ERIC Number: EJ1261199
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Aug
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1362-3613
EISSN: N/A
Facilitating Sensorimotor Integration via Blocked Practice Underpins Imitation Learning of Atypical Biological Kinematics in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Foster, Nathan C.; Bennett, Simon J.; Causer, Joe; Elliott, Digby; Bird, Geoffrey; Hayes, Spencer J.
Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, v24 n6 p1494-1505 Aug 2020
The reduced efficacy of voluntary imitation in autism is suggested to be underpinned by differences in sensorimotor processing. We examined whether the imitation of novel atypical biological kinematics by autistic adults is enhanced by imitating a model in a predictable blocked practice trial order. This practice structure is expected to facilitate trial-totrial sensorimotor processing, integration and encoding of biological kinematics. The results showed that neurotypical participants were generally more effective at imitating the biological kinematics across all experimental phases. Importantly, and compared to a pre-test where imitation was performed in a randomised (unpredictable) trial order, the autistic participants learned to imitate the atypical kinematics more effectively following an acquisition phase of repeatedly imitating the same model during blocked practice. Data from the post-test showed that autistic participants remained effective at imitating the atypical biological kinematics when the models were subsequently presented in a randomised trial order. These findings show that the reduced efficacy of voluntary imitation in autism can be enhanced during learning by facilitating trial-to-trial processing and integration of sensorimotor information using blocked practice.
Descriptors: Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Imitation, Perceptual Motor Learning, Adults, Sensory Integration, Novelty (Stimulus Dimension), Motion
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A