“Tunnel vision”: A possible keystone stimulus control deficit in autistic children

Little is known about the acquisition of stimulus control in autistic children. Many studies comment on the incidental, unintended, and often bizarre stimulus control acquired when normal discrimination learning procedures are used. Earlier studies suggested the problem may involve autistic children's inability to respond to multiple, simultaneous cues. While this has been clearly demonstrated in some instances, subsequent data have shown that autistic children sometimes do respond to multiple cues. The question remains, then: What variables influence stimulus control in autistic children? The present study examined one alternative, the possible effects of the absolute distance between cues, in an attempt to better understand (and program) stimulus control in autistic children. Three autistic children were trained to select a card containing a stimulus array comprised of three visual cues. The distance of each cue from the center cue was varied, using small, medium and large distance conditions. Stimulus control probes were conducted for each distance condition to assess which of the features the children learned about. The results revealed that the absolute distance between the cues determined the number of stimulus features to which the autistic child responded; decreasing the distance between cues served to increase the number of cues that controlled responding. The distances used in this study did not, however, affect the responding of MA-matched and CA-matched normal children. The possible role of “tunnel vision” and “the distance between cues” in treating and understanding autistic children are discussed.