Imitation in Autism

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Questions and Answers

According to the study, what characteristic defines functional response classes within generalized imitation?

  • The number of movements within each response.
  • Topographical boundaries. (correct)
  • The temporal order of the responses.
  • The reinforcement schedule applied.

In the context of imitation studies, what does the term 'generalized imitation' refer to?

  • The capacity to imitate novel behaviors without direct reinforcement, based on prior reinforcement of other imitative behaviors. (correct)
  • Learning to imitate a wide variety of behaviors after training on only one specific behavior.
  • Imitating behaviors displayed by a group rather than an individual.
  • The tendency to imitate only behaviors that are directly reinforced.

What design was used to assess the generalization of imitation across and within response types?

  • Alternating treatment design.
  • Randomized control trial.
  • AB design.
  • Multiple baseline design. (correct)

In the study, what served as the basis for categorizing responses as matches or nonmatches?

<p>Whether the child’s response contained an established number of distinct motor movements modeled by the experimenter. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What procedure was implemented for one participant, Seth, to improve matching during training trials?

<p>The introduction of a high-probability instruction sequence. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was a typical component of the 'model-and-praise' condition?

<p>Delivering verbal praise along with an edible reinforcer or physical contact for matching within 6 seconds. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes how stimulus sets were organized in the study?

<p>Each set comprised a mix of training models and probe models from different response types. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following did the study specifically aim to examine regarding imitation in children with autism?

<p>The impact of response topography on the generalization of imitation. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

According to Baer and Deguchi (1985), what is generalized imitation considered?

<p>A functional response class. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What requirements did potential participants have to meet to be considered eligible for the study?

<p>Meet the DSM-III-R criteria for autism. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the purpose of probe trials in the study's design?

<p>To assess generalization of imitation without direct reinforcement. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why did the researchers select the response types of vocal, toy play, and pantomime for the study?

<p>These response types represent typical deficits in the repertoires of children with autism. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

In the description of the experimenter's behavior, what was a key aspect monitored during the sessions?

<p>The experimenter's consistency in presenting models and delivering reinforcement. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

According to the study, what might perseverative behavior in children with autism interfere with?

<p>Toy-play imitation. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did the researchers ensure that a session did not start or end with a probe model?

<p>By randomizing presentation within constraints. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the study suggest regarding the relationship between imitation and instructional control?

<p>Imitation might be viewed as a subclass of instructional control. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

According to Neef, Shafer, Egel, Cataldo, and Parrish (1983), what did their results show regarding compliance?

<p>Compliance generalized to untrained probe requests within the same class of instructions. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

In the study, what action was taken by experimenters if a child emitted both a matching and nonmatching response during a trial?

<p>Both response categories were recorded. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

According to Haring (1985) and Haring, Breen, and Laitinen (1989), what might be necessary to achieve between-class responding?

<p>Training across a range of three to five distinct classes. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

According to the study, what was a common trend observed across the participants' data?

<p>Matching did not generalize across response types. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Flashcards

Generalized imitation

Temporally following & topographically similar responses to behavior modeled by another person.

Generalized Imitation as Functional Response

A functional response class where some imitative responding, although never directly reinforced, is maintained as long as other imitative responding is reinforced.

Imitation Subclasses

Imitation may be comprised of distinct subclasses defined by the topography of the imitative response.

Garcia et al. Study

Examined subclasses of generalized imitative responses across four response types: short vocal, long vocal, small motor, and gross motor.

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Garcia et al. Findings

Imitation generalized only within each response type; imitative responding did not generalize to the fourth, untreated response type.

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Nonmatching Response

Defined by response type; for vocal models, nonmatching responses were any vocal responses that did not match the model.

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Research Design

Multiple baseline across responses assessed generalization of imitation across and within response types.

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High-Probability instruction

Increase of compliance to other requests by use of requests with a high probability.

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Study Notes

Overview

  • Study examines imitation in autistic children across different response types
  • Analyzes imitative response classes in children with autism

Study Design

  • Examines the influence of response topography on imitation generalization
  • Focuses on vocal, toy-play, and pantomime responses
  • Involves reinforced training and non-reinforced probe trials

Participants

  • Includes four children with autism
  • Utilizes a multiple baseline design

Key Findings

  • Imitation generalized from reinforced to non-reinforced models within a response type
  • Imitation did not generalize across response types
  • Functional response classes are determined by topographical boundaries within generalized imitation

Imitation Explained

  • Generalized imitation involves responses that temporally follow and are topographically similar to modeled behavior
  • Imitation has a role in social behavior and language development
  • Imitation may be a functional response class

Reinforcement Types

  • Imitative responding can be maintained if other imitative responding is reinforced
  • Non-reinforced imitative responding decreases when reinforcement stops for other imitative acts
  • Imitation could consist of subclasses by topography

Participants Details

  • Study includes three boys and one girl meeting DSM-III-R criteria for autism
  • Ages ranged from 2 years 11 months to 4 years 5 months
  • Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales were administered
  • All children were enrolled in the Princeton Child Development Institute (PCDI) education program

Imitation Evaluation

  • Three children showed no imitative behavior upon entering the program
  • David demonstrated some echolalic responding
  • Boys had about 1 year of preliminary vocal imitation training
  • The girl began vocal training concurrently with the investigation
  • All children showed perseverative behavior with objects and/or some stereotypic behavior

Setting

  • Study conducted in a small classroom used for one-to-one sessions
  • Room equipped with tables, chairs, and a camcorder for recording

Models

  • Vocal modeling stimuli included combination of words already in repertoire and new ones
  • Vocal-with-toy models (for David) combined motor response with vocalization
  • Toy-play models involved two to three toy movements of 45 different toys

Pantomime

  • Pantomime models had motor movements resembling activities with objects/social meanings
  • Examples are "blowing a kiss" or using hands to form a "telescope"

Stimulus Sets

  • Two-thirds training (reinforced) models and one-third probe (non-reinforced) models within each response type
  • Each of the 20 stimulus sets included 27 trials (nine vocal, nine pantomime, and nine toy-play models)

Response

  • Responses were recorded as matches or nonmatches
  • Toy-play and pantomime matches involved established motor movements
  • Vocal matches needed all vocal components
  • Data was collected from videos of each session.
  • A multiple baseline was used to look at generalization of imitation across and within response types.

Experimenter

  • Experimenter behavior monitored for correctness of model, presentation, order, reinforcement, etc.
  • Experimenter behavior was generally scored as correct on 100% of trials

Procedure

  • Sessions began with successful, praised trials
  • Model-alone: experimenter said "Look at me" before target
  • Model-and-praise: like model-alone, but with verbal praise and edible reinforcer/physical contact for matches
  • Generalization probe: no reinforcement for matches

Seth procedure

  • For Seth an instruction-following procedure was implemented consisting of two compliance models
  • Matching responses following these instruction-following models were not reinforced

Response Analysis

  • Vocal matching increased to 100% for Neal during training trials
  • Toy-play matches increased above baseline but reached 100% during only one session for Neal during training
  • Matching for toy play for Heidi, showed only a slight and inconsistent increase in matching
  • Nonmatching decreased for each response type with the introduction of treatment

General Findings

  • Imitation generalized only within each response type
  • Nonmatching responding did not increase
  • Toy-play was most slowly acquired response class
  • With the instruction-following procedure, Seth's matching increased across all three response types

Discussion

  • Generalized imitation may be limited by the topographical boundaries of response type - children do better when trained with models that look similar to the trained models
  • Imitation generalized best within the response type
  • The high-probability instruction sequence which enhanced helped Seth with treatment
  • The use of requests with a high probability of compliance can sometimes increase compliance to other requests.
  • Perseverative behavior affected toy play negatively

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