Goal-directed and goal-less imitation in autism spectrum disorder.
Kids with autism copy the finish line, not the journey—so teach the movement before you add a goal.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked the kids with autism and 20 typical kids to copy hand moves.
Some moves had a clear goal, like pressing a button. Others had no goal; they just floated in space.
Cameras tracked how fast and smooth the moves were and where the eyes looked.
What they found
Kids with autism moved the same speed no matter what. They did not ease into the goal like typical kids do.
Their eyes jumped straight to the end point even when there was no goal.
They treated every move like a mission to finish, not a dance to match.
How this fits with other research
Faso et al. (2016) saw the same stiff moves in adults with autism. Those adults fixed timing errors but still missed the shape of the motion.
Somogyi et al. (2013) found that non-verbal kids with autism also copy the end point and ignore the ‘why.’ Together the three papers show the goal bias holds across age and IQ.
van Timmeren et al. (2016) adds that kids with autism do not use visual feedback loops well. This may explain why they lock onto the goal and skip the fine adjustments.
Why it matters
When you run imitation programs, strip away goal objects at first. Practice the move itself, like a simple arm wave, before adding a button to press. Watch the child’s eyes; if they dart to a finish spot, redirect them to your hand path. This keeps the focus on form, not on getting it done.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
To investigate how people with Autism are affected by the presence of goals during imitation, we conducted a study to measure movement kinematics and eye movements during the imitation of goal-directed and goal-less hand movements. Our results showed that a control group imitated changes in movement kinematics and increased the level that they tracked the hand with their eyes, in the goal-less compared to goal-direction condition. In contrast, the ASD group exhibited more goal-directed eye movements, and failed to modulate the observed movement kinematics successfully in either condition. These results increase the evidence for impaired goal-less imitation in ASD, and suggest that there is a reliance on goal-directed strategies for imitation in ASD, even in the absence of visual goals.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2012 · doi:10.1007/s10803-011-1417-4