Cognitive Imitation in Autism - PubMed
- ️Mon Jan 01 2007
Cognitive Imitation in Autism
Francys Subiaul et al. Cogn Dev. 2007.
No abstract available
Figures

(A) Sample of a 4-item simultaneous chain (i.e., 4 arbitrary pictures comprising a serial list), (B) Example of how list items (pictures) change spatial configuration from trial to trail on a 4×4 grid. Arrows indicate the target sequence between trials.

(A) The autistic group’s average number of responses prior to the first correct trials. When compared to baseline performance where participants discovered the correctly serial order of each item by trial and error, individuals with autism learned significantly faster in all three imitation conditions where they had the opportunity to learn from a human model [CS, SO] or from the computer alone [CO] (B) The autistic group’s accuracy responding to all four items in the correct serial order in the first trial. Accuracy was recorded as correct (1) if participants responded to all four items (A→B→C→D) on the first trial (without making any errors) or as incorrect (0) if participants made an incorrect response. This measures represents the most conservative measure of imitation learning. [ *** p = .000, chance = .04 ]

(A) Average number of responses before first correct trial. All participants learned significantly faster, making fewer errors, in the imitation conditions (CS, SO, and CO) than in the Baseline condition. The performance of individuals with autism did not differ from that of typically-developing 3- or 4-year olds. (B)First trial accuracy. Participant’s accuracy responding to all four items in the sequence correctly (i.e., A→B→C→D) in the first trial [chance probability = .04] did not differ between groups. All the participants tested knew the correct order of the 4 items in the very first trial significant above chance levels (c.f., Figure 2B).
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