Learning set acquisition in autistic children.

Compared the performance of 19 autistic 5-13 yr olds (mean MA: 4 yrs, 3 mo) on an object discrimination learning set task with that of MA and IQ matched control groups of normal and retarded Ss. All but 2 of the autistic Ss acquired a learning set. About 1/2 of the Ss in each control group also acquired a learning set. However, the mean number of problems to criterion was similar for both the autistic and control groups of Ss who acquired a learning set. It is suggested that the superior performance of autistic Ss on a task which is believed to be related to MA indicates that the MA of these children may be higher than that which is usually obtained with standard measuring techniques. Results provided somewhat equivocal evidence for a relation between MA, IQ, and learning set formation in the normal and retarded Ss. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learned helplessness in Black and White children identified by their schools as retarded and nonretarded: Performance deterioration in response to failure.

20 Black and 20 White children who had been identified as retarded and nonretarded but were similar in MA (110.2–214.3 mo) were administered concept formation problems designed to reveal use of strategies. When feedback was veridical the groups did not differ in their use of effective strategies, but when feedback became consistently negative the groups diverged markedly. Under negative feedback, retarded Ss showed striking deterioration in strategy usage, but nonretarded Ss showed no deterioration. Consistent with these findings, teachers rated retarded Ss as significantly more helpless than their nonretarded peers on a checklist of relevant school behavior. Additional findings suggest that Black retarded Ss may be more susceptible to helplessness than are their White counterparts. Finally, group differences in verbalizations during problem solving bore little relation to group differences in actual performance. Findings point to helplessness deficits in retarded children that may interfere significantly with expression of their actual abilities. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Restricted stimulus control and inferred attentional deficits in autistic and retarded children.

Seven autistic, 7 Down's syndrome, and 7 normal children (mean CAs 83.1, 65.7, and 45.3 mo; mean MAs 42, 36.7, and 50.6 mo; mean IQs 46.3, 45.3, and 98.6, respectively) were initially trained on a single dimension, simultaneous match-to-sample problem. Following criterion performance, each S's simultaneous matching of 4 new dimensions (2 attributes/dimension) was assessed in order to clarify the relation between autism, retardation, and attentional deficits. The Down's syndrome Ss matched significantly fewer attributes than did the autistic and normal Ss, who were equivalent in their performances. Based on these results, it is suggested that Down's syndrome and not autistic children suffer from attentional deficits. Performance in this simultaneous match-to-sample paradigm, which better assesses attentional mechanisms, was related to performances in previous serial and simultaneous discrimination paradigms, in which autistic children reportedly evidenced overselective attention. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of diagnosis, race, and puberty on platelet serotonin levels in autism and mental retardation

OBJECTIVE: To reevaluate platelet serotonin (5-HT) levels in autism, measuring and controlling for effects of race and puberty. The specificity of hyperserotonemia for autism versus cognitive impairment is also assessed. METHOD: Platelet 5-HT levels were measured in 77 individuals, aged 2 through 37 years, with autistic disorder; 65 normal controls; and 22 mentally retarded or otherwise cognitively impaired (MR/CI) prepubertal children. Effects of diagnosis, race, and pubertal status were evaluated by analysis of variance in separate pre- and postpubertal groups. 5-HT levels were expressed as ng/mL blood and ng/microL platelet volume. RESULTS: Among prepubertal children, significant effects of diagnosis (ng/mL; F2,109 = 5.9, p = .004) and race (F2,109 = 14.7, p < .0005) were found. Autistic youngsters had significantly higher 5-HT concentrations than controls, although the elevation (25%) was less than typically reported; MR/CI children had levels very similar to those of controls. White children had significantly lower 5-HT levels than black or Latino youngsters, regardless of diagnosis. Diagnosis and race effects were nonsignificant in the postpubertal group. Postpubertal subjects had lower 5-HT concentrations than prepubertal subjects (ng/mL; F1,114 = 28.5, p < .0005). CONCLUSIONS: The data underscore the importance of matching for race and pubertal status in neuropsychiatric research and suggest that the prevalence of hyperserotonemia in autistic individuals may have been overestimated because of a failure to control for both variables. Hyperserotonemia was not found in MR/CI youngsters without autistic features.     

The feeling of knowing experience in educable retarded children.

Required 50 educable retarded children to predict their recognition accuracy when recall failed. Ss were divided into 3 ability levels: (a) old Ss (mean CA 13.25 yrs, mean MA 10.5 yrs), (b) medium Ss (mean CA 11.25 yrs, mean MA 8.75 yrs), and (c) young Ss (mean CA 9 yrs 5 mo, mean MA 6 yrs 9 mo). Results indicate that old and medium Ss could reliably predict their recognition accuracy, suggesting sensitivity to their own feeling of knowing experience, but that the young Ss showed no evidence of this sensitivity. Even though the young Ss had difficulty predicting their recognition accuracy in advance they were able to estimate the success or failure of their responses after they had occurred. Results are discussed in terms of the complexity of the metamemory judgment required, and the advisability of evaluating metamemorial knowledge across several situations is emphasized. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive development in retarded and nonretarded persons: Piagetian tests of the similar structure hypothesis.

Surveys 30 studies involving 104 separate tests of the similar-structure hypothesis with Piagetian conceptual measures. The present authors distinguish between studies that did and did not screen organically impaired Ss from their mentally retarded samples. Studies that did not meet this requirement yielded findings inconsistent with the similar-structure hypothesis; retarded groups were significantly inferior to nonretarded groups matched on MA. Studies that did meet the requirement, yielded findings supporting the hypothesis. Findings have implications for the developmental vs difference controversy and for diagnosis and training of the mentally retarded. (3 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preference by the retarded for vibratory and visual stimulation as a function of mental age and psychotic reaction.

Using a vibratory vs visual stimulus choice situation, a shift of modality preference with development was investigated in 60 retarded children and 91 retarded adults with and without psychosis. The overall MA was 8-72 mo. Ss also included 47 normal children (aged 3-5 yrs). In retarded adults and retarded children, the number of vibratory choices was negatively correlated and the number of visual choices positively correlated with MA, while holding constant CA, time in institution, total choices, and mental status. Psychotic adults chose the vibratory stimulus more and the visual stimulus less than did nonpsychotic retardates of corresponding MA. Stimulus alternation was positively correlated with the MA of retarded adults after holding constant other variables. No age trends existed in the normal children. These findings support E. G. Schatel's (1959) theory of development from the autocentric to the allocentric mode of perception. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental perception of emotional expressiveness in children with autism.

Parents' perceptions of their children's emotional expressiveness, and possible bases for these perceptions, were investigated in a study comparing older, nonretarded autistic and normal children and in another study comparing young autistic, mentally retarded, and normal children. Both groups of autistic children were perceived as showing more negative emotion and less positive emotion than comparison children. In the younger sample, parental perceptions correlated with the children's attention and responsiveness to others' displays of emotion in 2 laboratory situations. Findings contradict the view that autism involves the "absence of emotional reaction." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Causality assessment of the acute health complaints reported in association with oxygenated fuels

Plasma levels of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis hormones beta-endorphin (BE), adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH), and cortisol were measured in autistic (N = 48), mentally retarded/cognitively impaired (MR/CI, N = 16), and normal control (N = 26) individuals. Comparison of log transformed data from the three groups revealed that levels of BE and ACTH were significantly higher (p < .05) in the autistic individuals than in normal controls. The higher means in the autistic group were due to significantly higher plasma levels of BE and ACTH, indices of acute stress response, in the more severely affected individuals. The data support the idea that individuals with severe autism have a heightened response to acute stressors rather than chronic hyperarousal or elevated basal stress response system functioning.     

Is affect aversive to young children with autism? Behavioral and cardiac responses to experimenter distress

The aim of this study was to determine whether displays of negative emotions are more aversive to young children with autism than displays of neutral emotions. The attention, behavioral reactions, facial affect, and cardiac responses of 22 autistic and 22 mentally retarded 3-5-year-old children were compared when an experimenter pretended to hurt herself and showed strong distress in contrast to when the experimenter pretended to hurt herself but showed only neutral affect. The children in both diagnostic groups looked more at the experimenter and appeared more interested and concerned when she displayed strong distress than when she showed neutral affect. The heart rate of the mentally retarded children decreased during the distress condition relative to a baseline condition, but the heart rate of the children with autism did not change across conditions. In summary, the children with autism gave no evidence of being overly aroused by or avoiding the distressed experimenter.     

Choosing problem-solving rewards and Halloween prizes: Delay of gratification and preference for symbolic reward as a function of development, motivation, and personal investment.

Conducted 3 experiments to generate and cross-validate a developmental account of reward preferences in the lifelike condition in which available rewards differ on both the immediate-delayed and material-symbolic dimensions. 429 children within a broad range of developmental levels (CA 2?–20 yrs) selected from arrays in which immediate-material, immediate-symbolic, delayed-material, and delayed-symbolic items were available. In each experiment more mature Ss delayed gratification to maximize reward magnitude and chose rewards symbolic of success more often than did less mature Ss. Analyses indicated that the 2 reward dimensions were both highly salient in Ss' thinking and that developmental effects on the 2 dimensions could be neatly integrated within a 3-stage developmental scale. Developmental effects on this scale and on the separate dimensions persisted across changes in the particular reward items available and changes in location from school testing room to more naturalistic Halloween settings. Findings indicate that preference for symbolic rewards tends to be more pronounced among the mentally retarded than the nonretarded but cast doubt upon previous interpretations of that group difference. Finally, children's Halloween prize choices suggested that preference for symbolic reward is a function of one's developmental level, the achievement being rewarded, and the extent of one's personal investment in that achievement. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Symbolic play and its cognitive significance.

Explored the relationship between symbolic play training and conservation attainment. Ss were 30 middle-class nonconserving children, with a median age of 4.3 yrs. After extensive pretests on conservation of quantity, 15 nonconservers were assigned to the experimental condition, consisting of 3 sessions of symbolic play on consecutive days, and 15 Ss were assigned to the control condition, consisting of 3 daily play sessions with puzzles, mosaics, and drawing tasks. Subsequent to the play sessions, Ss were given conservation of quantity posttests. Results show that 13 of the experimental Ss manifested some change in solving conservation problems, with 4 Ss reaching the level of full conservation attainment. Only a single S from the control group showed a change toward conservation on the posttests. Data are interpreted as supporting a cognitive function of symbolic play. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Input capability and speed of processing in mental retardation.

The minimum stimulus duration for criterion accuracy and the minimum interval between presentation of a test and presentation of a masking stimulus for criterion accuracy were determined for mildly (mean IQ 55.25) and moderately (mean IQ 47.25) retarded adults and normal controls of the same MA and CA. Five groups of 8 Ss were tested: All adult Ss were in their 20s, and 2 groups of children whose mean CAs were 9.1 and 7.7 yrs served as MA controls for the milds and moderates, respectively. The procedure was replicated 3 times in 3 separate sessions. Both retarded groups required longer stimulus durations as well as longer masking intervals for criterion accuracy than did both the MA and the CA control groups. Results are consistent with deficiencies in both iconic storage and speed of information processing in mental retardation. These deficiencies, furthermore, cannot be accounted for on the basis of low MA. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hemispheric asymmetry in Down's Syndrome children.

Examined auditory processing of linguistic stimulation presented dichotically to groups of 30 Down's Syndrome (DS) children, 20 non-DS retarded children who were MA and CA matched, and 20 MA matched nonretarded children, all of whom were right-handed. Ss completed a knowledge-of-numbers test and the Slosson Intelligence Test. They then listened to 20 trials of a dichotic message at approximately 70–75 db and repeated digits they heard. DS Ss showed a significant left ear advantage in processing the auditory linguistic material, while the other Ss showed the normal right ear advantage. Findings corroborate that having DS has a specific effect on the functional organization of the CNS auditory system. The right hemisphere may not be as efficient as the left hemisphere at language processing. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive function in parents of children with autism

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that individuals with autism show impaired performance on tests of executive function (Ozonoff et al. 1991, 1993; Hughes & Russell, 1993; Hughes et al. 1994). There is also strong evidence for genetic involvement in autism (see Rutter, 1991 for review). If executive dysfunction is a core impairment in autism, then similar impairments are hypothesized to exist in a subtler form among the parents of autistic children. METHODS: Forty parents of autistic children were compared with 40 parents of learning disabled children and 36 adults from unaffected families on three computerized tests of executive function. These tasks tapped attentional-shifting skills, visuospatial planning and working memory. Participants also received a computerized control test of spatial memory-span. In addition, the interviewer's initial impressions of family members were coded using a new 33-item questionnaire. RESULTS: A significant proportion of parents of autistic children (especially fathers) showed impaired executive function. By contrast, parents did as well as both comparison groups on a control test of spatial span, and on other 'non-executive' measures from the tasks, indicating that the autism group were as able and motivated as comparison groups. Interestingly, impairment of executive function was significantly correlated with the interviewer's pre-test impression of social abnormality among parents of autistic children. CONCLUSIONS: The hypothesis that a significant proportion of parents of autistic children show impaired executive function was supported. Parents showed good memory ability, but relatively poor planning skills and attentional flexibility. The extent to which this is an inherent trait in family members, rather than a reflection of the difficulties involved in caring for an autistic child, remains to be examined.     

Is autism an amnesic disorder? Evidence from the California Verbal Learning Test.

An amnesic disorder has been postulated as an important etiological consideration in autism. A comparison was therefore made between 21 matched pairs of high-functioning autistic Ss and controls on 33 variables derived from the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT). 27 of these variables did not discriminate between the autistic Ss and controls. The 6 discriminating variables were free recall of Trial 5 of List A, free recall of List B, total intrusions for List A during the immediate- and short-delay recall trials, and the semantic-cluster and global-cluster ratios for List B. However, the mean scores for the autistic Ss were worse than those of the controls on 30 of the 33 CVLT variables. These findings fail to support the amnesic theory of autism but are consistent with reduced neural connectivity and deficits in information processing involved in the formation of cognitive strategies for efficient organization of information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual motor performance of psychotic children.

Explored visual motor deviations by means of a Childhood Psychosis Scale applied to the Primary Visual-Motor Test protocols of 130 psychotic children (6–12 yrs), and 507 normal and retarded (IQ range 35–79) controls. 45.4% of the psychotic sample achieved critical scores on the scale as compared to 1.7% of the normal Ss and 12.9% of the retarded Ss. It was possible to match 94 of the psychotic children with nonpsychotic controls on the basis of CA and MA. Significantly more psychotics than matched controls were high scorers. Correlations with MA were moderately significant for each group. In IQ comparisons, significantly more psychotics who were retarded had critical scores than did normal-IQ psychotics. Age at diagnosis, type and length of treatment, recency of diagnosis, and degree of organicity did not discriminate between high- and low-responding psychotics. Base rate problems and theoretical aspects of the scale items are discussed. The scale appears useful as a screening device for normal and retarded children under the age of 13 yrs, with particular utility in detecting psychotic aspects of functioning among the retarded. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further studies of the Tower of Hanoi problem-solving performance of retarded young adults and nonretarded children.

12 retarded Ss (mean CA 20.19 yrs; mean MA 10.23 yrs) and 36 nonretarded kindergartners and 1st–4th graders were given 4–7 step Tower of Hanoi problems that differed in type of goal state. Overall performance levels of the kindergarten, 1st-grade, and retarded groups were the same, but were reliably below the performance level of 3rd and 4th graders. Performance differences were related to the minimum number of steps needed for a problem's solution and to the depth of search required for a problem's initial subgoal. The propensity of the older nonretarded Ss to search 2 moves ahead, while the members of the other groups limited themselves primarily to a 1-move search, contributed importantly to the group differences. Degree of constraint concerning which disk should be the first to be transferred to its goal peg also played a role in producing task and group differences, as did Ss' particular choice of strategies. All groups improved slightly. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cerebral laterality in deaf and hearing children.

Studied the development of lateralization of cerebral function in 20 hearing and 20 prelingually deaf children using the concurrent task paradigm. Ss were aged 5–6 and 11–12 yrs; all were right-handed. Concurrent processing of a nonverbal task did not cause a selective hand impairment monitored by a manual tapping task. However, deaf Ss were more impaired than hearing Ss in both age groups. Using a concurrent verbal task, both groups manifested a selective impairment of right-hand performance. The deaf also showed a greater left-hand decrement than did the hearing Ss. This result suggests that hemispheric specialization may be less apparent in the deaf than in hearing children. The factor of cognitive task difficulty is suggested as an explanation of these results. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)