Intact Automatic Imitation and Typical Spatial Compatibility in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Challenging the Broken Mirror Theory.
Automatic imitation is alive and well in adults with autism, so skip “mirror” deficit talk and target flexible control instead.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Sowden et al. (2016) asked adults with autism to watch a hand move on a screen.
When the hand lifted a finger, the adults had to lift their own finger as fast as they could.
The task checked two things: automatic copying and simple spatial rules.
What they found
Adults with autism copied the hand just as fast as adults without autism.
More autism traits actually meant slightly stronger copying, not weaker.
The old “broken mirror” idea did not hold up.
How this fits with other research
La Malfa et al. (2004) saw poor imitation in children with autism and blamed body-brain mapping.
The new study shows the problem is not present in adults, so age or task type may matter.
Schunke et al. (2016) used a similar adult group but found slower, clumsier imitation when rules kept changing.
The two adult studies seem to clash, but Sophie tested pure automatic copy while Odette tested quick rule switches.
Different task demands, not different people, likely explain the split.
Why it matters
If automatic imitation is intact, do not assume a deep mirror-neuron flaw in adults.
Focus teaching on flexible rule use or motivation, not on basic copying skill.
Pick tasks that match the learner’s age and the exact skill you want to see.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
A lack of imitative behavior is frequently described as a core feature of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and is consistent with claims of mirror neuron system dysfunction in these individuals. Previous research has questioned this characterization of ASD however, arguing that when tests of automatic imitation are used--which do not require higher-level cognitive processing--imitative behavior is intact or even enhanced in individuals with ASD. In Experiment 1, 60 adult individuals with ASD and a matched Control group completed an automatic imitation task in which they were required to perform an index or a middle finger lift while observing a hand making either the same, or the alternate, finger movement. Both groups demonstrated a significant imitation effect whereby actions were executed faster when preceded by observation of the same action, than when preceded by the alternate action. The magnitude of this "imitation effect" was statistically indistinguishable in the ASD and Control groups. Experiment 2 utilized an improved automatic imitation paradigm to demonstrate that, when automatic imitation effects are isolated from those due to spatial compatibility, increasing autism symptom severity is associated with an increased tendency to imitate. Notably, there was no association between autism symptom severity and spatial compatibility, demonstrating the specificity of the link between ASD symptoms and increased imitation. These results provide evidence against claims of a lack of imitative behavior in ASD, and challenge the "Broken Mirror Theory of Autism."
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2016 · doi:10.1002/aur.1511