According to the DSM-IV- TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), one of the core deficits in autism is in the impairment of social interaction. Some have suggested that underlying these deficits is the reality that individuals with autism do not find social stimuli to be as reinforcing as other types of stimuli (Dawson, 2008). An interesting and growing body of literature supports the notion that symptoms in autism may be caused by a general reduction in social motivation (Chevallier et al., 2012). A review of the literature suggests that social orienting and social motivation are low in individuals with autism, and including social motivation as a target for therapeutic intervention should be pursued (Helt et al., 2008). Through our understanding of learning processes, researchers in behavior analysis and related fields have been able to use conditioning procedures to change the function of neutral or ineffective stimuli, including tokens (Ayllon & Azrin, 1968), facial expressions (Gewirtz & Pelaez-Nogueras, 1992) and praise (Dozier et al., 2012). The current study aimed to use operant and respondent procedures to condition social stimuli that were empirically shown to not be reinforcing prior to conditioning. Further, this study aimed to compare the two procedures in their effectiveness to condition social stimuli to function as reinforcers, and in their maintenance of effects over time. Using a multiple-baseline, multi-element design, one social stimulus was conditioned under each procedure to compare the different response rates following conditioning. Finally, the study sought to determine if conditioning social stimuli to function as reinforcers had any effect on the social functioning of young children with autism. Six children diagnosed with autism between the ages of 18 months and 3 years participated. Results show that the respondent procedure (pairing) resulted in more robust and enduring effects than the operant procedure (Sd procedure). Results of a social communication assessment (ESCS, Mundy et al., 2003) before and after conditioning demonstrate gains in all areas of social communication, particularly in the areas of initiating and responding to joint attention.

Covid-19-pandemin har lett till en rad restriktioner vilka påverkar livsstilsval för studenter. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka erfarenheter av fysisk aktivitet och dess betydelse för välmående hos fysioterapeutstudenter under den rådande pandemin. Fem intervjuer genomfördes med redan fysiskt aktiva fysioterapeutstudenter i åldrarna 23-31. Intervjuerna transkriberades och relevanta meningsenheter plockades ut. Kodning genomfördes med hjälp av Open Code och kategorier med tillhörande subkategorier formades slutligen vilket mynnade ut i ett tema. Temat Livet känns tomt och träning fyller tomheten beskriver hur fysisk aktivitet hade flera effekter både på fysisk- och psykisk hälsa samt en social aspekt där studenterna fick möjlighet att värdera hur den sociala vardagen kändes innan pandemin bröt ut. Hemisolering ledde till att dagar kändes monotona där träning kunde användas som ett verktyg för att bryta bristen på variation. Det kom dock fram att det fanns ett inre etiskt dilemma bland deltagarna när det gäller träning på gymmet. I ena änden det personliga motivet till hälsofrämjande, i kontrast till det allmänna perspektivet att minska spridningen av viruset. Resultaten indikerar vikten av att vara kreativa med träning under en global pandemi, men också förstå de viktiga effekterna av fysisk aktivitet.

When viewing ambiguous figures, individuals can exert selective attentional control over their perceptual reversibility behaviour (e.g., Strüber & Stadler, 1999). In the current study, we replicated this finding but we also found that ambiguous figures containing faces are processed quite differently from those containing objects. Furthermore, inverting an ambiguous figure containing faces (i.e., Rubin’s vase-face) resulted in an “inversion effect”. These findings highlight the importance of considering how we attend to faces in addition to how we perceive and process faces. Describing the perceptual reversal patterns of individuals in the general population allowed us to draw comparisons to behaviours exhibited by individuals with Asperger Syndrome (AS). The group data suggested that these individuals were less affected by figure type or stimulus inversion. Examination of individual scores, moreover, revealed that the majority of participants with AS showed an atypical reversal pattern, particularly with ambiguous figures containing faces, and an atypical inversion effect. Together, our results show that ambiguous figures can be a very valuable tool for examining face processing mechanisms in the general population and other distinct groups of individuals, particularly those diagnosed with AS. / October 2008

When viewing ambiguous figures, individuals can exert selective attentional control over their perceptual reversibility behaviour (e.g., Strüber & Stadler, 1999). In the current study, we replicated this finding but we also found that ambiguous figures containing faces are processed quite differently from those containing objects. Furthermore, inverting an ambiguous figure containing faces (i.e., Rubin’s vase-face) resulted in an “inversion effect”. These findings highlight the importance of considering how we attend to faces in addition to how we perceive and process faces. Describing the perceptual reversal patterns of individuals in the general population allowed us to draw comparisons to behaviours exhibited by individuals with Asperger Syndrome (AS). The group data suggested that these individuals were less affected by figure type or stimulus inversion. Examination of individual scores, moreover, revealed that the majority of participants with AS showed an atypical reversal pattern, particularly with ambiguous figures containing faces, and an atypical inversion effect. Together, our results show that ambiguous figures can be a very valuable tool for examining face processing mechanisms in the general population and other distinct groups of individuals, particularly those diagnosed with AS.

When viewing ambiguous figures, individuals can exert selective attentional control over their perceptual reversibility behaviour (e.g., Strüber & Stadler, 1999). In the current study, we replicated this finding but we also found that ambiguous figures containing faces are processed quite differently from those containing objects. Furthermore, inverting an ambiguous figure containing faces (i.e., Rubin’s vase-face) resulted in an “inversion effect”. These findings highlight the importance of considering how we attend to faces in addition to how we perceive and process faces. Describing the perceptual reversal patterns of individuals in the general population allowed us to draw comparisons to behaviours exhibited by individuals with Asperger Syndrome (AS). The group data suggested that these individuals were less affected by figure type or stimulus inversion. Examination of individual scores, moreover, revealed that the majority of participants with AS showed an atypical reversal pattern, particularly with ambiguous figures containing faces, and an atypical inversion effect. Together, our results show that ambiguous figures can be a very valuable tool for examining face processing mechanisms in the general population and other distinct groups of individuals, particularly those diagnosed with AS.

In appetitive conditioning, a neutral stimulus (CS) is conditioned to elicit a positive emotional response by pairing it with a positive/appetitive unconditioned stimulus (US). This method is useful for studying emotional disorders and emotion in general. Studying appetitive conditioning in humans has been hampered by the lack of adequate positive unconditioned stimuli. This study investigated multimodal social stimuli as potential unconditioned stimuli in an appetitive conditioning paradigm. Neutral faces (CS+’giggle’ and CS+’woohoo’) were paired with two multimodal unconditioned stimuli consisting of the same smiling face and two different sound stimuli (US‘giggle’ and US‘woohoo’). The dependent variable was participant skin conductance response (SCR) alongside participant emotional ratings of the stimuli, that together indexes the conditioned response. CS+’giggle’ was hypothesized to be rated as happier, and less fearful than CS+’woohoo’. Successful conditioning was evidenced by higher happiness ratings for both stimuli after acquisition compared to habituation. However, no effect of acquisition was found on SCR.  US’woohoo’ was also rated as more fearful and arousing and less happy and pleasant than the US’giggle’. In sum, this thesis presents a paradigm that can be used in future studies on appetitive conditioning.

Le présent mémoire de maîtrise porte sur la relation potentielle entre le trait de personnalité de recherche de sensations et le traitement des expressions faciales émotionnelles, en particulier la perception (intensité et valence perçues) et la réaction (excitation) aux expressions faciales émotionnelles des autres. Nous examinons si les différences individuelles dans la recherche de sensations sont liées aux variations dans la perception et les réactions aux émotions faciales positives, négatives et neutres chez autrui. Nous recherchons également si les différences de perception ont un rôle à jouer dans la relation entre la réaction d'excitation et la recherche de sensations. Un échantillon de jeunes adultes (N=77) a rempli le formulaire V de l'échelle de recherche de sensations (SSS-V) et a évalué l'intensité et la valence d'expressions faciales émotionnelles tirées de la banque de visages émotionnels dirigés de Karolinska (KDEF). Les participants ont également rapporté leur réponse d'excitation émotionnelle perçue à ces stimuli. En utilisant des régressions hiérarchiques, nous montrons que la recherche de sensations est liée à une réponse d'excitation perçue plus élevée aux expressions faciales émotionnelles positives, négatives et neutres. Une recherche de sensations plus élevée était également associée à une intensité perçue plus élevée, mais uniquement pour une expression faciale neutre, cette relation médiant entièrement l'association entre la recherche de sensations et la réponse d'excitation. Cette thèse de maîtrise fournit les premières données sur la relation entre le trait de personnalité de recherche de sensations et les différences individuelles dans le traitement des émotions chez les autres. Elle ouvre la porte à de futures recherches sur l'impact potentiel du trait de personnalité de recherche de sensations sur le fonctionnement social chez les jeunes adultes. / The present master’s thesis focuses on the potential relation between sensation seeking and the processing of emotional facial expressions, specifically the perception (perceived intensity and perceived valence) and reaction (arousal) to emotional facial expressions in others. We investigate whether individual differences in sensation seeking are related to the variations in perception and reactions to positive, negative, and neutral facial emotions in others. We also investigate if differences in perception have a role to play in the relationship between the self-reported arousal response and sensation seeking. A sample of young adults (N=77) completed the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V (SSS-V), and rated the intensity and valence of facial emotional expressions taken from the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces (KDEF) set. Participants also reported their perceived emotional arousal response to these stimuli. Using hierarchical regressions, we show that sensation seeking is related to higher self-reported arousal response to positive, negative, and neutral emotional facial expressions. Higher sensation seeking was also associated with higher perceived intensity but only for neutral facial expression, this relation fully mediated the association between sensation seeking and arousal response. This master’s thesis provides the first data on the relation between sensation seeking trait and individual differences in processing of emotions in others. It opens the door to future research on the potential impact of the sensation seeking personality trait on social functioning in young adults.