for their contributions, the teacher restated or paraphrased students' contributions aloud or on the blackboard, the teacher planned an outline of discussion questions, student contributions to discussions were recorded and were used to determine part of the students' grades for the class, and discussion grades were publicly posted.The second part of the study focused on procedures designed to improve quality of classroom discussions. Students were taught to participate in discussions by providing reasons for their statements, comparisons between different points, or examples supporting their statements. As each type of contribution was taught, recorded, and counted toward part of the students' classroom grades, each type of contribution increased. Ratings of discussions by outside judges consisting of junior high school teachers, junior high school students, and persons experienced in conducting discussions, indicated that the training increased the overall quality of the discussions. Use of the quality training procedures, however, resulted in decreased levels of overall participation in discussion, a decrease that was reversed by the use of a group contingency for participation. Finally, the discussions after training seemed to be preferred by both the teacher and the students.     

Validity and temporal stability of the chimeric face technique for studying hemispheric processing asymmetries: Data from 6-through 14-year-old children

The validity and temporal stability of the chimeric face technique as a measure of cerebral hemispheric functioning in children were investigated. The method is based upon the observation that when a subject encounters a representation of the human face, the left side (from the observer's point of view) of the face dominates his or her perception of it. This bias was shown to be present in a majority of children ranging from 6 through 14 years old, and it was stronger for right-handers than for left-handers. The 1-month temporal stability of the bias was 67%, which is comparable to that of other surface methods. As in other split-message techniques, the typical left visual field bias was more reliable than the unusual right visual field bias. The implications of these data are discussed.     

SUPPRESSION OF SELF-STIMULATION: THREE ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES

Four boys with autistic-like behavior were treated for self-stimulatory behavior with three different treatment procedures—time-out, differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO), and overcorrection. All four boys showed a rapid response to the overcorrection procedure. Three boys demonstrated some evidence of decrement in responding with time-out. During the DRO procedure, one showed a modest decrease, two showed no change, but one exhibited a consistent increase in responding under this condition. A multiple baseline applied to one of the subjects failed to reveal any generalization of suppression from one setting to another. A strong but not perfect relationship was found between a frequency and a duration measure of self-stimulation. There was some evidence of negative side effects for one boy during overcorrection and for another during time-out. None of these negative side effects was enduring. There was also some indirect evidence that overcorrection facilitated appropriate play.     

人工智能辅助的自闭症早期患者的筛查与诊断

自闭症谱系障碍(AutisticSpectrumDisorders,ASD)的症状早在婴幼儿期就会显现,越早发现,越早干预,治疗效果越好。传统自闭症早期筛查与诊断在评估方法、流程上存在局限,无法满足大规模筛查和诊断需求。随着人工智能技术的快速发展,使用智能化方法进行自闭症早期大规模无感筛查与诊断逐渐成为可能。近10年间,国内外对自闭症智能化识别方法的探索在经典任务行为、面部表情和情绪、眼动、脑影像、运动控制和运动模式、多模态6个领域积累了丰富的研究成果。未来研究应围绕构建国内自闭症早期智能医学筛查与诊断体系,开发针对婴幼儿患者的筛查工具,构建融合多模态数据的自闭症婴幼儿智能化识别模型,建立结合脑影像技术的自闭症精细化诊断方法等方面来开展。