Imitation Effects on Joint Attention Behaviors of Children with Autism

Abstract

This study examined the effects of adult imitation on three joint attention behaviors of nonverbal preschoolers with autism including referential looking, gaze following and gesturing to the adult. Videotapes taken from a previous study were recoded for the adult's imitation behavior and the children's joint attention behaviors (Field, Field, Sanders, & Nadel, 2001). In the original study, twenty nonverbal, 4 -6-yearold children with autism were randomly assigned to one of two groups, an imitation or a contingent responsivity group. Both groups of children engaged in an intervention play phase during which the adult imitated the children or contingently responded to them and a subsequent spontaneous play phase. ANOVAs revealed that the imitation group children versus the contingent responsivity group children spent a greater percent time looking at the adult during the intervention phase and looking at the adult and following the adult's gaze during the spontaneous play phase. A correlation analysis on the data collapsed across the 2 groups yielded significant correlations between adult imitation during the intervention phase and referential looking and gaze following during the spontaneous play phase. Overall, these results revealed that adults imitating preschoolers with autism elicited joint attention behaviors, highlighting the value of imitation as an intervention.

An Evaluation of Imitation Recognition Abilities in Typically Developing Children and Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Our finding that children with ASD engage in less mature imitation recognition behaviors (i.e., increased social attention) when contingently imitated is consistent with other work in this area [Dawson & Adams, ; Escalona et al, ; Ezell et al, ; Field et al, ; Tiegerman & Primavera, ]. In line with results from our previous study [Berger & Ingersoll, ], we also found here that children with ASD engage in more mature forms of imitation recognition (i.e., testing behaviors).…”

“…Paralleling studies with typically developing children, it is well established that children with ASD show increased social attention (i.e., eye contact, coordinated gaze shifting) and social signals (i.e., approach, touching) when they are imitated by an adult compared to when they are interacted with contingently, but not imitatively [e.g., Dawson & Adams, ; Escalona, Field, Nadel, & Lundy, ; Ezell et al, ; Field, Field, Sanders, & Nadel, ; Tiegerman & Primavera, ]. There is comparatively less work examining more mature imitation recognition (e.g., testing behaviors) in this population.…”

Contingent Imitation and Young Children At-Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…There is some evidence that CI may be active to increase the social behaviors of typical infants at a very young age (Carpenter, Uebel, & Tomasello, 2013; Field, Guy, & Umbel, 1985) as well as in infants at-risk for developmental delay (Pelaez, Virues-Ortega, & Gewirtz, 2011), particularly when implemented by mothers (Hirsh, Stockwell, & Walker, 2014; Masur & Olson, 2008; Pelaez et al, 2011). In children with ASD, research suggests that use of CI is most commonly associated with increased social eye gaze (SEG), alternating gaze, and social vocalizations, most often in minimally verbal populations when implemented by researchers (Ezell, 2012; Field, Sanders, & Nadel, 2001; Nadel et al, 2000) and by mothers (Sanefuji & Ohgami, 2011). Furthermore, use of CI by familiar caregivers rather than by researchers may enhance effectiveness of CI with children with ASD (Slaughter & Ong, 2014).…”

The Effectiveness of a Training Program based on Behaviorism in Improving the Skills of Motor Imitation in a Sample of Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Jordan

“…where child with ASD suffers from deficiencies in the performance of many behavioral patterns that are practiced by normal children of their same age, at the age level between (5-10) years, this child cannot care for or protect himself (Dieringer, 2017). Therefore, working on developing and implementing training programs related to the skills of children with ASD, is a means for providing them with a new knowledge outcome that helps them learn alternative forms of communication (Ennis-Cole, Durodoye & Harris, 2013;Ezell et al, 2012).…”