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Stimulus overselectivity and
memory load. Evelyn Gibson and Phil Reed University College London, UK People with autism appear to display overselectivity in their responses to stimuli. During discrimination training with complex stimuli, the behaviour of autistic subjects tends to be controlled by only a small set of the elements of the stimulus. The present three experiments examined the potential causes of this overselectivity. In Experiment 1, developmentally normal adults were trained to respond to a card containing two visual cues. When the cues were tested individually, the majority of subjects showed evidence of control by both components of the training card. In Experiment 2, developmentally normal adults were trained to respond to two cards, each containing two visual cues. During test, the majority of subjects demonstrated stimulus overselectivity; they responded correctly to only one of the two component cues of each of the training cards. The final experiment tested whether such overselectivity was due to an increased memory load. Experiment 1 was replicated, but subjects also carried out a simultaneous visual memory task. The implications of these results will be discussed in relation to both the stimulus overselectivity theory of autism, and the resulting behavioural intervention programmes. Keywords: autism, overselectivity, discrimination learning, memory, early intervention |
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