University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Special Education ETDs Education ETDs 6-26-2015 The ffecE ts of Movie Time Social Learning on Emotion Recognition, Perspective Taking and Empathy in Children with Autism James Fletcher Scott Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/educ_spcd_etds Recommended Citation Scott, James Fletcher. "The Effects of Movie Time Social Learning on Emotion Recognition, Perspective Taking and Empathy in Children with Autism." (2015). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/educ_spcd_etds/20 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Education ETDs at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Special Education ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i James Fletcher Scott Candidate Educational Specialties Department This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Dissertation Committee: Dr. Susan Copeland, Chairperson Professor Ruth Luckasson, J.D. Dr. Megan Griffin Dr. Sandra Nettleton Dr. Magdalena Avila ii THE EFFECTS OF MOVIE TIME SOCIAL LEARNING ON EMOTION RECOGNITION, PERSPECTIVE TAKING AND EMPATHY IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM By JAMES FLETCHER SCOTT B.A., Psychology, University of Texas, 1990 M.A., Speech/Language Pathology, University of North Texas, 1998 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Special Education The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico May, 2015 iii Copyright ©2015, James Fletcher Scott Under copyright law, no portions of this document can be reproduced without expressed written consent by the author. iv Dedication I would like to dedicate this study to all of the many wonderful children with autism and their families who have inspired me to become a better interventionist throughout the years. This dissertation is also dedicated to my grandparents, Tommie and Florence Keepers, who believed in the value of a good education and instilled those values in me from a very young age. As I was growing up, I always looked forward to visiting them in the summers at the school they developed, Cypress Creek Private School, in Cypress, Texas. v Acknowledgments I would first and foremost like to thank my dissertation advisor, Dr. Susan Copeland. Without her unwavering support and guidance, I would not have been able to complete this study. She was consistently enthusiastic and supportive about the topic and felt that it was important work that needed to be done. Susan, you are a remarkable professor and teacher and I feel very fortunate to have you as a mentor! I would also like to thank Professor Ruth Luckasson for her many valuable insights regarding this study, as well as the other members of my committee, Dr. Sandra Nettleton, Dr. Megan Griffin, and Dr. Magdalena Avila. I would also like to thank Dr. Anna Vagin, creator of Movie Time Social Learning, for crafting a wonderful intervention and sharing her thoughts with me. All of these talented professionals brought their own unique contributions to the study and I feel very honored and grateful that they agreed to be a part of this process. vi THE EFFECTS OF MOVIE TIME SOCIAL LEARNING ON EMOTION RECOGNITION, PERSPECTIVE TAKING AND EMPATHY IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM By James Fletcher Scott B.A., Psychology, University of Texas, 1990 M.A., Speech/Language Pathology, University of North Texas, 1998 Ph.D., Special Education, University of New Mexico, 2015 Abstract Autism is the fastest growing developmental disability in the world, with the latest estimates showing that 1 in 68 children will be diagnosed with the condition. One of the core deficits associated with autism is social communication. Theory of mind (Baron-Cohen, 1985) posits that children with autism do not have the ability to understand that others have thoughts different from their own. This has been suggested as one of the main reasons that social communication deficits exist in children with autism. Motivation is likely the main component in effectively teaching many children with autism. Interventions that incorporate movies would seem to be promising. Movie Time Social Learning (Vagin, 2012) is one such intervention based on the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Social Thinking (Garcia- Winner, 2005). vii Children with autism often have specific deficits in the areas of emotion recognition, perspective taking and empathy. This study utilized Movie Time Social Learning intervention tools to target skills in these areas with three children with autism. The three participants were two males and one female, ages 8, 9 and 9 respectively, from a variety of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. All were verbal and had a diagnosis of autism. All three participants demonstrated considerable growth over baseline in the areas of emotion recognition and beginning perspective taking over the course of the twelve week study (mean increases of 73%, 35% and 31% respectively in emotion recognition and 68%, 35% and 22% in beginning perspective taking skills). All participants demonstrated some degree of generalization of skills outside of the clinic setting. Movie Time Social Learning would appear to be a great tool to teach social communication skills to children with autism. Parents remarked that they enjoyed using the strategies at home with their children. Interestingly, all participants performed with better accuracy while answering questions during previously unseen movies. Future research in this area should focus on utilization of parents and peers as mediators in multiple settings for maximum generalization. viii Table of Contents List of Figures ........................................................................................................ xv List of Tables ........................................................................................................ xvii Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 1 Prevalence and Statistics ................................................................................ 1 Risk Factors for Developing Autism ................................................................ 2 Financial Impact of Autism .............................................................................. 3 Social Deficits .................................................................................................. 3 Biological Motion ............................................................................................. 4 Communication Difficulties .............................................................................. 5 Impact on Quality of Life for Children with Autism and their Families .............. 7 Motivation ........................................................................................................ 8 Social Motivation Theory of Autism ................................................................. 9 Motivation in Autism as a Pivotal Skill ........................................................... 10 Electronic Media Motivation in Autism ........................................................... 11 Movie Time Social Learning .......................................................................... 14 Social Thinking® ........................................................................................... 15 Key Terms ..................................................................................................... 16 Problem Statement ....................................................................................... 17 Purpose of the Study ..................................................................................... 17 Chapter 2 Review of Related Literature .............................................................. 19 Introduction ................................................................................................... 19 Theory of Mind .............................................................................................. 19 ix Literature Review .......................................................................................... 23 Studies Included for Review .......................................................................... 23 Studies attempting to teach or train aspects of Theory of Mind. ......... 24 Studies using thought bubbles to teach Theory of Mind concepts. ..... 30 Studies describing performance on Theory of Mind tasks. ................. 34 Studies examining the relationship between teaching Theory of Mind and real world situations. ......................................................... 38 Social Cognition ............................................................................................ 45 Empathy ........................................................................................................ 47 Video Modeling ............................................................................................. 47 Theory of Mind Discussion in Scholarly Literature ........................................ 49 Discussion ..................................................................................................... 52 Chapter 3 – Methods .............................................................................................. 54 Introduction ................................................................................................... 54 Purpose of the Study