The occurrence of autistic children's self-stimulation as a function of familiar versus unfamiliar stimulus conditions.
The present study was conducted to determine whether certain stimulus conditions were associated with high and low rates of autistic children's self-stimulation. Six autistic boys were assessed in situations varying along three dimensions: familiarity or unfamiliarity of setting, learning task, and therapist. Each child was observed in 10 10-min stimulus conditions, and trained observers recorded the occurrence of self-stimulation within each condition. The results of a 2 x 2 x 2 ANOVA indicated that self-stimulation occurred significantly more often with an unfamiliar than with a familiar therapist. Unfamiliar versus familiar setting and task were not significant effects, and there were no significant interactions. Also, significant differences were found within each condition, with self-stimulation increasing in frequency as the sessions progressed. Finally, there was a significant and negative correlation between the occurrence of self-stimulation and correct responding. These findings suggest several treatment strategies for facilitating a generalized suppression of autistic children's self-stimulation.
D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004777:Environment; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012931:Social Environment; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior