Extinction of over-selected stimuli causes emergence of under-selected cues in higher-functioning children with autistic spectrum disorders.
Stop reinforcing the over-selected cue and the ignored cue can take over—no extra teaching needed.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Reed et al. (2009) worked with higher-functioning children with autism.
They used a simple two-picture game. One picture was bright and loud. Kids always picked that one.
The team then stopped giving prizes for the bright picture. They watched to see if the quiet picture would now control choices.
What they found
When the bright picture no longer paid off, kids started picking the quiet one.
No extra teaching was needed. The ignored cue suddenly guided choices.
Lower-functioning children did not show this shift.
How this fits with other research
Gibson et al. (2005) first saw over-selectivity in rats. Their animal model set the stage for this kid study.
McSweeney et al. (2000) also used extinction, but to test problem behaviors. Both papers show one change can reveal hidden control.
Nakagawa (2005) found emergent relations in rats after matching tasks. Like Phil et al., new control appeared without direct training.
Why it matters
If you run discrimination drills and a child only picks the flashy card, try extinction. Stop reinforcing that card for a few trials. The other card may gain control on its own. This saves teaching time and builds flexible stimulus control. Check the child’s level first—the trick works best with higher-functioning learners.
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Join Free →During a two-choice discrimination task, withhold reinforcement for the flashy card for 5 trials and watch if the quiet card starts guiding correct responses.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Two experiments examined whether over-selectivity is the product of a post-acquisition performance deficit, rather than an attention problem. In both experiments, children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder were presented with a trial-and-error discrimination task using two, two-element stimuli and over-selected in both studies. After behavioral control by the previously over-selected stimulus was extinguished, behavioral control by the previously under-selected cue emerged without direct training. However, this effect was only found in higher-functioning children, and not with more severely impaired children. These findings suggest that over-selectivity is not simply due to a failure to attend to all of the stimuli presented. They also suggest that extinction of over-selected stimuli may be a fruitful line of intervention for clinical intervention for some individuals.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2009 · doi:10.1007/s10803-008-0629-8