| dc.contributor.author |
Rabin, Alexa |
|
| dc.date.accessioned |
2011-02-06T23:34:23Z |
|
| dc.date.available |
2011-02-06T23:34:23Z |
|
| dc.date.issued |
2007-04 |
|
| dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/1803/4727 |
|
| dc.description.abstract |
This study contributes to a growing body of work aimed at documenting and defining behavioral markers associated with early autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and its broader phenotype. A total of 19 infants (sib-ASD), who have a sibling diagnosed with ASD were seen at 6.5 months, and 23 infants were seen at 9 months. Sib-ASD infants were matched in age and gender with low-risk infants (sib-TD), who have a typically developing sibling. Infants were simultaneously presented two stimuli, a person’s face (the social stimulus) and a brightly colored toy (the nonsocial stimulus). We found there were no significant differences between at-risk infants and low-risk infants in their responsiveness to and disengagement from the stimuli. However, a significant group difference did appear in the 9 month infants’ time smiling. Sib-TD infants spent more time smiling at the nonsocial as compared to the social stimulus relative to the sib-ASD infants, who showed no preference in time smiling for one stimulus over the other. This unexpected finding contradicted our initial predictions that sib-TD infants would prefer the social stimulus and thus spend more time smiling at the experimenter’s face, while sib-ASD infants would prefer the nonsocial stimulus, and thus spend more time smiling at the toy. |
en_US |
| dc.description.sponsorship |
Thesis completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Honors Program in Psychological Sciences |
en_US |
| dc.language.iso |
en_US |
en_US |
| dc.publisher |
Vanderbilt University |
en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh |
Autism -- Research |
en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh |
Autism spectrum disorders |
en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh |
Brothers and sisters of children with disabilities -- Health risk assessment |
en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh |
Affect (Psychology) |
en_US |
| dc.title |
Orientation and affect directed towards social and nonsocial targets in infant siblings of children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) |
en_US |
| dc.type |
Thesis |
en_US |
| dc.description.school |
Vanderbilt University |
en_US |
| dc.description.department |
Psychological Sciences |
en_US |
