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Low Fidelity Imitation of Atypical Biological Kinematics in Autism Spectrum Disorders Is Modulated by Self-Generated Selective Attention

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Abstract

We examined whether adults with autism had difficulty imitating atypical biological kinematics. To reduce the impact that higher-order processes have on imitation we used a non-human agent model to control social attention, and removed end-state target goals in half of the trials to minimise goal-directed attention. Findings showed that only neurotypical adults imitated atypical biological kinematics. Adults with autism did, however, become significantly more accurate at imitating movement time. This confirmed they engaged in the task, and that sensorimotor adaptation was self-regulated. The attentional bias to movement time suggests the attenuation in imitating kinematics might be a compensatory strategy due to deficits in lower-level visuomotor processes associated with self-other mapping, or selective attention modulated the processes that represent biological kinematics.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Robin Bush, Beverly Breen, and Hema Chandrashekhar for their help in supporting the study.

Author Contribution

SH conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, performed the measurement and statistical analysis, and drafted the manuscript; MA conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, performed the statistical analysis and measurement, and helped to draft the manuscript; DE conceived of the study, helped with the statistical analysis and drafting the manuscript; EG participated in the design of the study, and helped to draft the manuscript; SB conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, performed the statistical analysis, and drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Brain and Behaviour Laboratory, Faculty of Science, Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK

    Spencer J. Hayes, Matthew Andrew, Digby Elliott & Simon J. Bennett

  2. Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Digby Elliott

  3. Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Emma Gowen

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  1. Spencer J. Hayes
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Correspondence to Spencer J. Hayes.

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Hayes, S.J., Andrew, M., Elliott, D. et al. Low Fidelity Imitation of Atypical Biological Kinematics in Autism Spectrum Disorders Is Modulated by Self-Generated Selective Attention. J Autism Dev Disord 46, 502–513 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2588-1

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