Goal-directed and goal-less imitation in autism spectrum disorder

J Autism Dev Disord. 2012 Aug;42(8):1739-49. doi: 10.1007/s10803-011-1417-4.

Abstract

To investigate how people with Autism are affected by the presence of goals during imitation, we conducted a study to measure movement kinematics and eye movements during the imitation of goal-directed and goal-less hand movements. Our results showed that a control group imitated changes in movement kinematics and increased the level that they tracked the hand with their eyes, in the goal-less compared to goal-direction condition. In contrast, the ASD group exhibited more goal-directed eye movements, and failed to modulate the observed movement kinematics successfully in either condition. These results increase the evidence for impaired goal-less imitation in ASD, and suggest that there is a reliance on goal-directed strategies for imitation in ASD, even in the absence of visual goals.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Asperger Syndrome / psychology*
  • Autistic Disorder / psychology*
  • Biomechanical Phenomena / physiology
  • Eye Movements / physiology
  • Female
  • Goals*
  • Humans
  • Imitative Behavior / physiology*
  • Male
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Psychomotor Performance / physiology*