HABITUATION & DISHABITUATION TO AUDITORY STIMULI BY YOUNG CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

Children with autism (ASD) are characterized as overly responsive to certain stimuli in the physical environment. Additionally, the deficits used to diagnose ASD are deficits in associative learning processes. Such deficits in associative learning processes imply general deficits in non-associative learning processes. Specifically, observations of over-reactivity are of particular relevance to the non-associative process of habituation. The present investigation will evaluate habituation and dishabituation in children diagnosed with ASD. The purpose of the present investigation is as follows: a) examine habituation and dishabituation in children with ASD, b) parametrically examine the effects of various dishabituation stimuli, and c) compare habituation and dishabituation with children with ASD to typically developing children