experiment study on visual self

8/9/2019 Experiment Study on Visual Self

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Experiment Study on Visual Self-recognition of Preschool Childrenwith Autism

Nianli Zhou, College of Preschool and Special Education, East China Normal UniversityJunming Fang , College of Preschool and Special Education, East China Normal University

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to establish whether preschool children with autism can

distinguish between themselves and others, and furthermore, the difference between mirror self-

recognition and video self-recognition. The subjects were 6 preschool children with autismwhose average mental age was 23 months. The result of the two experiments and coding analysis

using a 1-second time scale of the process showed that the subjects had the preliminary

capability of distinguishing between the self and others. They paid more attention and showedmore positive emotion to video self-recognition than to video images of others.

Key words: preschool children with autism, visual self-recognition, distinguishing betweenothers and the self, mirror self-recognition, video self-recognition

1. The problem

Visual Self-Recognition (VSR) refers to the cognitive capability of a child to recognizehim/herself in a medium, such as a mirror. This kind of early self-recognition capability is the

basis of psychological development such as self-consciousness, self-monitoring, self-caring and

self-management. As pointed by Ornitz et al., the inability of autistic children to communicatewell with others is often attributed to their inability to distinguish the self from others.

Past experimental research on VSR has focused on the following two problems: one is whether

an autistic child has VSR and the other is the relationship between VSR ability and otherabilities. Most of previous research, however, tried to measure the ability to distinguish only byobserving how the subjects reacted when they stood in front of a mirror, without a comparison

with their cognitive reaction when standing before others. It is difficult to say whether autistic

children have real VSR or not. Furthermore, these conclusions were based only on the result ofwhether or not the subject was able to wipe off a mark on his/her face. The psychological

activities behind the cognitive process have not been explored deeply. Third, most of these

studies only observed the subjects reaction in front of the mirror, where the perceived self by

the subject was a static and present one. Consequently, we cannot know the cognitive capabilityof autistic children toward a dynamic self over a prolonged period.

In order to address the inadequacy of past researches mentioned above, this study exploredwhether preschool children with autism have a primary cognitive capability to distinguishbetween the self and others, and investigated the difference between their mirror self-recognition

and video self-recognition by comparing these two kinds of cognition.
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2. Study 1: Cognitive distinction between the self and others in autistic children

The study was conducted to clarify whether autistic children during the pre-language stage make

a cognitive distinction between others and the self.

2.1 Subjects

Six preschool children with autism (age=48-60 months, mean age=52 months; psychologicalage=19-40 months, mean psychological age=23 months) participated in the study. All of them

were boys.

2.2 Method

2.2.1 Experiment design

Independent variable: video images of subject and others

Dependent variable: visual behavior and emotional expression

2.2.2 Procedures

In a quiet room at each of four kindergartens attended by the subjects, the experimenter showed a

video which had recorded the subject together with his/her peers 15 minutes earlier. The videoplayer was placed at the subjects eye level, at a distance of 35 cm. The main experimenter,

sitting beside the subject and facing the same direction, asked who is it? repeatedly during the

video. The co-experimenter, sitting opposite the subject, recorded the entire process using digital

video camera. The videos of self-others and others-self were presented in shifts in a randommanner.

2.3 Data collecting and coding

All of the recorded content was coded and analyzed according to the Coding Sheet by the

second.

Given the purpose of experiment, the Coding Sheet was composed of visual behavior,expression and language. Each of the items was divided into two categoriestoward-self

and toward-others. The visual behavior was divided into glancing, watching, and closeattention. The actual situation during the experiments was coded by visual behavior,

expression and language, respectively.

(Here the detailed procedures, data collection, processing and coding are omitted.)

2.4 Data processing and reliability analysis

The reliability coefficients of the two experiments in this study were 0.85 and 0.91, respectively.

2.5 Analysis and Results

2.5.1 Comparison of the visual behavior toward self and others of the 6 autistic preschool

children (APC)

Figure 1 and Figure 2 compare the visual behavior of six preschool children (glancing and

watching the self and peers)
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Figure 1 Comparison of the visual behavior (glancing) of the six preschool children

As seen in Figure 1, the rate of glancing differs among the six children. Some children glance at

themselves at a higher rate than they glance at peers, but other children indicate the inverse. Inone child, however, glancing at the self occurs at a much higher rate than glancing at peers.

Figure 2 Comparison of the visual behavior (watching) of the six preschool children

In contrast to Figure 1, Figure 2 shows that among all six children, watching the self occurs at a

higher rate than watching peers.

To identify a possible difference between APCs visual behavior toward the self and others, therates of occurrence (the frequency of the behavior) were examined and compared. Table1 shows

the Means and SDs of the three visual behaviors.

Table 1 The mean occurrence rates of autistic preschool childrens three visual behaviorstoward the self and peers


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Note: The occurrence rate was calculated by 5 seconds

The total observation time for visual behavior was 150 seconds, of the self and others,respectively.

* p


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* p


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3.1 Subjects

The same as Study 1.

3.2. Method

3.2.1 Experiment Design Independent variable: self images in the mirror and video

Dependent variable: visual behavior and emotional expression

3.2.2 Procedures

In each of the four kindergartens attended by the subjects, about 50M2, one mirrored play roomand one quiet room were used to conduct the mirror self-recognition experiment and the video

self-recognition one, respectively. (Here the detailed procedures, data collection, processing and

coding are omitted.)

3.3 Analysis and Results

3.3.1 Comparison of the emotional expression when recognizing the two images

Figure 5 showed the mean frequency rate of emotional expression of the six autistic children

under the two conditions mirror self-recognition and video self-recognition.

Figure 5 Comparison of emotional expression of six autistic preschool children under the two

self-recognition conditions.

The results verified that the mean frequency rate of autistic childrens positive emotion under

video self-recognition condition was significantly higher than that under mirror self-recognition condition, p


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Table 3 Correlation of visual behaviors between mirror self-recognition and video self-

recognition

*** df=4, p


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The study also showed that video self-recognition of autistic children was better than mirror self-

recognition, but there was a correlation between them.

The results of the experiment suggest that the recognition of the self and other in autisticpreschool children is not so indistinct that they are indistinguishable, but this distinction is at a

vague and incipient stage. This research indicates the need to identify their critical period forsocial cognitive development to improve their level for self/other recognition.

As a means of educative intervention, video or computer software can be used to enhance theself-recognition of autistic preschool children. Only when the autistic children become interested

in the content of intervention, will it become possible to comfortably involve them in this

intervention as a way of improving their visual self-recognition.

experiment study on visual self

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