Mixed Research Of Executive Function In Autism Essay

Ogletree, B. T., Morrow-Odom, K. L., & Westling, D. (2015). Understanding the brain–behavior relationship in persons with ASD: Implications for PECS as a treatment choice. Developmental neuro-rehabilitation, 18(2),

Validity refers to whether the research conducted is what it intended to be. Validity involves dependability, which means, a valid measure must be reliable. But, reliability doesn’t have to link to validity, a reliable measure is not required to be valid.

Executive function theory deals with planning, working memory, impulse control, inhibition and mental flexibility. Also, it includes the initiation and monitoring of action. This theory explains some of the autism symptoms. For example, repetitive and restricted behaviour observed in autistic children might be explained due to executive dysfunction. In addition, the poor social interaction could be due to defect in cognitive shifting which is a vital part of executive function.

In this paper, I will be discussing the disorder of Autism, a sever disorder that affects the function of the brain. It causes problems in such areas as social contact, intelligence, language and speech impediments, along with ritualistic or compulsive behaviors, as well as different responses to the environment that an autistic individual may have different than individuals not having autism would exhibit. I will be discussing generally about the history and description of autism. Also I will be discussing the charactistics that mark an autistic individual, the actual treatment that an autistic person may receive, risk factors that an autistic person may encounter, and interventions/treatments activities that an individual who has autism may take part in. I feel that by doing all of this that I will gain a greater sense of understanding for individuals with autism. I will be giving this information to you by going through each topic that I have outlined in the introduction and explaining what each means and how they affect an individual with autism.

The DSM-5 notes frequent co-occurrence of other neurodevelopmental disorders. However, if a child’s symptoms are better and more completely explained by ASD, intellectual developmental disorder, global developmental delay or another mental disorder, a diagnosis of SCD cannot be made. The notable absence of restricted and repetitive behaviors is the important in appropriately diagnosing a patient with SCD versus ASD.

Over the years, more people are becoming aware of Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD. The growing number of individuals who are affected by ASD have been increasing over the years. This could be do to the new DSM development of what is considered ASD or simply more children are being born with ASD. Either way, ASD is more predominate in our society today. ASD is defined in the DSM 5 as having abnormal social aspects, lack of social skills, non-verbal communications skills, deficits in development, lack of understanding of relationships, and self-stimulation through repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Although these are not all of the symptoms caused by ASD

Now, it is time to give an overview of some of the design threats to construct validity. If the researcher did not define the construct efficiently than it can lead to the inadequate preoperational explication of constructs threat (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Next, is the mono-operation bias, which is the use of the study program only one time and one place (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Third, the mono-method bias is the use of any one measure or observation (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Finally, the confounding constructs and the levels of constructs threat (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Overall, this threat to construct validity is a labeling issue like some of the other threats to construct validity (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). However, there are more design threats than listed in this paper to construct

It has been suggested that the poor performance is primarily a function of information complexity. As the complexity increases, ASD performance decreases generally regardless of specific task constraints. According to this theory, “decreased cortical connectivity in ASD leads to stimulus-focused processing rather than an integrated, top-down approach” (Worsham, Gray, Larson, and South 2014).

People with ASD, more than other DD populations, exhibit an increased risk for developing or engaging in SIB (Minshawi et al., 2014). This may result from the vast array of challenges children with ASD face depending on severity of symptoms, early intervention, and personal and environmental risk factors. Predictors of SIB include: the diagnosis of intellectual disability (ID) and degree of intellectual impairment, impairment of adaptive function skills (communication deficits, social skill deficits, motor impairments, lack of self-care skills), sleep

In 2013 DSM-5 was published and the information within this publication has changed greatly in relation to possible ASD diagnoses. DSM-5 has removed the indicators of cognitive delay and language delay from diagnoses, and that they are in fact markers of intellectual impairment, which 40% of children with an ASD

Developmental disorders tend to emerge from impairments of executive function in the brain. This means that an individual’s working memory, impulse control, inhibition, planning, or attention is be lacking in some way (1). The three main developmental disorders I will be focusing on in this paper include Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Autism Spectrum Disorder, as these are three of the most common developmental disorders in the United States of America.

It is known that people with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) have atypical interpretations of local information, as they isolate local information from its context. For purposes of this experiment, the investigators were interested in knowing whether the reduced context sensitivity that people with ASC have, affects their decision-making skills. It has been stated that a person capable of making rational choices between two items should not be influenced by a third item. However, it is known that decisions made by neurotypical adults are strongly influenced by third cues. This is due to the inability to perceive an item independently from the other options.

Validity refers to that measuring tool or approaches can accurately measure things needed to be measured. It can be considered as an extent that measured results reflect investigative contents. Measured results more tend to be identical, validity will be higher, vice versa. Guba and Lincoln (1981) argued that whole social research must include invalidity in order to acquire worthwhile data within both the rationalistic paradigm (quantitative research) and naturalistic paradigm (qualitative research). Some factors can determine the level of validity, which include bias, construct

Moreover, White et al. (2014) explain that deficits in ER impact behavioral factors that have been shown to cause anxiety manifestations. These ER deficits contribute to anxiety symptoms in that conditioning and avoidance behaviors are impaired. The inability to control emotion related to distress or fear contributes to conditioned fear responses. These conditioned fears perpetuate the necessity to engage in avoidance behaviors, which is core feature of social anxiety and is classified as a maladaptive ER strategy. Sensory issued in individuals with ASD have long been thought to be linked to anxiety, and White et al. state, “sensory symptoms correlate with anxiety severity in children with ASD” (2014). Sensory issues in anxious individuals with ASD are likely linked to hyper-vigilance to their environment, as well as the potential for an additional common causal factor such as functional abnormalities in the amygdala. This is due to the role of the amygdala, integrating and responding to sensory input relating to perceived threats. While not all individuals with ASD experience hyper-arousal of sensory pathways, this over-responsivity provides preliminary evidence that directly links sensory issued to anxiety (White, et al., 2014).

The autism spectrum is very wide ranging and includes many symptoms. It goes from one or two mild developmental abnormalities all the way up to a person needing a lifetime of care. There are many contributors for autism however, researchers have not found the single cause of autism, and with that, they have not found a cure or accurate prevention methods. It has been found that children who have a sibling with ASD are much more likely to have it, which gives researchers a clue into genetics and how it plays a role in children being born with autism. This paper will discuss the different symptoms of ASD, and what treatments are used to help manage it. A case study will be discussed to show how a child presented with the disorder, and how they were able to live a normal life with the help of various methods of treatment. Genetics will be looked into in terms of siblings and the recurrence rate in families in a scientific study. In another, brain chemistry will be shown in ways that can affect the motor function of those diagnosed with ASD.