19450
Dissociable Components of Imitation Underlie Learning Abilities in Autism Versus William Syndrome and Mediate Treatment Outcomes
Imitation abnormalities have been consistently documented in young children with ASD; however, it is not yet clear whether there is a pattern of imitation difficulties that are specific and unique to ASD. Moreover, as early educational intervention programs often require children to imitate actions and behaviors that are demonstrated to them, differences in imitation are likely to impact on response to educational programs in this population. Given that imitation is a multifaceted process, a more fine-grained analysis of the separable components of imitation, and their relevance to learning is necessary to advance knowledge on imitative learning and outcomes in ASD.
Objectives:
In this ongoing study we investigated multiple processes underlying imitative learning in preschoolers with ASD and a matched sample of children with Williams syndrome (WS) with the aim to identify which imitation processes are (1) specifically impaired in children with ASD, and (2) linked to learning outcomes in response to early intervention in ASD.
Methods:
We tested the spontaneous propensity to imitate others and the accuracy of imitation performance in preschoolers with ASD and WS in response to a series of novel eye-tracking-based imitation tasks, in which the following factors were manipulated 1) motor demands, 2) social connectedness to the model demonstrating the action, 3) reward value associated with the outcomes of the actions, 4) presence/absence of clear goals, 5) attentional demands, and 6) social-processing demands. In the ASD group, we also examined the extent to which individual differences in imitative learning mediated response to intensive early intervention.
Results:
Preliminary findings suggest that spontaneous propensity for social imitation and lack of modulation in imitative response to a socially engaging versus a neutral model might be distinctively impaired in ASD and linked to early intervention outcomes. In contrast, instrumental (e.g. understanding of action goals and outcomes) and motor aspects of imitation seem to be relatively spared in ASD in comparison to core impairments in these components of imitation seen in WS, and appear not to be related to intervention outcomes.
Conclusions:
This study is the first to tease apart the dissociable components underlying imitative learning to identify which imitation processes are (1) specifically impaired in ASD and (2) linked to intervention outcomes. Preliminary results suggest that social and motivational factors underlying imitation might be uniquely impaired in young children with ASD and linked to early intervention outcomes.