BEHAVIOR ANALYTIC ASSESSMENT OF COGNITION IN AUTISM

心理生物学方法揭示了许多例子 智力障碍神经精神病患者的群体差异 残疾。 但目前尚不清楚这些差异在多大程度上 表现在行为上。 该项目的重点是评估 自闭症患者是一种复杂的神经发育障碍 常伴有智力低下。 过去，方法论 将复杂的心理范式适应 MR/DD 存在困难 人群的调查有限。 本项目拟启动 克服这些限制的过程。 特别是，该项目 力求展示对以下方面进行有意义的评估的能力 患有严重精神疾病的自闭症患者的行为 智力迟钝，语言能力欠佳。 我们将申请 行为分析方法是评估特定主张的独特方法 关于自闭症行为，比较严重智障人士 有和没有自闭症。 无论在视觉还是听觉上 方式，我们将评估简单和 条件歧视，等价类的形成 在模式内部和跨模式、立即和延迟回忆以及一些 其他行为措施。 我们已经调整了刺激控制 我们实验室开发的程序用于组装测试电池 评估自闭症患者认知缺陷的特异性。 我们将测试自闭症患者是否表现出相对 更多 (I) 坚持和行为僵化，(ii) 限制刺激 控制（过度选择性注意），（iii）记忆缺陷，以及（iv） 符号处理异常。 这项事业将提供 初步尝试确定是否必须考虑诊断 在为低范围个体设计教学干预时 的智力功能。这可以被视为开发一个 为此更全面的神经行为评估电池 人口。

Psychobiological approaches have revealed numerous examples of group differences among neuropsychiatric patients with intellectual disabilities. It is unclear, however, to what extent these differences are manifested behaviorally. The focus of this project is the evaluation of individuals with autism, a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that is often accompanied by mental retardation. In the past, methodological difficulties adapting complex psychological paradigms to MR/DD populations have limited investigation. This project proposes to begin the process of overcoming these limitations. In particular, the project seeks to demonstrate the capacity to conduct meaningful evaluations of the behavior of individuals with autism who are severely mentally retarded and have poorly developed language skills. We will apply behavior analytic methods tin a unique way to evaluate specific claims about autistic behavior, comparing severely mentally retarded persons with and without autism. Within both the visual and auditory modalities, we will assess learning and generalization of simple and conditional discriminations, formation of equivalence classes both within and across modalities, immediate and delayed recall, and several other behavioral measures. We have adapted stimulus control procedures developed in our laboratory to assemble a test battery to assess the specificity of cognitive deficits in individuals with autism. We will test whether or not autistic individuals display comparatively more (I) perserveration and behavioral rigidity, (ii) restricted stimulus control (ovcrselective attention), (iii) memory deficits, and (iv) symbolic processing abnormalities. This undertaking will provide an initial attempt to determine whether diagnosis must be considered when designing teaching interventions for individuals in the low range of intellectual function. It can be seen as a first step in developing a more comprehensive neurobehavioral assessment battery for this population.