A case study of a high functioning autistic female in a games setting

This study detennined whether or not a high functioning autistic girl can develop game structure strategies that may allow her to become an active participant in a game or sport environment. This qualitative case study involved the in-depth observation and description of one high functioning autistic student whose experience in a game setting would be studied. The type of case study carried out was a combination of descriptive and evaluative. This experience was investigated through structured, individual programming. Through on-site observation, journal entries, and hands on instruction, I was able to describe what progress the autistic student made in tenns of skill development. The results of the study demonstrated that a high-functioning autistic female has the potential to develop the necessary motor skills to participate in the chosen sport of basketball. The observation results and field notes contributed to a movement profile which described her habits of body. Teaching strategies and frameworks utilized during the study were described and listed. Insights and commentary are further provided. A thorough examination of autism and games programming is provided in the literature review.

A social-cognitive model of monitoring and its relationship to behaviour in a naturalistic observation : development and individual differences

years 8 months) and 24 older (M == 7 years 4 months) children. A Monitoring Process Model (MPM) was developed and tested in order to ascertain at which component process ofthe MPM age differences would emerge. The MPM had four components: (1) assessment; (2) evaluation; (3) planning; and (4) behavioural control. The MPM was assessed directly using a referential communication task in which the children were asked to make a series of five Lego buildings (a baseline condition and one building for each MPM component). Children listened to instructions from one experimenter while a second experimenter in the room (a confederate) intetjected varying levels ofverbal feedback in order to assist the children and control the component ofthe MPM. This design allowed us to determine at which "stage" ofprocessing children would most likely have difficulty monitoring themselves in this social-cognitive task. Developmental differences were obselVed for the evaluation, planning and behavioural control components suggesting that older children were able to be more successful with the more explicit metacomponents. Interestingly, however, there was no age difference in terms ofLego task success in the baseline condition suggesting that without the intelVention ofthe confederate younger children monitored the task about as well as older children. This pattern ofresults indicates that the younger children were disrupted by the feedback rather than helped. On the other hand, the older children were able to incorporate the feedback offered by the confederate into a plan ofaction. Another aim ofthis study was to assess similar processing components to those investigated by the MPM Lego task in a more naturalistic observation. Together the use ofthe Lego Task ( a social cognitive task) and the naturalistic social interaction allowed for the appraisal of cross-domain continuities and discontinuities in monitoring behaviours. In this vein, analyses were undertaken in order to ascertain whether or not successful performance in the MPM Lego Task would predict cross-domain competence in the more naturalistic social interchange. Indeed, success in the two latter components ofthe MPM (planning and behavioural control) was related to overall competence in the naturalistic task. However, this cross-domain prediction was not evident for all levels ofthe naturalistic interchange suggesting that the nature ofthe feedback a child receives is an important determinant ofresponse competency. Individual difference measures reflecting the children's general cognitive capacity (Working Memory and Digit Span) and verbal ability (vocabulary) were also taken in an effort to account for more variance in the prediction oftask success. However, these individual difference measures did not serve to enhance the prediction oftask performance in either the Lego Task or the naturalistic task. Similarly, parental responses to questionnaires pertaining to their child's temperament and social experience also failed to increase prediction oftask performance. On-line measures ofthe children's engagement, positive affect and anxiety also failed to predict competence ratings.

A systematic observation of hostile aggression in Junior B hockey

Aggressive behaviours within the sport of hockey appear to be increasing in both prevalence and consequence (Biasca, Wirth, & Tegner, 2002). Accordingly, this area of inquiry is currently garnering a considerable amount of attention from society and academics alike. The problem however, is that our current understanding of these behaviours has been deemed both incomplete and unreliable. The inconsistencies inherent within this body of knowledge have been traced back to a variety of methodological shortcomings. The purpose of this investigation was to assess hostile aggression using a more ecologically valid and comprehensive research design. Ten Junior B hockey games were tapped and subsequently coded by three independent observers, using a validated operational list. Two hundred and fifty-nine behaviours were extrapolated and examined according to the score differential, period, position of the aggressor, status of the aggressor's team, and whether the aggressor was a member of the home or visiting team. It was concluded that the frequency of aggressive behaviours significantly differed according to the score differential, and status of the aggressor's team (p < .01). However, these hostile acts did not differ according the aggressor's position, period, and the home versus away status of the aggressor's team (p > .01). It was also determined that the majority of aggressive acts (69.1 1%) across these ten games went unsanctioned. This highlights the profound influence that "positive misses" have on penalty measures of aggression, while concurrently highlighting the ecological validity present with observational designs. Consequently, by assessing aggressive behaviour in a more inclusive and ecologically valid manner, a more accurate picture of the frequency and distribution of hostile aggression may be provided.