Phil Reed

Parents' perceptions of communication with professionals during the diagnosis of autism

In order to obtain the views of parents concerning their perceptions of the process of getting a diagnosis of an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) for their child, 15 focus groups were conducted across a range of locations in England. These groups were split into parents of preschool-, primary- and secondary-aged children who had recently received an ASD diagnosis. At the time of diagnosis, most of the parents wished for a quicker and easier process. In particular, they would prefer the procedure to have a more coherent structure and content. They also requested greater professional training about ASD, in particular, regarding the information that professionals possess, and the interpersonal skills of some professionals. The idea of broad information sheets to be provided to parents at the time of diagnosis would be of value, especially to combat negative information provided from other sources.

The Relationship between Parenting Stress and Behavior Problems of Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Two 9- to 10-month-long studies (N = 137) examined the interaction between parenting stress and behavior problems in children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs). Study 1 focused on very young children, and Study 2 employed a wider range of child ages; both studies assessed these factors at 2 points in time. The researchers noted a strong association between parenting stress and child behavior problems when they controlled for other factors, such as ASD severity and intellectual functioning (Study 1 and 2). However, Study 1 indicated that when the children were very young (2:6–4:0 years), ASD severity related most strongly to parenting stress. In addition, both Study 1 and Study 2 indicated that parenting stress at Time 1 was a stronger predictor of child behavior problems at Time 2, rather than vice versa.

The Real-World Effectiveness of Early Teaching Interventions for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The effectiveness of 3 early teaching interventions (applied behavior analysis [ABA], special nursery placement, and portage) for children with autism spectrum disorder was studied in a community-based sample over 10 months. Measures of autism severity as well as intellectual, educational, and adaptive behavioral function were administered. In contrast to reports in some previous research (Lovaas, 1987), there was no evidence of recovery from autism. Children in the ABA condition made greater intellectual and educational gains than children in the portage program. They also made greater educational gains than students in the nursery program. Furthermore, the nursery program produced larger gains than the portage program in adaptive functioning.

Effect of signaled reinforcement on the formation of behavioral units.

Experiments examined the influence of a brief reinforcement signal on the acquisition of a response sequence and investigated whether such sequences serve as behavioral nits. In Experiment 1, hungry rats emitted 2 responses on each of 2 levers to earn food reward. There was no constraint on the sequence in which the 2 responses per lever could be emitted, but rats came to emit 1 of the permitted 4-response sequences to a greater degree than the others. Signaled reinforcement promoted emission of the dominant response sequence. In Experiments 2 and 3, rats with signaled reinforcement displayed facilitated acquisition of the required response sequence, and emission of the sequence persisted after the schedule, reinforcing the required sequence, which was shifted to a variable interval 45-s schedule

Mindfulness as a potential intervention for stimulus over-selectivity in older adults

Ageing is related to significant declines in cognitive functioning. This effect can have a serious impact on the physical and psychological health of older adults as well as their quality of life. One phenomenon linked to cognitive deficits, particularly attention, that has been demonstrated to emerge with ageing is over-selectivity. Over-selectivity occurs when behavior is controlled by a limited number of stimuli in the environment. Mindfulness is a construct that specifically targets attention and awareness of the present moment. The current study aimed to remediate over-selectivity in an elderly population by means of a focused attention/mindfulness induction. The results of this study indicated that the level of emergent over-selectivity in an elderly population was significantly reduced after a focused attention induction when compared to an unfocused attention induction. The findings are discussed in terms of the efficacy of mindfulness training in reducing over-selectivity.

The relationship between dysphoria and proneness to hallucination and delusions among young adults

Previous research suggests that measures of dysphoria relate to positive schizophrenic symptoms. These relationships have rarely been studied within the dimensionality of psychopathology framework. The present study examined the relationship between 3 distinct aspects of dysphoria (depression and state and trait anxiety) and delusion and hallucination proneness in a nonclinical sample of young adults. A total of 472 participants were assessed on measures of dysphoria and delusion and hallucination proneness. Correlation analyses revealed significant associations between both anxiety and depression and hallucination and delusion proneness, suggesting that the association between dysphoria and positive symptoms is also present at a nonclinical level. Partial correlations, and hierarchical regression models, suggest an independent contribution of depression, over anxiety, in influencing hallucination and delusional proneness. The results are discussed in the framework of the cognitive account of schizophrenia and the dimensional model of psychopathology.

Differential psychological impact of internet exposure on Internet addicts.

The study explored the immediate impact of internet exposure on the mood and psychological states of internet addicts and low internet-users. Participants were given a battery of psychological tests to explore levels of internet addiction, mood, anxiety, depression, schizotypy, and autism traits. They were then given exposure to the internet for 15 min, and re-tested for mood and current anxiety. Internet addiction was associated with long-standing depression, impulsive nonconformity, and autism traits. High internet-users also showed a pronounced decrease in mood following internet use compared to the low internet-users. The immediate negative impact of exposure to the internet on the mood of internet addicts may contribute to increased usage by those individuals attempting to reduce their low mood by re-engaging rapidly in internet use.

Intrinsic reinforcing properties of putatively neutral stimuli in an instrumental two-lever discrimination task

Four experiments examined the influence of a stimulus presented after one response in a two-lever choice task. In Experiment 1, food-deprived rats trained on a concurrent variable-interval extinction schedule responded more often on the extinction lever when such responding periodically produced a visual stimulus than when it did not. In Experiments 2 and 3, a similar signal-induced enhancement effect was found even when food was delivered randomly with respect to responding on both levers or when no food was presented. In Experiment 4, a response-contingent visual stimulus elevated responding to the lever on which it was presented, but an auditory cue suppressed responding. These findings indicate that visual stimuli may possess intrinsically reinforcing properties for rats.

Effect of local context of responding on human judgment of causality

Two experiments examined the effect of various relationships between a response (pressing the space bar of a computer) and an outcome (a triangle flashing on a screen) on judgments of the causal effectiveness of the response. In Experiment 1, when responses were required to be temporarily isolated from each other prior to an outcome, ratings of the causal effectiveness of the responses were higher than in a condition in which the probability of an outcome following a response was the same but in which no temporal isolation was required. In Experiment 2, when a number of responses were required to be emitted temporally close to the outcome, ratings of the causal effectiveness of the responses were lower than in a condition in which the probabi1ity of an outcome following a response was the same but in which no temporal proximity was required. These results suggest that, in addition to the overall probability that an outcome will follow a response, the local context of responding at the time an outcome is presented is critical in influencing ratings of causal effectiveness.

Compound stimulus preexposure effects in an appetitive conditioning procedure

Abstract Experiments examined the influence of nonreinforced exposure to compound stimuli on subsequent appetitive classical conditioning in rats. Nonreinforced exposure to a visual stimulus retarded subsequent acquisition of conditioned responding relative to a nonpreexposed condition (latent inhibition). If the target stimulus was preexposed in a nonreinforced simultaneous compound with a second (nontarget) stimulus, then latent inhibition was abolished. Exposure to the nontarget stimulus prior to compound presentation resulted in enhanced latent inhibition relative to a group that received nonreinforced exposure to the target stimulus alone after exposure to the nontarget stimulus. These results pose problems for most existing theories of stimulus preexposure.