Abstract
Stimulus overselectivity is widely accepted as a stimulus control abnormality in autism spectrum disorders and subsets of other populations. Previous research has demonstrated a link between both chronological and mental age and overselectivity in typical development. However, the age at which children are developmentally ready to respond to discriminations involving simultaneous multiple cues has not been established. Thirty-seven typically developing preschoolers completed a task requiring response to simultaneous cues (color and shape) to establish the age at which typically developing children can successfully respond to multiple cues. Results demonstrate that typically developing children under 36 months of age have difficulty responding to multiple cues. Implications for behavioral treatment for autism are discussed.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Institute of Educational Sciences, research grant R324B070027. The authors would like to thank Brooke Kellison for her assistance in conducting the discrimination learning assessment and Paul Reed for his assistance with stimuli creation, as well as the families and children who participated in the study.
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This research formed part of the first author’s doctoral dissertation, which was conducted under the supervision of the second and fourth authors at University of California, San Diego.
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Reed, S.R., Stahmer, A.C., Suhrheinrich, J. et al. Stimulus Overselectivity in Typical Development: Implications for Teaching Children with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 43, 1249–1257 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1658-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1658-x