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Social Learning Processes Underlying Treatment-Related Changes in Children with ASD Receiving the Early Start Denver Model
Objectives: To identify the specific social learning processes that moderate and mediate response to the Early Start Denver Model in preschoolers with ASD.
Methods: A number of novel experimental eye-tracking and behavioural tasks aimed at ‘dissecting’ the different attentional, cognitive and motivational processes underlying social learning were administered to a group of preschoolers with ASD receiving the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) program (anticipated final sample size = 50). Participants were tested at baseline and after one year of treatment. The link between performance in the tasks and 1-year treatment outcomes will be analyzed to determine the specific social learning processes that underlie response to the ESDM.
Results: Data collection and analysis is still ongoing. Preliminary findings based on a subset of participants suggest that social motivational processes underlying social learning, including spontaneous propensity to imitate others, spontaneous purposeful (versus purposeless) use of play materials, and social response to a playful- versus an emotionally-neutral partner, are more relevant in predicting ESDM treatment outcomes than attentional and cognitive learning mechanisms, initial IQ and language.
Conclusions: This is the first research program to examine the link between social learning profiles in children with ASD and treatment outcomes in response to the Early Start Denver Model through a fine-grained, theory-driven analysis of the multiple components underlying social learning. Preliminary results of this ongoing study suggest that spontaneous propensity to engage with and imitate others might be a critical active ingredient in the response of children with ASD to the ESDM.
See more of: Interventions - Non-pharmacologic - Preschool