Adaptation to the Speed of Biological Motion in Autism / Themis KARAMINIS in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50-2 (February 2020)  

Public ISBD [article]  inJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders > 50-2 (February 2020) . - p.373-385 Titre : Adaptation to the Speed of Biological Motion in Autism Type de document : Texte imprimé et/ou numérique Auteurs : Themis KARAMINIS, Auteur ; Roberto ARRIGHI, Auteur ; Georgia FORTH, Auteur ; David BURR, Auteur ; Elizabeth PELLICANO, Auteur Article en page(s) : p.373-385 Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : Adaptation  Autism  Biological motion  Perception  Running speed Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Autistic individuals often present atypicalities in adaptation-the continuous recalibration of perceptual systems driven by recent sensory experiences. Here, we examined such atypicalities in human biological motion. We used a dual-task paradigm, including a running-speed discrimination task ('comparing the speed of two running silhouettes') and a change-detection task ('detecting fixation-point shrinkages') assessing attention. We tested 19 school-age autistic and 19 age- and ability-matched typical participants, also recording eye-movements. The two groups presented comparable speed-discrimination abilities and, unexpectedly, comparable adaptation. Accuracy in the change-detection task and the scatter of eye-fixations around the fixation point were also similar across groups. Yet, the scatter of fixations reliably predicted the magnitude of adaptation, demonstrating the importance of controlling for attention in adaptation studies. En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04241-4 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=416 [article] Adaptation to the Speed of Biological Motion in Autism [Texte imprimé et/ou numérique] / Themis KARAMINIS, Auteur ; Roberto ARRIGHI, Auteur ; Georgia FORTH, Auteur ; David BURR, Auteur ; Elizabeth PELLICANO, Auteur . - p.373-385. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders > 50-2 (February 2020) . - p.373-385 Mots-clés : Adaptation  Autism  Biological motion  Perception  Running speed Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Autistic individuals often present atypicalities in adaptation-the continuous recalibration of perceptual systems driven by recent sensory experiences. Here, we examined such atypicalities in human biological motion. We used a dual-task paradigm, including a running-speed discrimination task ('comparing the speed of two running silhouettes') and a change-detection task ('detecting fixation-point shrinkages') assessing attention. We tested 19 school-age autistic and 19 age- and ability-matched typical participants, also recording eye-movements. The two groups presented comparable speed-discrimination abilities and, unexpectedly, comparable adaptation. Accuracy in the change-detection task and the scatter of eye-fixations around the fixation point were also similar across groups. Yet, the scatter of fixations reliably predicted the magnitude of adaptation, demonstrating the importance of controlling for attention in adaptation studies. En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04241-4 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=416

Binocular rivalry in children on the autism spectrum / Themis KARAMINIS in Autism Research, 10-6 (June 2017)  

Public ISBD [article]  inAutism Research > 10-6 (June 2017) . - p.1096-1106 Titre : Binocular rivalry in children on the autism spectrum Type de document : Texte imprimé et/ou numérique Auteurs : Themis KARAMINIS, Auteur ; Claudia LUNGHI, Auteur ; Louise NEIL, Auteur ; David BURR, Auteur ; Elizabeth PELLICANO, Auteur Article en page(s) : p.1096-1106 Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : binocular rivalry  autism  perception  bistable perception  vision  atypical development Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : When different images are presented to the eyes, the brain is faced with ambiguity, causing perceptual bistability: visual perception continuously alternates between the monocular images, a phenomenon called binocular rivalry. Many models of rivalry suggest that its temporal dynamics depend on mutual inhibition among neurons representing competing images. These models predict that rivalry should be different in autism, which has been proposed to present an atypical ratio of excitation and inhibition [the E/I imbalance hypothesis; Rubenstein & Merzenich, 2003]. In line with this prediction, some recent studies have provided evidence for atypical binocular rivalry dynamics in autistic adults. In this study, we examined if these findings generalize to autistic children. We developed a child-friendly binocular rivalry paradigm, which included two types of stimuli, low- and high-complexity, and compared rivalry dynamics in groups of autistic and age- and intellectual ability-matched typical children. Unexpectedly, the two groups of children presented the same number of perceptual transitions and the same mean phase durations (times perceiving one of the two stimuli). Yet autistic children reported mixed percepts for a shorter proportion of time (a difference which was in the opposite direction to previous adult studies), while elevated autistic symptomatology was associated with shorter mixed perception periods. Rivalry in the two groups was affected similarly by stimulus type, and consistent with previous findings. Our results suggest that rivalry dynamics are differentially affected in adults and developing autistic children and could be accounted for by hierarchical models of binocular rivalry, including both inhibition and top-down influences. En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aur.1749 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=309 [article] Binocular rivalry in children on the autism spectrum [Texte imprimé et/ou numérique] / Themis KARAMINIS, Auteur ; Claudia LUNGHI, Auteur ; Louise NEIL, Auteur ; David BURR, Auteur ; Elizabeth PELLICANO, Auteur . - p.1096-1106. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Autism Research > 10-6 (June 2017) . - p.1096-1106 Mots-clés : binocular rivalry  autism  perception  bistable perception  vision  atypical development Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : When different images are presented to the eyes, the brain is faced with ambiguity, causing perceptual bistability: visual perception continuously alternates between the monocular images, a phenomenon called binocular rivalry. Many models of rivalry suggest that its temporal dynamics depend on mutual inhibition among neurons representing competing images. These models predict that rivalry should be different in autism, which has been proposed to present an atypical ratio of excitation and inhibition [the E/I imbalance hypothesis; Rubenstein & Merzenich, 2003]. In line with this prediction, some recent studies have provided evidence for atypical binocular rivalry dynamics in autistic adults. In this study, we examined if these findings generalize to autistic children. We developed a child-friendly binocular rivalry paradigm, which included two types of stimuli, low- and high-complexity, and compared rivalry dynamics in groups of autistic and age- and intellectual ability-matched typical children. Unexpectedly, the two groups of children presented the same number of perceptual transitions and the same mean phase durations (times perceiving one of the two stimuli). Yet autistic children reported mixed percepts for a shorter proportion of time (a difference which was in the opposite direction to previous adult studies), while elevated autistic symptomatology was associated with shorter mixed perception periods. Rivalry in the two groups was affected similarly by stimulus type, and consistent with previous findings. Our results suggest that rivalry dynamics are differentially affected in adults and developing autistic children and could be accounted for by hierarchical models of binocular rivalry, including both inhibition and top-down influences. En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aur.1749 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=309

Portrayals of autism in the British press: A corpus-based study / Themis KARAMINIS in Autism, 27-4 (May 2023)  

Public ISBD [article]  inAutism > 27-4 (May 2023) . - p.1092-1114 Titre : Portrayals of autism in the British press: A corpus-based study Type de document : Texte imprimé et/ou numérique Auteurs : Themis KARAMINIS, Auteur ; Costas GABRIELATOS, Auteur ; Ursula MADEN-WEINBERGER, Auteur ; Geoffrey BEATTIE, Auteur Article en page(s) : p.1092-1114 Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : acceptance,autism spectrum disorders,corpus-based,critical discourse analysis,implicit attitudes,newspapers,representations Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Press representations of autism and autistic people both reflect and help shape public attitudes towards autism and neurodiversity and may establish critical barriers to social integration for autistic individuals. This study examined such representations in UK newspapers in the period 2011-2020 using a corpus-based approach. It also considered how press representations changed over time and differed with regard to reporting style (tabloids vs broadsheets) and political orientation (left- vs right-leaning). We created the Autism UK Press Corpus, which included all documents (~24K) referring to autism in 10 national newspapers. We used document counts (normalised by newspaper size) to assess the 'newsworthiness' of autism. We also employed a synergy of corpus-based and critical-discourse-analysis methodologies to study lexicogrammatical patterns and uncover explicit and implicit attitudes towards autism. Our results showed that the coverage of autism increased slightly over time, especially in broadsheets and left-leaning newspapers. Newspapers emphasised adversities associated with autism, often used negative language, and tended to focus on boys. These representations shifted gradually towards more difference-based descriptions and included more diverse age/gender groups, especially in broadsheets and left-leaning newspapers. We discuss the broad implications of these findings for the autism community and those interested in a more inclusive society.Lay abstractAny thriving society must recognise, accept and celebrate all of its diverse talent. But how accepting is British society towards autism and autistic people? This research addressed this question through the lens of the press since the press both reflects and helps shape public attitudes towards various social categories. We used specialised 'corpus-based' methods to carry out a large-scale study, which examined all articles referring to autism or autistic people in 10 national British newspapers in the period 2011-2020. We first investigated how often newspapers referred to autism. We found that the coverage of autism increased slightly over the years, suggesting that autism was becoming an increasingly newsworthy topic. Furthermore, the rise in autism coverage differed considerably between individual newspapers: it was more pronounced in the broadsheets than tabloids, and in left-leaning than right-leaning newspapers. But what was the focus of these articles? We found that newspapers emphasised the adversities associated with autism and portrayed autism with a lot of negative language. Newspapers also tended to focus on autistic children, and particularly on boys. There were some signs of change in more recent years, with some newspapers now representing autism as a difference and, in addition, referring to more diverse groups of autistic people. However, these changes tended to be confined to broadsheets and left-leaning newspapers. Our findings suggest that representations of autism in the contemporary British press are skewed towards stereotypically negative views, which may well hinder the acceptance of autism and the fostering of a more inclusive society. En ligne : https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221131752 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=499 [article] Portrayals of autism in the British press: A corpus-based study [Texte imprimé et/ou numérique] / Themis KARAMINIS, Auteur ; Costas GABRIELATOS, Auteur ; Ursula MADEN-WEINBERGER, Auteur ; Geoffrey BEATTIE, Auteur . - p.1092-1114. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Autism > 27-4 (May 2023) . - p.1092-1114 Mots-clés : acceptance,autism spectrum disorders,corpus-based,critical discourse analysis,implicit attitudes,newspapers,representations Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Press representations of autism and autistic people both reflect and help shape public attitudes towards autism and neurodiversity and may establish critical barriers to social integration for autistic individuals. This study examined such representations in UK newspapers in the period 2011-2020 using a corpus-based approach. It also considered how press representations changed over time and differed with regard to reporting style (tabloids vs broadsheets) and political orientation (left- vs right-leaning). We created the Autism UK Press Corpus, which included all documents (~24K) referring to autism in 10 national newspapers. We used document counts (normalised by newspaper size) to assess the 'newsworthiness' of autism. We also employed a synergy of corpus-based and critical-discourse-analysis methodologies to study lexicogrammatical patterns and uncover explicit and implicit attitudes towards autism. Our results showed that the coverage of autism increased slightly over time, especially in broadsheets and left-leaning newspapers. Newspapers emphasised adversities associated with autism, often used negative language, and tended to focus on boys. These representations shifted gradually towards more difference-based descriptions and included more diverse age/gender groups, especially in broadsheets and left-leaning newspapers. We discuss the broad implications of these findings for the autism community and those interested in a more inclusive society.Lay abstractAny thriving society must recognise, accept and celebrate all of its diverse talent. But how accepting is British society towards autism and autistic people? This research addressed this question through the lens of the press since the press both reflects and helps shape public attitudes towards various social categories. We used specialised 'corpus-based' methods to carry out a large-scale study, which examined all articles referring to autism or autistic people in 10 national British newspapers in the period 2011-2020. We first investigated how often newspapers referred to autism. We found that the coverage of autism increased slightly over the years, suggesting that autism was becoming an increasingly newsworthy topic. Furthermore, the rise in autism coverage differed considerably between individual newspapers: it was more pronounced in the broadsheets than tabloids, and in left-leaning than right-leaning newspapers. But what was the focus of these articles? We found that newspapers emphasised the adversities associated with autism and portrayed autism with a lot of negative language. Newspapers also tended to focus on autistic children, and particularly on boys. There were some signs of change in more recent years, with some newspapers now representing autism as a difference and, in addition, referring to more diverse groups of autistic people. However, these changes tended to be confined to broadsheets and left-leaning newspapers. Our findings suggest that representations of autism in the contemporary British press are skewed towards stereotypically negative views, which may well hinder the acceptance of autism and the fostering of a more inclusive society. En ligne : https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221131752 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=499

The psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Social Communication Questionnaire / Themis KARAMINIS in Autism Research, 15-9 (September 2022)  

Public ISBD [article]  inAutism Research > 15-9 (September 2022) . - p.1768-1780 Titre : The psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Social Communication Questionnaire Type de document : Texte imprimé et/ou numérique Auteurs : Themis KARAMINIS, Auteur ; Stavroula STAVRAKAKI, Auteur Article en page(s) : p.1768-1780 Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : Autism Spectrum Disorder/diagnosis  Child  Communication  Female  Humans  Male  Psychometrics  Reproducibility of Results  Surveys and Questionnaires  Greek  Social Communication Questionnaire  autism  autism spectrum disorder  cultural adaptation  screening tools  validation Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : There is a scarcity of diagnostic assessments and screening tools for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in Greek. In this study, we examined the psychometric properties of the recently developed Greek version of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ). We used parental responses for 311 children (mean age: 7.54years old, SD = 1.92), 122 with a diagnosis of ASD (93 boys, 29 girls) and 189 neurotypical children (104 boys, 85 girls), with 167 responses referring to the Lifetime and 144 to the Current form of the SCQ. Both forms presented adequate construct validity based on the four-factor model, while in both forms, autistic children presented higher SCQ total and subscale scores (four factors) than typical children. The forms had excellent internal reliability. An item-response-theory analysis suggested that over 80% of test items fitted adequately a Rasch model, while a preliminary analysis of gender biases suggested that a small number of items (Lifetime: five; Current: six out of 39) were differentially sensitive to autistic symptomatology in boys and girls. A receiver-operating-characteristic analysis showed excellent diagnostic performance based on the SCQ total score (Lifetime: area-under-the-curve/AUC = 0.937, Current: AUC = 0.963), and acceptable to excellent discrimination for the four subscales (AUCs between 0.737 and 0.955). Our preliminary results suggest that the Greek SCQ presents satisfactory psychometric properties and can be used for differentiating children with ASD from typical children in initial assessments within clinical and research settings. LAY SUMMARY: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD or autism) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition with a prevalence of ~1.5%-2% and characterized by difficulties in social interaction and communication and repetitive and restricted behaviors. There is increasing concern that research in ASD has focused on a small number of languages and cultural settings and that this bias challenges the identification and diagnosis of the condition in other languages and cultures, which are underrepresented in autism research. One such language is Greek (spoken by ~13.5 million), for which there is a scarcity of standardized instruments for the diagnosis of autism. This study examines the psychometric properties of the recently published Greek version of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), a widely used screening tool for ASD. We conduct an in-depth psychometric analysis of the Greek SCQ, including both forms in which the instrument is available (Lifetime and Current). This analysis shows that the Greek SCQ can be used for differentiating children with ASD from typical children in initial assessments within clinical and research settings. The findings of this study have implications for clinicians, special educators and researchers working with Greek-speaking individuals with ASD and, more broadly, for cross-cultural autism research. En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aur.2790 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=483 [article] The psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Social Communication Questionnaire [Texte imprimé et/ou numérique] / Themis KARAMINIS, Auteur ; Stavroula STAVRAKAKI, Auteur . - p.1768-1780. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Autism Research > 15-9 (September 2022) . - p.1768-1780 Mots-clés : Autism Spectrum Disorder/diagnosis  Child  Communication  Female  Humans  Male  Psychometrics  Reproducibility of Results  Surveys and Questionnaires  Greek  Social Communication Questionnaire  autism  autism spectrum disorder  cultural adaptation  screening tools  validation Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : There is a scarcity of diagnostic assessments and screening tools for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in Greek. In this study, we examined the psychometric properties of the recently developed Greek version of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ). We used parental responses for 311 children (mean age: 7.54years old, SD = 1.92), 122 with a diagnosis of ASD (93 boys, 29 girls) and 189 neurotypical children (104 boys, 85 girls), with 167 responses referring to the Lifetime and 144 to the Current form of the SCQ. Both forms presented adequate construct validity based on the four-factor model, while in both forms, autistic children presented higher SCQ total and subscale scores (four factors) than typical children. The forms had excellent internal reliability. An item-response-theory analysis suggested that over 80% of test items fitted adequately a Rasch model, while a preliminary analysis of gender biases suggested that a small number of items (Lifetime: five; Current: six out of 39) were differentially sensitive to autistic symptomatology in boys and girls. A receiver-operating-characteristic analysis showed excellent diagnostic performance based on the SCQ total score (Lifetime: area-under-the-curve/AUC = 0.937, Current: AUC = 0.963), and acceptable to excellent discrimination for the four subscales (AUCs between 0.737 and 0.955). Our preliminary results suggest that the Greek SCQ presents satisfactory psychometric properties and can be used for differentiating children with ASD from typical children in initial assessments within clinical and research settings. LAY SUMMARY: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD or autism) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition with a prevalence of ~1.5%-2% and characterized by difficulties in social interaction and communication and repetitive and restricted behaviors. There is increasing concern that research in ASD has focused on a small number of languages and cultural settings and that this bias challenges the identification and diagnosis of the condition in other languages and cultures, which are underrepresented in autism research. One such language is Greek (spoken by ~13.5 million), for which there is a scarcity of standardized instruments for the diagnosis of autism. This study examines the psychometric properties of the recently published Greek version of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), a widely used screening tool for ASD. We conduct an in-depth psychometric analysis of the Greek SCQ, including both forms in which the instrument is available (Lifetime and Current). This analysis shows that the Greek SCQ can be used for differentiating children with ASD from typical children in initial assessments within clinical and research settings. The findings of this study have implications for clinicians, special educators and researchers working with Greek-speaking individuals with ASD and, more broadly, for cross-cultural autism research. En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aur.2790 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=483

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