Stuart Powell

Recall for self and other in autism: children's memory for events experienced by themselves and their peers.

Research on memory processing suggests that memory for events that an individual experiences should be superior to that for similar events that someone else experiences (e.g., Baker-Ward et al., 1990). However, such predictions may not be applicable to individuals with autism. There are already suggestions that individuals with autism have specific difficulties in remembering (Boucher & Lewis, 1989). In addition, they are known to have more general difficulties involving processes related to the “self.” If children with autism have difficulties in encoding information about themselves this could result in a deficit in personal episodic memory. The studies reported here compare memory for personally experienced events with that of memory for events experienced by a peer. An adaption of a method devised by Boucher and Lewis has been employed to assess recall. Two separate studies were conducted to investigate whether children with autism are impaired at recalling personal events. Two groups of children took part in Study 1, a group of children with autism and a control group of typical children matched for verbal mental age. A group of children with moderate learning difficulties were employed in the second study to investigate whether the findings also occur in other groups of individuals who have learning disabilities. Findings indicate that, in the group with autism, events performed by the individual were recalled significantly less well than the observed events performed by a peer. However, the results for the nonautistic children in both studies showed that the opposite was true. Theoretical claims are discussed in the light of these findings.

Spontaneous play in children with autism : A reappraisal

Much controversy remains regarding the ability of children with autism to engage in spontaneous play. In this study children with autism, Down syndrome and typical development with verbal mental ages of approximately 2 years were assessed for play abilities at three data points. Even in this group of children with autism, who had relatively low verbal mental ages, symbolic play skills were not totally absent. However, it was possible to distinguish their pattern of play behaviors from the other two groups. Consequentially, it is argued that there are unusual features in early spontaneous play in children with autism and these atypical patterns are not restricted to their difficulties in the production of symbolic play. Such differences in early spontaneous play raise interesting questions about the etiology of autism, the direction of future research, and the theoretical models that can account for the condition.

Imitation of Pretend Play Acts by Children with Autism and Down Syndrome

Although there has recently been considerable research interest in the difficulties that children with autism have engaging in pretend play, little attention has been paid to the ability of these children to imitate pretend play acts. Furthermore, suggestions that children with Down syndrome have relatively advanced abilities in pretend play have not been accompanied by an examination of their capacity to imitate pretend play. Three groups of children: autistic, Down syndrome, and normally developing were studied for their capacity to imitate single pretend acts and a series of pretend acts that formed scripts. While the children with autism were surprisingly better than the other two groups on the single-scheme task, they demonstrated specific difficulties on the multischeme task. Results are discussed in relation to current theories of autism and the notion of imitation.

Being Subjective about Autistic Thinking and Learning to Learn

In this paper, we discuss the deviant pattern of the development of thinking in autism and outline our thesis that the problem with autistic memory is in developing a personal episodic memory, and that this difficulty arises because of a deficit in the development of an experiencing self, which we have termed (after Brewer, 1986) an ‘ego‐self. We discuss constraints which we suggest result in learnable thinking skills remaining domain specific: difficulties with (i) language, (ii) coding, storage and retrieval of information and (iii) the role of emotions. We discuss what ‘improving the thinking’ of individuals with autism would entail and draw implications regarding fundamental requirements and caveats of teaching thinking for all individuals.

Educational Approaches in Autism: What we know about what we do

There has been little attempt to relate well‐known educational approaches in autism to increased psychological understanding about the condition. This paper addresses that gap. Four discrete educational approaches to autism (Higashi, Lovaas, Option, TEACCH), and two ‘eclectic’ approaches (SPELL, one LEA specific), are explored within the context of four psychological interpretations of autism. Our purpose is to better understand how the different educational approaches in autism align with, or diverge from, the core purposes of teachers, namely to develop independence and critical thought to the optimum level possible for individual pupils, irrespective of their underlying condition.

The process of examining research degrees: some issues of quality

This paper reports the findings of a small survey of the views of individual academics in relation to four issues regarding research degree examiners: the use of their reports; the scope of criteria they use to make judgements and the assessment remit given to them; their training; and the criteria used for their appointment. The responses indicate lack of consensus on almost all points and suggest some fundamental differences of view on the nature of research degree study, its subsequent examination and on the roles of examiners within the assessment process.

Research degree examining: quality issues of principle and practice

Raises questions about the research degree examination and in particular the apparent reluctance on the part of institutions and both regulatory and funding agencies to develop a common and transparent approach. Research degree examining is discussed as a quality issue in which the absence of norms adopted for taught programmes is questioned. What results is a confusing and muddled picture of assessment of the highest award of UK universities. The editorial reviews issues arising from candidates’ perceptions of the process of examination, including the viva, prior to the event, the choice of examiners and the approach adopted by the examiners. Examining the criteria employed in the examination and the approach taken, the paper highlights the enormous diversity of practice. The resulting discussion highlights the need for national guidelines and points to the lack of clear direction in the recent joint funding councils’ report.

Research Degree Examining - common principles and divergent practices

Reports on discussions that took place at a series of specialist seminars and workshops on research degree examining organised by the UK Council for Graduate Education during 2000/2001 at various venues in the UK. Debates the processes and procedures of research degree examination in the UK in terms of variations in practice that exist along with principles that signal a common identity. Takes account of the effects of developments in, for example, professional doctorates and the PhD by published work and on perceptions of the “traditional” examination. Issues addressed include: the composition of PhD examining panels and the roles of individual examiners; the training and qualification of examiners; the purpose and nature of the oral examination; the tension between examination of the process of training and that of the “finished product” (which the thesis may be seen to represent). Argues for the need for more transparency about examination processes, for challenge to common assumptions and for a refocusing on research degree examination as a process of assessment.

Towards an Interactive System Eliciting Narrative Comprehension in Children with Autism: A Longitudinal Study

The focus of this work is to find ways of enhancing the ability of individual children with autism to deal with narrative. In particular to further understand how to construct computer software that adapts to get the best out of a child in order to directly effect improvement in narrative comprehension or identify aspects of narrative where therapeutic intervention could be applied.

The narrative construction of our (social) world: steps towards an interactive learning environment for children with autism

Children with autism exhibit a deficit in narrative comprehension which adversely impacts upon their social world. The authors’ research agenda is to develop an interactive software system which promotes an understanding of narrative structure (and thus the social world) while addressing the needs of individual children. This paper reports the results from a longitudinal study, focussing on ‘primitive’ elements of narrative, presented as proto-narratives, in an interactive software game which adapts to the abilities of individual children. A correlation has been found with a real-world narrative comprehension task, and for most children a clear distinction in their understanding of narrative components.