Many students with autism perform well on educational tasks on some days and less well on others. We are investigating the possibility that task performance and other behavior may be related to physiological changes that correspond with motivation. In Phase I of the study, 3 typically developing 5-year-old children participated in a preliminary study designed to measure changes in electrodermal activity (EDA) and other performances (e.g., response rate, task accuracy) in the face of changed contingencies of reinforcement. Participants wore the empatica� E4 wireless wristband, an activity tracker that measures moment-to moment EDA during the sessions. By monitoring EDA, researchers learn how individuals respond to potential stressors, which may allow for the development of individual profiles that will help to predict emotional responsiveness. In this study, more extreme change in EDA was considered to reflect high motivation, and a lack of change in EDA was considered to indicate low motivation. The researchers concluded that variability in task accuracy (i.e. selecting the correct color on a computer screen) may be influenced by sensitivity to changes in the frequency of rewards, and that performance suffers when motivation is either too high or too low. Changes in EDA may be related to changes in performance in educational tasks, and may affect how much learning is possible at a given point in time. This technology may be useful when applied to individuals with autism and underscores the need for individualized reinforcement strategies. Upcoming phases include participation by students with autism spectrum disorders. Presented at BABAT 2017.
Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC)
Autism Research Database (AFD)
