The Specificity of Inhibitory Impairments in Autism and Their Relation to ADHD-type Symptoms
subject: inhibition Stroop autism
description: Findings on inhibitory control in autism have been inconsistent. It is proposed that this may be partly task-related, with different ‘inhibition’ tasks tapping different classes of inhibitory ability. Thus, children with autism (CWA) (N = 31) and typically developing controls (TDC) (N = 28) matched for verbal and non-verbal mental age completed three tasks of inhibitory control, each representing different inhibition subcomponents: a Go/No-Go task (delay inhibition), the Dog-Pig Stroop task (conflict inhibition), and a Flanker task (resistance to distractor inhibition). Behavioural ratings of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity were also obtained for each child to consider a possible source of heterogeneity in inhibitory ability. It was predicted that the conflict task would be more problematic for CWA, and that higher ADHD-symptom ratings would predict poorer performance. On the Go/No-Go task, CWA showed superior inhibitory function to controls – making fewer false alarm errors and better task sensitivity. On the Dog-Pig Stroop, CWA showed impaired performance compared to controls – making more accuracy and speed related inhibitory errors. On the Flanker task, CWA showed equivalent inhibitory performance to TD children. Inhibitory impairments were predicted by high ratings of inattention in CWA, but only on the Dog-Pig Stroop. It is argued that CWA are perhaps impaired on tasks of conflict, but not delay or resistance to distractor inhibition. This may reflect the additional working memory demands of these tasks, and suggests that inhibitory difficulty is not a core executive deficit in autism. Symptoms of inattention may be an important predictor of inhibitory heterogeneity amongst CWA.
creator: Charlotte Sanderson
source: Sessions were completed in a well-lit and quiet room, free of distractions. Participants were tested individually, and completed the three inhibitory control tasks (Go/No-Go task; Dog-Pig Stroop task; Flanker task) and two standardised measures (RCPM; BPVS) in counterbalanced order. Experimental session lasted approximately 40-60 minutes. All three inhibition tasks were written using Psyscript, and run on a computer using an OS X 10.6 operating system. Go/No-Go Task Task Design.On each trial, a shape (O, ∆, ⧠, or ◊) would appear centrally on the computer screen. The shapes were simple black line-drawings, subtending approximately 5° vertically and horizontally. Prior to the task, children were instructed to respond to three of the shapes by pressing a large external “star” button (i.e. “Go” stimuli), but to resist responding to a fourth shape (i.e. the “No-Go” stimulus). The shape designated as the “No-Go” stimulus was counterbalanced between participants. To generate a prepotent response, 75% of trials were “Go” trials requiring a button press, and 25% of trials were “No-Go” trials where the response should be withheld. The maximum inter-stimulus interval (ISI) (i.e. from stimulus onset to stimulus onset) was 2500ms. At the start of each trial, a fixation cross would appear at the centre of the screen for 200ms. This was then replaced by the stimulus, which remained on-screen for 200ms. After the stimulus offset, participants had a further 1000ms to respond, at which point the trial automatically terminated. Stimulus presentation was followed by a 1100ms pause before the next trial commenced. An error tone (“bleep”) was played immediately if the child made an omission error (i.e. failed to respond on a “Go” trial), or a false alarm (i.e. pressed the star button on a “No-Go” trial). A positive feedback-noise (“ping”) was played if the participant made a correct response. Procedure. Before starting the task, each child completed a warm up session to familiarize with …
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2010
contributor: John Towse
rights: Open
language: English
type: project description
coverage: LA1 4YF

The effect of different question types during shared book reading on children’s narrative comprehension
subject: reading comprehension
description: This study investigated the effect of different question types on narrative comprehension in young children. Forty one five year olds participated in this study. One group (N=14) received three sessions of shared storybook reading in which they practised answering questions about literal information in the story, during the course of the storybook reading. A second group (N=13) practiced answering questions about information that had to be inferred. A third group of controls (N=14), did not receive any intervention. All groups completed two comprehension assessments before and after the intervention: one was a measure of general listening comprehension, the other included measures of both literal and inferential comprehension. Children’s engagement during the storybook reading was also assessed. Contrary to predictions, neither intervention benefitted post-test comprehension significantly. In addition engagement levels did not change over the course of the study. However, a consistent pattern was found for each comprehension measure: the group who received practice with answering inferential questions made the greatest gains. Implications for early literacy experiences are discussed.
creator: Nicola Pooley
source: Design The study was an intervention design with three phases: a pre-test, training phase and post-test. There were three groups: two experimental groups who participated in all phases and a control group who only completed the pre and post tests. The design is shown in Table One. In the pre and post test sessions, participants completed a general measure of listening comprehension (adapted from the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability II, Neale, 1997) and a bespoke measure of listening comprehension with questions to tap literal and inferential comprehension. Participants were assigned to groups on the basis of their scores in the pre-test so that the three groups (two intervention and one control) did not differ in their performance on these measures (see Table Five). Children in the intervention conditions listened to three stories in separate sessions and either received practice at answering literal or inferential questions throughout the stories. In the post test all children were again assessed on alternate forms of the same measures used in the pre-test. Table 1. Intervention design used. Group Pre Test 1 Training 2 3 Post test Control General + Bespoke Listening Comprehension. x x x General + Bespoke Listening Comprehension. Literal General + Bespoke Listening Comprehension. Literal Literal Literal General + Bespoke Listening Comprehension. Inferential General + Bespoke Listening Comprehension. Inferential Inferential Inferential General + Bespoke Listening Comprehension. Materials: Pre and Post test. General Measure of Listening Comprehension. The following stories taken from the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability (NARA, Neale, 1997) were read to each participant in either the pre or post test: Toys, Tree house, Lost and Found, Road Safety. Toys or Lost and Found were used as practice tasks at the beginning of the pre/post test to help develop rapport. The stories were chosen so that the level of difficulty was consistent pre and post test. Comprehension quest…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2010
contributor: John Towse
language: English
type: Project description
coverage: LA1 4YF

Running Memory Span Development: The Input Mechanism and Hebb effect
subject: running memory span development input mechanism Hebb effect
description: It is unclear whether active strategy or passive strategy is used and whether the Hebb effect is elicited in the running memory task. The aim of this study was to explore the input mechanism and the Hebb effect in the running memory task via a developmental study. Children were asked to perform four working memory tasks: counting span task, free recall task, Hebb digit task, and running memory task. In order to explore the Hebb effect in the running memory task, the last three digits of every third list were repeated. The results suggested that running memory was a recency-based phenomenon and the Hebb effect is elicited in children.
creator: Yu Xie
source: The experiment was presented using SuperLab 4.0 on a Sony Laptop with a 14-inch colour screen. The responses of participants were recorded by the tester on answer sheets. Every child completed a counting span task, a free recall task, a Hebb digit task, and a running memory task. Counting span task. The counting span arrays were developed from Towse and Hitch (1995) and consisted of equal number of target triangles and non-target squares. The target triangles were red, approximately 30 mm in length, and the non-target squares were blue, approximately 28 mm in length. The number of both target triangles and non-target squares varied from 3 to 9 (mean = 6). The counting span arrays were presented on the centre of the computer screen with a white background. The triangles and squares were randomly displayed at different positions in every display. Free recall task. For this task, 144 Chinese high-frequent two-syllable nouns (see Appendix A) were recorded by in a male’s voice at rate of 1 word per second. The words were recorded using Adobe Audition 3.0. Two practice lists and ten test lists were presented, and every list included 12 words at the rate of 1 word per second. The words were played by a computer. Hebb digit task. All digit lists were created had the digits 1 to 9 in random order, avoiding any repetition of digits (see Appendix B). The voice of digits was recorded by Adobe Audition 3.0 at the rate of 1 digit per second. There were 2 practice lists and 24 test lists, and each list contained nine digits. Among the test lists, 16 lists were different, and the other 8 were the same – termed as Hebb list – presented on every third trial beginning on Trial 3. The 24 test lists were divided into 8 blocks, which involved 2 different lists and a Hebb list. Running memory task. The lists included 12, 14, 16, 18, or 20 random digits from 1 to 9 (see Appendix C), which were recorded by voice. Two presentation rates were used in this task: 0.5 s per digit as the fast rat…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2013
contributor: John Towse
rights: Open
format: data/SPSS.sav
language: English Chinese
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

The Effect of Sleep on the Processing of Emotional False Memories
subject: DRM false memory
description: People often think they remember events and information that in fact never happened. In previous studies using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, participants viewed lists of semantically related words, and during testing were more likely to accept as seen words that were related to the lists but were actually unseen, indicating a false memory. Research suggests that sleep promotes this effect, as does the use of negatively valenced stimuli, although the effect of emotion is disputed. The current study investigated what effect emotion, in particular valence, has on false memory formation, and whether sleep promotes emotional false memories. Fifty participants were tested on their recognition performance using an emotional and neutral DRM paradigm after a 12-hour period of sleep or wake. As predicted, we found an increase in false recognition of negatively valenced lure words, as well as an overall effect of emotion, with emotional words leading to increased false recognition compared to neutral. We failed to replicate any sleep effect on performance accuracy of neutral or emotional memory, although the response time data indicates some effect of sleep on emotional memory performance. The quality of participants’ sleep and design of the current study are explored as possible explanations for this lack of a sleep effect. This study therefore indicates that emotion plays a significant role in the formation of false memories independent of sleep.
creator: Chloe Newbury
source: Negative and positive DRM word-lists and critical lures were taken from Brainerd, Holliday, Reyna, Yang, and Toglia (2010) who controlled for other properties that are thought to affect false memory formation, including concreteness, meaning and frequency of words (Roediger, Watson, McDermott, & Gallo, 2001). Neutral DRM lists and critical lures were taken from Stadler, Roediger, and McDermott (1999). Two separate lists were formed, one with negative and neutral words, and the other with positive and neutral words (see Appendix A for word-lists). Participants in both the positive and negative condition viewed the same five lists of neutral words, as well as ten negative or positive word-lists. Mean valence and arousal scores for word-lists and critical lures were taken from the Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW) (Bradley & Lang, 1999). Independent samples t-tests showed that positive words had significantly higher ratings of valence than negative t(11.41) = 7.42, p < .001, and neutral words, t(13) = 7.43, p < .001. Negative words had significantly lower ratings of valence than neutral words, t(13) = 2.31, p = .038. Furthermore, negative and positive word-lists did not significantly differ in terms of arousal, t(12.92) = 0.52, p = .613, however neutral words had significantly lower ratings of arousal than positive, t(13) = 2.67, p = .019, and negative words, t(13) = 4.87, p < .001. It was also important that word-lists were controlled in terms of frequency and BAS. Frequency scores were taken from the MRC Psycholinguistic Database (Coltheart, 1981). Independent samples t-tests showed no significant difference in frequency ratings between negative and positive word-lists, t(18) = 0.18, p = .816, positive and neutral word-lists, t(13) = .35, p = .735, and negative and neutral word-lists, t(13) = 0.50, p = .624. BAS ratings were taken from the University of South Florida Free Association Norms (Nelson, McEvoy & Schreiber, 1998). There was no significant difference…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2015
contributor: John Towse
rights: Open
format: data/SPSS.sav
language: English
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

The Effects of Schema-typical and Atypical Contexts on Memory for Brand Names of Products
subject: Distinctiveness effects Schema Memory Product recall Product recognition Brand recall Brand recognition Product-brand binding
description: The memory for an advertisement can be affected by the way it is constructed. In general, the more distinctiveness, the better memory performance. Traditionally, it has been assumed that the whole memory episode will be better remembered if it is featured by any odd element(s) because it is more attention-demanding and creates stronger memory traces. However, recent evidence suggests that the distinctiveness effect might not spread to everything; it might only affect those distinctive elements without necessarily affecting their linkages with other elements. Accordingly, regarding the advertisements, the memory for each element can be diverse. We manipulated the distinctiveness effect by composing products with schema-typical contexts (undistinctive condition) and schema-atypical contexts (distinctive condition). Participants observed 20 advertisements; 10 were schema-typical and another 10 were schema-atypical. They then completed recall and recognition tests which allowed us to explore how far the distinctiveness effect could extend. We found that only product recall and recognition in the schema-atypical condition were robustly enhanced, other variables were not significantly affected. These findings went against the traditional view and conform with the recent research. We discussed that, in the schema-atypical condition, the products and their contexts made each other distinctive, hence, they were better remembered. In contrast, the brand names and product-brand bindings were schema-neutral, thus, they did not receive more attention and not better remembered. The results were further interpreted to form some practical implications that improve advertising effectiveness.
creator: Thanita Soonthoonwipat
source: The stimuli were 40 newly constructed print advertisements (in digital format). Print advertisements were employed because they allow the better experimental control (Keller, 1987). A half of these advertisements belonged to toiletries category (i.e. shampoo. sunscreen, and toothpaste), whereas another half belonged to foods category (i.e. pizza, sandwiches, and fried chicken). For each category, there were 10 types of products. For each product, there were two versions of its advertisement; schema-typical and schema-atypical (but only one of which was viewed by each participant). The schema-typical advertisements referred to the ones in which the product was bound with an expected context (i.e. a toothpaste appearing a bathroom scene), while the schema-atypical advertisements referred to the ones in which the product was bound with an unexpected context (i.e. a toothpaste appearing in a bedroom scene). In terms of the stimuli construction, there were three key elements for all advertisements, the first of which was the product, the second was the background or the scene illustration which was considered as the context of that advertisement, and the last element was the brand name. The first two elements were to form advertising pictures, and all together with the third one were to form complete advertisements. The researchers purchased stock images from Shutterstock website (https://www.shutterstock.com). The images purchased (product shots, backgrounds, and decorative elements) were then retouched and composted into the print advertising pictures using Adobe Photoshop (Adobe Photoshop CC 2015). All the advertising pictures were controlled not to include any text so that the only copy presented in each advertisement was its brand name. In respect of brand names, we invented new brand names for all 20 products. Each brand name was controlled to be easily pronounceable. They were names of between one to three syllables i.e. Hans, Raven, and Moana. The brand names, te…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2017
contributor: John Towse
rights: Open
format: data/SPSS.sav
language: English
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

Competence and Warmth: How Gender Impacts Perceptions of Male and Female Speakers.
subject: gender stereotypes competence, warmth stereotype content model
description: Using the stereotype content model as a theoretical background, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between gender stereotypes and judgements of warmth and competence. Visual appearance has long been used to research these judgements while auditory cues have often been overlooked. This study therefore focused on judgements made about voice and subsequently did not influence participants with predetermined gender labels. 61 participants – aged 19 to 60 – listened to either 2 male or 2 female speakers talk about domestic violence and cancer research. Domestic violence is here defined as a women-centric topic, while cancer research is considered gender neutral. Participants completed person perception inventories of each speaker, rating them on 7-point Likert scales in terms of 10 competence and 10 warmth items. They also completed a sexism inventory to determine whether sexism predicted a more favourable attitude toward male speakers. A 2 between gender (male vs female) by 2 within topic (domestic violence vs cancer research) ANOVA was conducted, and female speakers were judged as more competent than males when speaking on domestic violence but not cancer research. They were considered warmer than men in both cases. This indicates that women are seen as competent when speaking on issues that directly affect them, suggesting that they should be taken more seriously when speaking out about their own rights. However, traditional warmth stereotypes regarding women were upheld. This, along with further implications, are discussed.
creator: Jayne Summers
source: Items. 10 competence items and 10 warmth items were selected to compile a 20-item list of characteristics for participants to judge speakers on. Of these items, 11 were taken from Rudman & Glick (1999) and the remaining 9 were considered in the original SCM. Items used in the competence and warmth scales were found to be reliable across speech topics, namely cancer research (CR) and domestic violence (DV) (competenceCR α = .893, competenceDV α = .931). This indicates that the scales used were highly reliable. Similarly, for the warmth dimensions, Cronbach's Alpha was suitably high (WarmthCR α = .918, WarmthDV α = .944). The reliability for the sexism inventory was also acceptable, with an α value of .826. An example of several competence and warmth dimensions can be seen below, while a full list can be found in Appendix A. Competence: confident, ambitious, intelligent.. Warmth: trustworthy, likeable, supportive. Speeches. Two speeches were recorded for the purpose of the experiment, one focused on domestic violence and the other on cancer research. The speeches were written to closely match each other in terms of wording and the information being presented. For instance, the opening and closing sentences of each speech were similarly structured, as seen below. Table 1. Examples of speech text. Domestic Violence Cancer Research Opening sentence Domestic Violence. A topic that is often glossed over as something that effects other people - not me; not you. Cancer. A topic we don't often like to think about – something that effects other people, but not me: not you. Closing sentence By going to our website www.dvrefuges.co.uk you can find out more information about the great work women's refuges around the country do, and help them continue to change women's lives by donating to our cause. By going to our website www.ukcancer.co.uk you can find out more information about the great work that we do, and by donating to our cause, help us continue to help people diagnosed w…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2017
contributor: John Towse
rights: Open
format: data/SPSS.sav
language: English
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

Training Transfer Between False-belief, Card Sorting and Counterfactual Reasoning in Children with ASD.
subject: ASD, Training study Domain general Theory of Mind Counterfactual reasoning Executive Functions
description: Previous training studies for typically developed (TD) children and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show that theory of mind and executive functions are two interrelated domains, and that training in one task could lead to improvement on the other. This training study aimed to examine the developmental relationship between three domains (Theory of Mind (ToM), Executive Functions (EF) and Counterfactual Reasoning (CR)) in children with ASD. A group of 30 children diagnosed with ASD were randomly allocated to one of three training groups, each group received training in one of the three domains stated. After training, the entire sample was tested to measure for improvements. Results indicate that ToM training leads to improvement on the EF and CR tasks, while EF training did not lead to ToM improvement and CR training did not lead to EF improvement. Findings are discussed and a novel cognitive model is proposed to account for the observed outcomes.
creator: Amna Ahmed
source: Following the design of Kloo and Perner (2003), first children were pretested. The pretest involved measures of verbal and nonverbal ability, two false-belief tasks followed by a card sorting task and two counter-factual reasoning tasks. The pretest was scored to create a baseline for the participants' abilities in each of the areas assigned to the training groups. Children were then randomly assigned to one of three experimental training groups. Each group was given two sessions of training (approximately 1 week apart) on one of the three areas; false belief, counterfactual reasoning or DCCS. A posttest was given a week after the second training session, it was similar to the pretest in design but different materials were used. The posttest was given to the children to measure any improvements in performance after training and examine any crossover effects between the different training groups. Finally, the children were given a follow-up test (approximately 6 weeks after the posttest) to investigate if the effects of training are lasting. All of the sessions took place in a quiet room in the child's school. Procedure and Materials Pretest and posttest. Both sessions that preceded and followed the training sessions involved tasks measuring performance in false belief, counter-factual reasoning and card sorting. False-belief. One of two traditional unexpected transfer tasks was administered on the pretest based on Wimmer and Perner (1983), modeled after Baron-Cohen et al.’s Sally-Anne task (1985). A scene was enacted to the child using wooden toy figures and a kitchen model in which an item is unexpectedly transferred during the protagonist's absence. The stories where altered slightly to be more fitting to the knowledge of a Bahraini child by changing character names and making other alternations where appropriate. However, the main consciences of the stories remained very similar to the original stories. After the story is told, the character returns to the scene …
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2015
contributor: John Towse
rights: Open
relation: Open
format: data/SPSS.sav
language: English
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

Analogical transfer beyond the analog
subject: analogical transfer insight problem solving extra constraints developmental differences maximization of progress
description: Analogical problem solving involves transferring the method used to solve the base analog onto the target analog based on the structural similarity they share. Studies have found that Experts have no difficulty in solving domain specific analogical problems. While, novice problem solvers fail to solve such problems due to their difficulty in retrieving the base analog. Failure to recollect the correct base analog forces the problem solver to solve the problem in an act first think later manner. They use number of maximizing moves within the problem space to reach the goal state quickly. Use of such maximizing moves in solving analogical problems leads to an impasse, while alternative moves must be sought out. The current study tries to overcome the problem of retrieval of the correct base analog, by implementing an additional factor termed as extra constraint in solving analogical problem. These extra constraint acts in a manner which inhibit the problem solver from choosing problem moves that aim to maximizing their progress to reach the goal state which must essentially be avoided in analogical problem solving tasks. A secondary aim focuses on examining if there exists’ any difference between an adolescent problem solver and adult problem solver. Method: A total of 64 Participants within the age group of, 12-15 and 18-21 years were administered three problems (2 analogical and 1 non analogical). Results: Results demonstrate that the predictor variables (age or money) were not able to predict that participants from the older age category would perform better than the younger age group on any of the problems. Based on second aim, results showed that the older age group able to solve more problems successfully than the younger age group.
creator: Radhika Kuppanda
source: The test materials consisted of paper and pencil tasks (see appended booklet). Each Participant was provided with a booklet which consisted of a set of 5 problems, comprising three experimental tasks and two filler tasks. The first problem was the analogical source problem (sheep dog problem), followed by a filler task (anagram solution). The second problem was the transfer problem (9 ball problem), followed by a second filler task (algebra solution). The last problem was the non-analog problem (cheap necklace problem). There was space provided under each of the problems to allow the participant to work out the solution to each problem. Solutions to each of the problems were also given for the participants. Design and Procedure The study design comprised of a two between-subjects factors. The first factor is Age (12-15; 18-21 years). The second factor is Resource (£8 vs. £12). The dependent variable was the number of correct solutions. The aim of the research was to assess whether to two predictor variables, age and money would predict whether the participant would solve the problem correctly or incorrectly. As per the BPS rules, confidentiality and anonymity of participants were strictly maintained. The study was conducted in a classroom setting with 16 participants being administered the problems at a time. Each participant from each age group was first assigned to low or high resource conditions. 50 % of the participants from older and younger age group received low resource condition (8 pounds) and other 50% high resource condition (12 pounds). Participants received the booklet containing the 3 problems and 2 filler tasks. Each participant was given 5 minutes to attempt each problem. After five minutes, the solution to each problem is shown. The problems contained in the booklet are as follows: ¥ Source problem (killer dog) ¥ Filler task(anagrams) ¥ Transfer problem (ball problem- £8 or £12 versions); ¥ Filler task(algebra) ¥ Non-analogical problem (cheap neckla…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2013
contributor: John Towse
rights: Open
format: data/SPSS.sav
language: English
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF

The Impact of Spatial Locations Involving Schema Representations on False Memories
subject: Schema, false memory, source monitoring, distinctiveness heuristic, object-location binding.
description: While numerous studies have investigated the effects of schema on false memories, few have looked at how schematic framework involving spatial locations have influenced levels of true and false memories in different age groups. For this study, two separate analyses were conducted; both analyses required participants to study four environment scenes, which contained schema- consistent objects that were placed in either schema-expected or schema-unexpected locations and schema- irrelevant objects. After each scene, a distractor task was presented, followed by the test scene. In the first analysis, false memory rates were examined by adding objects, which were not present during study, into test scenes; in the second analysis, false memory rates were assessed by shifting schema-consistent objects from a schema-expected to a schema-unexpected location or vice versa between study and test scene. In both analyses, target objects that remained in the same location for both study and test scenes assessed for true memories. Three different age groups were studied; younger children aged seven and eight, older children aged nine and ten, and adults who were university students. Results revealed that overall, adults were more schema-bound, and had significantly higher levels of true memories as well as significantly lower levels of false memories compared to younger and older children. Furthermore, schema-inconsistent objects attracted lower levels of false memories across all age groups. However, objects that shifted from a schema-unexpected to a schema-expected location yielded high false memories for object-location pairing. This study is of particular significance to the field of forensic psychology.
creator: Ji Yun Gan
source: The experiment was programmed using a computer software called Psyscript and was run on a Mac laptop. Four different environments were used during the experiment, which were a kitchen, a living room, an office and a bathroom. For the practice run, a separate image, which was a seminar room, was used. All the photographs used were standardized across all four environments, with each photograph being 1300 x 864 pixels, to ensure that the quality and clarity of each photograph was the same. To every environment image, three different versions were prepared for the study scene, ensuring that all six of the schema-relevant target objects had the opportunity to appear in a schema-unexpected location, a schema-expected location, or not being present at all. Moreover, to every version, two test scenes were prepared, to create a variation between which of the target objects that were initially placed in schema-relevant or schema-irrelevant locations during study phase would be shifted during the test scene. Figure 1a is an example of a bathroom scene during study phase and Figure 1b is an example of the test scene for that version. The program had been set to ensure that the sequence of the four different environment images would be pseudo-randomized for counterbalancing purposes, in which all the scenes were presented once, whereas the versions and test scenes selected were randomized. Moreover, the target objects that were circled during the test scenes were also pseudo-randomized, in which each object would only be circled once. For the practice run, both the study scene and the test scene were presented in a hardcopy form, which was laminated. Two separate slips of paper were prepared, one being “Was this object anywhere in this picture before?” for the participants allocated to the Presence condition, and “Was this object in this place before?” for the participants allocated to the Location condition. The paper slips containing the questions were left on the table for p…
publisher: Lancaster University
contributor: Rachel Coyle
language: English
coverage: LA1 4YF

Sketch Mental Reinstatement of Context: A Comparison of Autistic and Typically Able Children’s Drawings
description: The increasing number of children coming into contact with the criminal justice system is prompting further research into interviewing children. There is a lack of research in the area of children with developmental disorders such as autism (Mcrory, Henry & Happe, 2007). As sketching is one of the domains in which children develop favourably in comparison to their age matched peers it could be utilised in order to gain the most information. Sketch MRC has been used on typically developing individuals and has been very beneficial for a variety of reasons such as; gives structure to narrative, lessens cognitive demand of interviewer and also lessens social demand of interview. This study aims to see whether content and style of the drawings of typically developing and autistic group are similar. Also correlating data in the sketch to data from the interview recall would give insight into how the act of drawing may be beneficial. A group of 30 children who were either typically developing or autistic were split into 3 groups depending on the results of BPVS 3 and RPM. All children watched a film stimulus and were then asked to recall as much information as possible in a sketch MRC condition. The drawings were then analysed. Autistic children’s sketches when compared with mental ability matched children showed similarities in; number of salient items, number of items drawn, representational detail, detail in human figure drawings, number of correct, incorrect and confabulation as well as accuracy. A regression model indicated correct number of items recalled in verbal transcript significantly predicted the correct number of items in the sketch. By presenting a significant relationship between number of correct items sketched and recalled it can be said the act of drawing is useful in the sketch MRC condition. This indicates that the sketch MRC condition is just as useful for the autistic individuals as it is for the TD individuals.
creator: Mehar-Un-Nissa Masood
source: A between subject’s experimental design was employed with two independent variables: Group, with two levels: (i) autistic, (ii) typically developed, and Mental ability: low, intermediate, and high. The dependent variable was the drawings which were produced during the interview and were coded using a top down coding scheme measuring the number of correct, incorrect, confabulated items of recall and accuracy. Content including representational detail of human figure drawing and what the individual focuses whether it is on people or the environment. Qualitative analysis attempts to uncover a range of issues such as; is structure used in the sketch, whether the sketches depict movement or a still image, the detail with which the items are drawn, and if the sketch demand interaction. Materials Film stimulus – Each child individually viewed a non-violent crime film exactly one minute in duration. The stimulus film was one which had been previously used in police training sessions. Keeping in mind ethical guidelines the clip shown had no abuse or violence. The film depicted a busy road with a roundabout, two people walk from around the corner and into a shop. Moments later the two individuals run out of the shop with another individual chasing after them. The clip then ends. The British Picture Vocabulary Scale: Third Edition (BPVS3) is used in order to act as a distracter task but also determine the child’s mental ability. The BPVS3 plays an important role in assessing a child’s receptive vocabulary, from 3 years up to 16 years of age. Ravens Progressive Matrices (RPM) is also required not only to act as a distracter task but also determine the child’s mental ability. The RPM is a nonverbal group test ranging from 5 year olds to the elderly. It consists of 60 multiple choice questions listed in order of difficulty. iPad was used to show children the film stimulus with approximately a 8-inch screen. The child was able to hold the iPad themselves to watch the film stimulus…
publisher: Lancaster University
date: 2013
contributor: Nicola Cook
language: English
type: Data
coverage: LA1 4YF