Behavioral Therapeutic Approaches to Development of Verbal and Social Behavior in Children with Autism

1991 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 01510050
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Psychology
• Research Institution: Tokyo Gakugei University
• Principal Investigator: UJIMORI Hidetsugu Tokyo Gakugei University, Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (10015448)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): SAMESHIMA Munehiro Tokyo Gakugei University, Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (80015437) ; KATADA Akiyoshi Tokyo Gakugei University, Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (60015435)
• Project Period (FY): 1989 – 1991
• Keywords: Autistic Children / Language・Cognition / Behavior Therapy / Social Behavior / Case Study

Research Abstract

Failure to acquire communicative speech and social behaviors seems to be debilitating aspects of autism.
At first, we compared perceptual and discrimination learning processes in autistic children with those in MACA matched mentally retarded children.
It was found that cross-modality in perceptual-motor dimension within materials and motor-responce cues should be considered to promote the learning performances of autistic children.
Seconds, by introducing behavior modification techniques, we tried to promote the verbal and social development in autistic children. Data obtained from the individual and group therapy sessions showed that effects of each modification techniques used were varied by differences in the children's developmental level of verbal and social abilities.
Last, we examined autonomic components of attention to auditory stimulus by psychophysiological procedure.
By operating stimulus conditions, activity level of some of those components could be activated and motor reaction times could be improved in some subjects.
To get more teaching effects used in this studies, problems of structuring in training material and it's situation should be considered.