title: Extinction of over-selected stimuli causes emergence of under-selected cues in higher-functioning children with autistic spectrum disorders.
abstract: Two experiments examined whether over-selectivity is the product of a post-acquisition performance deficit, rather than an attention problem. In both experiments, children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder were presented with a trial-and-error discrimination task using two, two-element stimuli and over-selected in both studies. After behavioral control by the previously over-selected stimulus was extinguished, behavioral control by the previously under-selected cue emerged without direct training. However, this effect was only found in higher-functioning children, and not with more severely impaired children. These findings suggest that over-selectivity is not simply due to a failure to attend to all of the stimuli presented. They also suggest that extinction of over-selected stimuli may be a fruitful line of intervention for clinical intervention for some individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK. p.reed@swansea.ac.uk
authors.forename: Phil
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Broomfield
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McHugh
authors.forename: Aisling
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McCausland
authors.forename: Geraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leader
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D003463:Cues; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014796:Visual Perception
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