BEHAVIOR ANALYTIC ASSESSMENT OF COGNITION IN AUTISM

心理生物学方法揭示了许多例子， 智力障碍患者的群体差异 残疾。 然而，目前还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 自闭症是一种复杂的神经发育障碍， 通常伴有智力迟钝。 在过去，方法论 使复杂的心理学范式适应MR/DD的困难 人口调查有限。 这个项目建议开始 克服这些限制的过程。 特别是，该项目 目的是证明有能力进行有意义的评价， 自闭症患者的行为， 智力低下，语言能力不强。 我们将应用 行为分析方法是评估特定索赔的独特方法 关于自闭症的行为， 有没有自闭症 在视觉和听觉上 模式，我们将评估学习和概括的简单和 条件判别，等价类的形成， 内部和跨模式，即时和延迟召回，以及几个 其他行为指标。 我们调整了刺激控制 在我们的实验室开发的程序来组装测试电池， 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 更多的（I）持续和行为刚性，（ii）限制刺激 控制（超选择性注意），（iii）记忆缺陷，和（iv） 符号处理异常 这项工作将提供一个 初步尝试确定是否必须考虑诊断 当为低水平的个体设计教学干预措施时， 智力功能。它可以被看作是发展一个 更全面的神经行为评估 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.