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Assessment of Stimulus Overselectivity with Tactile Compound Stimuli in Children with Autism

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Abstract

Autistic and typical children mastered a simultaneous discrimination task with three sets of all-tactile compound stimuli. During training, responding to one stimulus (S+) resulted in rewards whereas responding to the alternative (S−) was extinguished. Test 1 was conducted with recombinations of S+ and S− elements. In Test 2, the test stimulus to which the child responded most in Test 1 was pitched against the training S+. In Test 1, all children responded exclusively to one test probe, spuriously implying stimulus overselectivity in both populations. However, in Test 2, the typical children responded mostly to the training S+ indicating control by both S+ elements; the autistic children responded to both stimuli indicating reduced control by the second S+ element (indicating overselectivity).

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Acknowldgements

The authors wish to thank the staff of Eden II and the children and their families for their support and participation in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, College of Staten Island, City University of New York, 2800 Victory Boulevard, 4S-105, Staten Island, NY, 10314, USA

    Bertram O. Ploog

  2. Graduate School and University Center, City University of New York, Staten Island, NY, USA

    Bertram O. Ploog

  3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Nina Kim

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Correspondence to Bertram O. Ploog.

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Ploog, B.O., Kim, N. Assessment of Stimulus Overselectivity with Tactile Compound Stimuli in Children with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 37, 1514–1524 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0244-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0244-5

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