Predicting ensuing actions in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

This study investigated the ability to predict others' action in a group of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (n = 18). Their performance was compared with a group of children with mental retardation (n = 13) and a group of children with typical development (n = 19). Participants were presented with short incomplete videotaped movies showing an actor executing familiar and non-familiar actions. When asked to predict the outcome, participants with ASD produced fewer correct responses and their performance did not improve for familiar actions, as compared to both comparison groups. In addition, they committed a greater number of errors of temporal inversion. These results provide new evidence that an impaired means-end analysis process, leading to a diminished sensitivity to the sequence structure of goal-directed actions, would disrupt the ability to understand and predict others' actions. The comprehension of abnormalities in event knowledge provides a better insight of some of the problems that individuals with ASD encounter in spontaneously understanding real-life social situations.

Anticipation of Action Intentions in Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Happé 1997). Although an impaired ability to utilise action kinematics and object knowledge to predict the most likely end-point of an action sequence has been demonstrated in children and adolescents with low functioning autism (Zalla et al 2010), it is as yet unknown to what extent problems in the involuntary processing of social cues in ASD may give rise to problems in anticipating other's actions.…”

Intact and impaired mechanisms of action understanding in autism.

“…Difficulties in understanding and predicting others’ actions, as well as difficulties in theory of mind and social-cognitive skills, are frequently documented in children with autism (Baron-Cohen, 1995; Boria et al, 2009; Cattaneo et al, 2007; Zalla, Labruyère, Clément, & Georgieff, 2010), a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by multiple deficits in the areas of social communication and reciprocity and by behavioral rigidity (Kanner, 1943; Rutter, 1978; Volkmar, Lord, Bailey, Schultz, & Klin, 2004). Social-cognitive studies have focused for many years on understanding these deficits in autism.…”

An action video clip database rated for familiarity in China and Germany

“…This is ironic given that actions are inherently dynamic as they unfold with time. Only a few studies have acknowledged this dynamic aspect by using action video clips, rather than action photographs, as stimulus materials (e.g., Hamilton & Grafton, 2008;Spunt et al, 2011;Zalla, Labruyère, Clément, & Georgieff, 2010). One reason for this restriction is very likely the fact that preparation and production of video clips is time consuming and laborious.…”

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that an action's familiarity influences perceptual processing, memory performance, imitation, and outcome prediction (e.g., CalvoMerino, Ehrenberg, Leung, & Haggard, 2010;Knopf, 1991;Wang, Fu, Aschersleben, & Zimmer, 2012;Zalla et al, 2010). The familiarity status of actions and tools can also modulate brain activation patterns (e.g., Calvo-Merino, Grèzes, Glaser, Passingham, & Haggard, 2006;Rumiati et al, 2005;Vingerhoets, Acke, Vandemaele, & Achten, 2009).…”