Children with Autism Less Likely to Copy Unnecessary Behavior

A new study from The University of Nottingham has found that children with autism are more likely to imitate only useful actions that can get a job done efficiently, rather than "silly" actions.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is a group of developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges. According to a new report, about one in 50 children has ASD.

Researchers found that children with autism were unlikely to engage in nonsense behavior, which is an important aspect of learning social behavior for young children.

"Our study showed that typically developing children copy everything an adult does, even when they know that some of the actions are 'silly'," said Dr. Antonia Hamilton, from The University of Nottingham, lead author of the study. "In contrast, the children with autism only copied the useful actions - in a way, they are getting the job done more efficiently than the typical children."

The study was based on a small sample size of 31 children with ASD and 30 children who weren't diagnosed with the disorder.

The children were shown how to retrieve a toy from a box and along with necessary information like how to open the box, the adult also did some "non-sense" actions like tapping on the box.

Researchers found that although nearly all children completed the task, children without ASD copied 43-57 percent of the silly actions compared with autistic children, who imitated just 22 percent. Note that the researchers asked the children to finish the task and didn't give any instructions about copying their actions.

In the second part of the study, researchers asked the children to identify the "silly behavior" of the adult who had demonstrated the task and interestingly, children without ASD were better at identifying these actions when compared with children who had ASD.

Researchers say that the children without ASD might be copying even the silly behavior of the adult because they want to adhere to social norms, even while they know that the actions are effective. Such motivation to follow others lacks in children with ASD.

"In our task, children are asked to make or get the toy, and all are able to do so. Children with autism do not spontaneously copy unnecessary actions, and this can best be explained by reduced social motivation. The autistic children are not interested in being like other people or in conforming to social norms," Dr. Hamilton added in a news release.

The study is published in the journal Current Biology.