SEARCH · Search PubMed
Results for “Imitative Behavior”
Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Observations on the nature of human relatedness.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Problems concerning acting out.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Correlates of suicide ideation in a college population.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Motor imitation abilities and neurological signs in autistic children.
Autistic children were compared with chronological and mental age-matched normal children on two tests of motor imitation and on the Herzig Battery for Non-Focal Neurological Signs. The results indicated that autistic children have significant handicaps in the neurodevelopmental area, with very poor performance on motor imitation tasks and a universal and significant excess of soft signs of neurological dysfunction. Such "dyspraxias" may underlie the failure of these children to learn to use gesture.
Communications of psychotics.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Comprehension of pretense in children with autism.
In an attempt to tap underlying competencies, the ability of children with autism to comprehend pretend acts carried out by an experimenter was compared with that shown by controls. These acts consisted of the pouring of a pretend substance from an appropriate container onto a target figure. There was no significant difference in the groups' ability to identify the pretend substance involved, to predict the pretend outcome of the actions, or to reflect on the pretend nature of the episodes. However, the performance of controls on these latter two tasks was surprisingly poor, limiting the implications that might be drawn from the observed absence of group differences in comprehension abilities.
Generativity in the play of young people with autism.
Examines the ability of young people with autism to generate ideas for play. Young people with autism, children with learning difficulties, and younger normal children were asked to generate 12 different actions and follow 12 instructions with a car and a doll. The young people with autism were impaired, relative to the controls, at generating original actions with the car, but were as able as the controls to follow the instructions. However, the young people with autism were not impaired at generating original actions with the doll. All three groups produced similar amounts of symbolic play. Possible explanations for the difference in results for the two toys are discussed.
Changes in language development among autistic and peer children in segregated and integrated preschool settings.
Five young children with autism enrolled in a segregated class, five other children with autism in an integrated class, and four normally developing peer children in the integrated class were compared for developmental changes in language ability as measured by the Preschool Language Scale before and after training. The results, based on Mann-Whitney U tests, showed that (a) all of the children as a group made better than normative progress in rate of language development, (b) the scores of the autistic children were significantly lower than the peers before and after treatment, and (c) there were no significant differences in changes in language ability between the autistic children in the segregated and integrated classes.
Communication and sensorimotor functioning in children with autism.
This study examined the relationship between sensorimotor functioning and communicative intent in children with autism. Ten children with autism, four verbal and six nonverbal, served as subjects. Sensorimotor functioning was assessed on object permanence, means-end, causality, vocal and gestural imitation, the construction of objects in space and schemes for relating objects. A 2-hr communication sample was also obtained and analyzed for the number and diversity of pragmatic functions expressed. Object permanence was not significantly related to either the diversity or total number of pragmatic functions. Means-end was significantly related to both of these measures, while vocal imitation was significantly related to the total number of pragmatic functions expressed. In addition, means-end was significantly correlated with performance on the vocal and gestural imitation scales.
Speech following sign language training in autistic children with minimal verbal language.
This study was carried out to test the main and interaction effects of training condition and pretreatment-elicited verbal imitation ability when predicting spoken language use during language training of 60 minimally verbal autistic children. Subjects were randomly assigned to Speech Alone, Sign Alone, Simultaneous Presentation of Sign and Speech, and Alternating Presentation of Sign and Speech training conditions. Speech Alone, Simultaneous Presentation, and Alternating Presentation condition facilitated more child-initiated speech during treatment than did the Sign Alone condition. Regardless of training condition, pretreatment verbal imitation ability positively predicted the size of child-initiated spoken vocabulary observed during training. Exploratory analyses indicated that, in addition to verbal imitation, pretreatment age and IQ may also predict spoken language developed during training.
Daily life therapy: a Japanese model for educating children with autism.
The controversial practice of Daily Life Therapy, as demonstrated at the Boston Higashi School in Massachusetts, is reviewed. Five fundamental principles of Daily Life Therapy are examined: instruction that is group-oriented; routine activities that are highly structured; instructional techniques that center on learning through imitation; a method for reducing children's levels of unproductive activity through rigorous physical exercise; and a curriculum that focuses on movement, music, and art. These central features of Daily Life Therapy are discussed in light of current theory, research, and educational practices in autism. Empirical questions raised by this unique treatment mode are outlined.
Brief report: planning problems in autism at the level of motor control.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Language intervention: a pragmatic approach.
The approach to language intervention described in this paper provides a means of teaching pragmatically appropriate and effective uses of language in conversational contexts while simultaneously teaching the production and comprehension of specific linguistic forms. The approach, developed in work with seriously language-disabled young children, consists of a series of communication games. These games, which focus and intensify certain characteristics of conversational situations, teach vocabulary, syntax, and articulation as devices for serving the same pragmatic functions these devices serve in ordinary conversation. The games integrate the advantages of the traditional language lessons and those of incidental teaching. Spontaneous speech data collected before and after a 4-month interval from trained and contrast-group children suggest the positive impact of the intervention on the language performance of children with no or moderate cognitive delays, but the results do not suggest a similar impact on children with severe cognitive delays. The results suggest that the intervention merits further application and evaluation, with particular attention to the control of cognitive level.
Self-recognition in autistic children.
The hypothesis that the autistic child's impairment in social relatedness stems in part from underlying deficits in self-recognition was explored. Fifteen autistic children ranging from 4 to 6 years of age were assessed for visual self-recognition ability, as well as for skills in two cognitive areas that are believed to be related to the development of self-recognition--object permanence and gestural imitation. It was found that 13 of 15 autistic children showed evidence of self-recognition. The two autistic children who lacked self-recognition were the only two children to perform poorly on the object permanence tasks, which suggests that these two cognitive domains may be closely linked in development. In contrast, there appeared to be no consistent relationship between motor imitation ability and self-recognition. It was concluded that the autistic child's social deficits are not due to a basic lack of differentiation between self and other.
Social skills training with verbal autistic adolescents and adults: a program model.
An ongoing social skills training program was implemented with 15 verbal autistic adolescents and adults. The major long-range goals were for the participants to have positive peer-related social experiences in a supportive atmosphere and to learn useful skills in this way. Short-term training objectives included how to meet other people, stay on a topic of conversation, ask questions, pay attention, and express one's feelings and emotions. Teaching techniques included modeling, coaching, and role-playing. Preliminary indications suggest that the main goals and training objectives were being accomplished and that clients were progressing in their conversational skills, their selection of relevant topics, and their perceptions of themselves. The implications of this program for the understanding and treatment of autistic adolescents and adults is described, as well as the viability of a social skills training model. The need for more research on this most important issue is highlighted.
Imitation of mother's inappropriate food preference in weanling kittens.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.