Action understanding and social learning in autism: A developmental prospective.

2012

Sally J. Rogers
[email protected]
916-703-0264

Social cognitive development in humans is grounded on a set of ?hard-wired? skills that enable children to (1) pay attention to relevant aspects ofthe environment in order to make sense of other people?s behaviour (2) in-corporate the actions they observe into their own behavioural repertoire(i.e., social learning). This phenomenon, which allows individuals to takeadvantage of other people?s knowledge and avoid the costs of trial-and-er-ror learning, are likely to reflect the interplay of uniquely human social-cognitive biases (e.g., drive to orient attention toward other people) andhigher-level cognitive processes (e.g., strategic selection of what to imi-tate). Difficulties in understanding and imitating others? actions, as well asdifficulties in learning, are frequently documented in children with autism,a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized, by multiple deficits in theareas of social communication, and reciprocity and by behavioural rigid-ity.

Peer-reviewed publications in scholarly journals Published/In Press

Professionals, Students

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