The performance of eight adults with Asperger syndrome was compared with the performance of controls on a range of perceptual tasks designed to test two models of perceptual deficit: the central coherence deficit model and the hierarchization deficit model. Tentative support for the hierarchization deficit model was demonstrated. (Contains ten…

The efficacy of teaching a 6-year-old with autism to make successful transitions in daily routines in three different school settings through the use of a photographic cue package was examined. Results indicated that providing advance notice of an activity change using combined verbal and photographic cues helped reduce the child's tantrums while…

Three experiments examined the ability of 4- and 5-year- olds and adults to identify correspondences in spatial ratios. Results suggested that young children made accurate spatial proportionality judgments based on relational information and not on the exact form of the stimuli. Findings pose implications for theories of mathematical development…

Traced developmental changes in automatic and intentional processing of Arabic numerals using numerical-Stroop paradigm in two studies. In numerical comparison task, found that congruent physical sizes facilitated and incongruent sizes interfered with numerical comparison at all ages relative to neutral control. In physical comparison task, found…

Investigated the influence of morphologically complex and simple words on the production of morphologically complex and simple picture names in five picture-word interference studies. Two variants of picture-word interference were employed to separate morphological from semantic and phonological effects. (Author/VWL)

Examined organization of 5.5, 8.5, and 11.5-month-olds' reaching skill for stationary and moving targets. Found that infants of all ages made anticipatory adjustments of hand alignment; effectiveness of these adjustments improved with age. Regardless of age, infants used dynamic information from spinning and oscillating targets to update ongoing…

Examined the role of attention in explaining dyadic and triadic joint attention difficulties in autism in three experiments. Found that children with autism were less responsive than developmentally delayed controls in orienting to attention bids and in following a human head-turn cue yet had no difficulty in shifting attention and were faster in…

The problem of poor learners is due less to missing experiences than to the nature of their learning experiences. Giving these students more hands-on "exposure" is not enough. Instead, teachers can develop critical-thinking skills in students by changing the nature of teacher-student interaction. Focusing on a "main idea" and…

Reviews the literature on the use of music therapy with visually impaired and socially isolated children. Describes ways that music therapy can help the child explore his environment, modify blindisms (stereotypic, autistic-like behaviors), and encourage social awareness and interaction with other children. (DB)

A study found no differences in the effectiveness of single- and multiple-work auditory prompts in teaching five adolescents with moderate mental retardation to transition through a chain of vocational tasks into work settings. Self-operated auditory prompts were effective for teaching workers to manage their own task change behavior. (Author/CR)

Replicates and extends the authors' previous research on instructor attire on classroom dynamics. Indicates lesser effects of attire on person perceptions in live interaction as opposed to photographs. Reports that the influence of attire was limited to ratings of instructor extroversion, with no statistically significant interaction between…

Two studies compared performance on conditional and trial-unique delayed identity matching-to-sample procedures with five subjects having moderate to severe mental retardation and four subjects with mild mental retardation. Across the studies, six of nine subjects showed lower delayed-matching accuracy when fewer rather than more stimuli were…

Presents a new method that can compare lexical priming (word-word) and sentential priming (sentence-word) directly within a single paradigm. Shows that it can be used to address modular theories of word comprehension, which propose that the effects of sentence context occur after lexical access has taken place. (Author/VWL)

A binary communication format and active interrogation were used to administer the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Revised) to 25 individuals unable to make oral or fine-motor responses resulting from various physical and intellectual disabilities. Results correlated with those obtained using the standard form. Discussion focuses on use with…

Antecedent conditions involving instructor's task demands and social comments were evaluated for three students with severe disabilities who exhibited problem behavior. An instructor emitted high rates of social comments and gradually faded in task demands. Social validity assessments indicated that substantial improvements were perceived in…