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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

A Quantitative Analysis Of Errors During Conditional Discriminations: Changing Sample-Stimuli Disparity In Delayed Matching-To-Sample Task With Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Tiara Rahadian Putri Dec 2019

A Quantitative Analysis Of Errors During Conditional Discriminations: Changing Sample-Stimuli Disparity In Delayed Matching-To-Sample Task With Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Tiara Rahadian Putri

Theses and Dissertations

Conditional discrimination skill is foundational in teaching many other functional skills in children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and error occur during training. Antecedent- and consequence-based intervention are commonly used without the understanding of underlying behavioral mechanism responsible for these errors. A quantitative framework based on choice- and signal-detection analyses (Davison & Tustin, 1978) was used to quantify and categorize errors. Three children diagnosed with ASD participated. The current study used an automated 0-s delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) procedure on an iPad Pro® 9.7”. Four experimental conditions were arranged successively, wherein each corresponded with a level of sample stimuli disparity: …


Predicting Change In Autism Symptomatology In Young Children At Risk For Autism Spectrum Disorder: Fragile X Syndrome, Down Syndrome And Non-Syndromic Asd, Kelly Elizabeth Caravella Oct 2019

Predicting Change In Autism Symptomatology In Young Children At Risk For Autism Spectrum Disorder: Fragile X Syndrome, Down Syndrome And Non-Syndromic Asd, Kelly Elizabeth Caravella

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of two manuscripts which examine the longitudinal development of autism symptomatology in young children at risk for developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD); individuals with Fragile x syndrome (FXS) and Down syndrome (DS). The first study is a within group analysis of the longitudinal development of ASD symptomatology in young children with FXS, and how diagnostic stability, language and non-verbal cognitive functioning may predict these trajectories. This paper provides insight into ASD diagnostic stability patterns within FXS, and how symptoms change over time across these groups. The second paper will extend this work by presenting a pilot …


"Camouflaging" In Women With Autistic Traits: Measures, Mechanisms, And Mental Health Implications, Jonathan S. Beck Aug 2019

"Camouflaging" In Women With Autistic Traits: Measures, Mechanisms, And Mental Health Implications, Jonathan S. Beck

Theses and Dissertations

Autistic traits are associated with frequent psychological distress and everyday functional challenges. Some individuals with autistic traits “camouflage” these traits during social interactions by effortfully engaging in “typical” social behaviors. Camouflaging seems to be especially common in autistic girls and women. Emerging evidence proposes a role for camouflaging behaviors in poorer mental health and daily functioning. Furthermore, camouflaging efforts may delay receipt of a proper diagnosis and access to appropriate mental health care. Despite their clinical significance, camouflaging efforts remain difficult to quantify, and the mechanisms and impacts of camouflaging are poorly understood. This study aimed to compare multiple methods …


The Effects Of Autism Symptom Severity And Social Anxiety On Pragmatic Language In Young Adult Males With Fragile X Syndrome, Sara Mcgrath Matherly Jul 2019

The Effects Of Autism Symptom Severity And Social Anxiety On Pragmatic Language In Young Adult Males With Fragile X Syndrome, Sara Mcgrath Matherly

Theses and Dissertations

Pragmatic, or social, language skills play a pivotal role in abilities that facilitate interpersonal relationships and independence, particularly in adulthood. Pragmatic language deficits are considered a core trait of males with fragile X syndrome (FXS); however, mechanisms that influence these abilities are not well known. This research is also limited by a lack of valid assessments that adequately capture pragmatic language skills. The present dissertation is the first to examine pragmatic language skills and mechanisms that influence these abilities using a novel, dynamic language assessment, the Yale in vivo Pragmatic Protocol (YiPP) in young adult males with FXS. Results revealed …


Joint Attention And Imitation: How Early Social Skills Relate To Language, Social Behavior, And Overall Responsiveness To Early Intervention In Children With Autism, Claire E. Karlen May 2019

Joint Attention And Imitation: How Early Social Skills Relate To Language, Social Behavior, And Overall Responsiveness To Early Intervention In Children With Autism, Claire E. Karlen

Theses and Dissertations

Joint attention, the ability to coordinate one’s attention with that of another person (Dawson et al., 2004), and imitation, the ability to copy another person’s behavior (Sevlever & Gillis, 2010), are two of the initial methods by which children learn from and interact with the world around them (Trevarthan, 1979). These two skills are related to the development of language, social skills, and play. Further, they seem to come naturally in typically developing children. For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), however, these skills are often delayed or entirely absent, thereby potentially leading to significant impediments in the acquisition of …


Training Caregivers To Implement A Structured Meal Protocol To Decrease Food Selectivity Among Young Children With Autism, Ronald Joseph Clark May 2019

Training Caregivers To Implement A Structured Meal Protocol To Decrease Food Selectivity Among Young Children With Autism, Ronald Joseph Clark

Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated a method of training caregivers to implement the Structured Meal protocol to treat children with autism who exhibit food selectivity. A treatment package consisting of written instructions and video modeling as well as in-vivo prompting and feedback (when necessary) was used to teach participants to conduct the protocol. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of training. In addition to the primary dependent variable (i.e., correct caregiver implementation of the Structured Meal protocol), data on three secondary dependent variables (i.e., child bite acceptance, mouth cleans, and inappropriate mealtime behavior) were collected. Results …


Discrimination Training To Produce Emergent Relations Of Pre-Algebraic Math Skills, Jeanine Rinda Tanz May 2019

Discrimination Training To Produce Emergent Relations Of Pre-Algebraic Math Skills, Jeanine Rinda Tanz

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often have deficits with respect to generalization of skills. Procedures designed to induce stimulus equivalence have been shown to promote generalization. This study used a modified multiple probe design with an embedded multiple schedule to: (a) compare one-to-many (OTM) and many-to-one (MTO) training structures to determine which structure results in more positive equivalence outcomes when all variables are held constant, and (b) determine the extent to which children with ASD demonstrate stimulus equivalence and stimulus class mergers when using educationally relevant stimuli. Four children with ASD were taught two classes of stimuli (Class …