Difficulties In Interaction Research Articles

“The room is a mess”: Exploring the co-creation of space for attunement dynamics between an autistic child and a non-autistic music therapist

ABSTRACT Introduction Music therapy practice and research in the field of autism has often followed medical narratives that reinforce neurotypical normalcy by locating the difficulties of social interaction in the autistic person. By exploring the relational phenomenon of attunement, this paper focuses on the social and material ecology of interactions. The authors try to unpack circumstances that can support or hinder attunement dynamics between autistic and non-autistic people. Method A video-vignette from music therapy with an autistic boy, who explores the sound of building blocks formed the point of departure for this research. The vignette was self-identified by the music therapist as an apparently failed attunement experience. Based on this vignette, we conducted an interview with the therapist and focus groups with parents of autistic children and colleagues from different professions, one of whom is autistic. We used an interpretative hermeneutical methodology for crystallisation of perspectives. Results We uncovered four spaces that impacted on the mutuality and co-creation of attunement dynamics. The room (physical space), the school context (professional space), and the material (sensory space) afford the interaction (relational space) between the child and the therapist in enabling and disabling ways. Listening to the child's sound making with the building blocks was identified as the autistic child’s way of knowing and sounding that needs to be listened to carefully, rather than being questioned or disregarded. Discussion Findings of this research might encourage therapists to foster an understanding of social interaction that is mutually co-constituted and enactive, and that contradicts the mainstream pathologisation of autism.

Automated detection of learning stages and interaction difficulty from eye-tracking data within a mixed reality learning environmen

PurposeConstruction companies are increasingly adopting sensing technologies like laser scanners, making it necessary to upskill the future workforce in this area. However, limited jobsite access hinders experiential learning of laser scanning, necessitating the need for an alternative learning environment. Previously, the authors explored mixed reality (MR) as an alternative learning environment for laser scanning, but to promote seamless learning, such learning environments must be proactive and intelligent. Toward this, the potentials of classification models for detecting user difficulties and learning stages in the MR environment were investigated in this study.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted machine learning classifiers on eye-tracking data and think-aloud data for detecting learning stages and interaction difficulties during the usability study of laser scanning in the MR environment.FindingsThe classification models demonstrated high performance, with neural network classifier showing superior performance (accuracy of 99.9%) during the detection of learning stages and an ensemble showing the highest accuracy of 84.6% for detecting interaction difficulty during laser scanning.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this study revealed that eye movement data possess significant information about learning stages and interaction difficulties and provide evidence of the potentials of smart MR environments for improved learning experiences in construction education. The research implication further lies in the potential of an intelligent learning environment for providing personalized learning experiences that often culminate in improved learning outcomes. This study further highlights the potential of such an intelligent learning environment in promoting inclusive learning, whereby students with different cognitive capabilities can experience learning tailored to their specific needs irrespective of their individual differences.Originality/valueThe classification models will help detect learners requiring additional support to acquire the necessary technical skills for deploying laser scanners in the construction industry and inform the specific training needs of users to enhance seamless interaction with the learning environment.

Assistive Technology for Adults on the Autism Spectrum: A Systematic Survey

While the needs and care for children on the autism spectrum have been widely investigated, the intervention and services available to autistic adults have been overlooked for a long time. This survey paper reviewed 32 articles that described and evaluated assistive technologies that have been developed and evaluated through a complete circle of interactive product design from ideation, prototype, and user evaluation. These assistive technologies aim to improve independence and living quality in autistic adults. We extracted information from the perspective of requirement gathering, technology designing, and effectiveness of evaluation in the design cycle. We found a general lack of requirements-driven design, and the evaluation process was not standardized either. The lack of requirement gathering results in designs purely based on existing literature without targeting actual user needs. Our synthesis of included paper contributes to developing iterative design considerations in assistive technologies for autistic adults. We also suggest that assistive technologies for autistic adults shift some attention from assisting only autistic adults who require at least substantial support to embracing also those who have been living independently but rather have difficulties in social interaction. Assistive technologies for them have the potentials to help them consolidate and enhance their experiences in independent living.

The Study of Adolescents' Perception of the Psychological Safety of the Educational Environment

Subject, purpose of the work. The empirical study was aimed at studying the parameters of the psychological safety of the educational environment as a component of the children's social experience of adolescents. A new approach to the study of adolescents' perceptions of safety in terms of their changes over a long period of time – from 2016 to 2022. The research method was a survey of teenagers, students of schools in Orenburg and the Orenburg region according to the questionnaire proposed by us, which includes modifications of the methods of I.A. Baeva (Psychological diagnostics of the safety of the educational environment of the school) and D.A. Leontiev (SO – test of life orientations), The survey was conducted twice, in 2016 and in 2022. Results. An increase in the number of responses indicating the absence of fears and social risks associated with the social environment was found, and a decrease in the number of responses about the manifestations of danger in the educational environment was also noted. The resources of assistance in dangerous situations in two dimensions are indicated by parents and friends, a small number of respondents turn to teachers. A positive trend can be noted in the fact that most teenagers are able to turn to adults for help in difficult situations. There was also no significant dynamics in the answers to questions about significant and easily accessible values, the most easily accessible values are active life, cognition and the presence of friends. Conclusions. Significant dynamics in the assessment of the educational environment by teenagers of schools in Orenburg and the Orenburg region were not found. However, the polarization of assessments confirms that some adolescents experience difficulties in real interaction in the educational environment, which clearly leads to negative social experience, the formation of stable qualities - helplessness and passivity.

The Relationship between Vocabulary processing and Pragmatic skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Introduction The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders DSM- 5 (2013) defines Autism Spectrum Disorder (hereinafter ASD) as a neurodevelopmental disorder where symptoms must be present from the early stages of development, characterised by the presence of difficulties in communication and social interaction, as well as restrictive and repetitive patterns

Perfil linguístico de crianças com transtornos de linguagem e fala e participação da família no processo terapêutico: revisão integrativa de literatura

ABSTRACT Purpose: to investigate the linguistic profile (linguistic symptoms and risk factors) of children with communication, language, and speech disorders and verify their family’s participation in the therapeutic process. Methods: an integrative literature review including studies on linguistic symptoms of children with developmental language disorder (DLD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and phonological disorders (PD), published in Portuguese in the last 10 years (2012 to 2022) in the PubMed, SciELO, and VHL databases. Literature Review: 24 studies were included, according to the eligibility criteria, the children having different linguistic symptoms. In PD, there were more phonological processes, slower speech, and difficulties in auditory perception and morphosyntactic and semantic development. In DLD, there were changes in nominal morphology, morphosyntactic comprehension, greater use of intransitive verbs, omission of verb objects, and difficulties in solving conflicts. In ASD, there were difficulties in social interaction, imitation, prosodic changes, and decreased responsiveness. The main risk factor was prematurity, and the family was considered crucial as a support network in the therapeutic process. The family’s attitudes were facilitators or barriers to the patients’ improvement, depending on how they responded to the therapists’ instructions. Conclusion: the linguistic profile depends on the various language/speech disorders. Each child’s singularities must be considered, and the family’s participation is crucial to the therapeutic process.

What do drivers prefer? A field study on longitudinal and lateral driving automation

Vehicle automation aims to improve safety and comfort, but using partial driving automation safely can challenge drivers. To investigate how drivers trust and rely on the automation, we conducted a field study with 100 participants. While driving on a public highway, they rated their trust and commented on their interaction with the automation systems for longitudinal (adaptive cruise control, ACC) and lateral control (lane-keeping assistance, LA). Our results show that trust in partial driving automation increases continuously by using it. Comparing the automation systems, we found that drivers trust and use the ACC more than the LA. While driving, drivers express more liking statements about the ACC and more disliking and criticism statements about the LA. However, the number of mentioned interaction difficulties is higher for the ACC. We discuss possible reasons for the observed differences between the longitudinal (ACC) and lateral (LA) automation.

VR, AR, and 3-D User Interfaces for Measurement and Control

The topics of virtual, mixed, and extended reality have now become key areas in various fields of scientific and industrial applications, and the interest in them is made tangible by the numerous papers available in the scientific literature. In this regard, the Special Issue “VR, AR, and 3-D User Interfaces for Measurement and Control” received a fair number of varied contributions that analyzed different aspects of the implementation of virtual, mixed, and extended reality systems and approaches in the real world. They range from investigating the requirements of new potential technologies to the prediction verification of the effectiveness and benefits of their use, the analysis of the difficulties of interaction with graphical interfaces to the possibility of performing complex and risky tasks (such as surgical operations) using mixed reality viewers. All contributions were of a high standard and mainly highlight that measurement and control applications based on the new models of interaction with reality are by now increasingly ready to leave laboratory spaces and become objects and features of common life. The significant benefits of this technology will radically change the way we live and interact with information and the reality around us, and it will surely be worthy of further exploration, maybe even in a new Special Issue of Future Internet.

Assessing the Efficacy of Anastomosis between Ansa Cervicalis and Facial Nerve for Patients with Concomitant Facial Palsy and Peripheral Neuropathy.

Background: For decades, patients with facial asymmetry have experienced social interaction difficulties, leading them to seek treatment in the hope of restoring facial symmetry and quality of life. Researchers evaluated numerous surgical techniques, but achieving results remains a significant hurdle. Specifically, anastomosis between the ansa cervicalis (AC) and facial nerve (FN) can hinder the patient's physical appearance. Objective: Our study goal was to examine the efficiency of anastomosis between AC and FN for facial motor function recovery even in the presence of peripheral neuropathy. Materials and Methods: Four patients diagnosed with facial palsy grade VI on the House & Brackmann Scale (HB) after vestibular schwannoma (VS) resection (Koos grade IV) via the retrosigmoid approach underwent AC and FN anastomosis. Outcomes were related to tumor grade, previous therapy, and the time between postoperative facial palsy and anastomosis. Images and neurophysiological data were evaluated. Results: After vs. resection, all four patients demonstrated HB grade VI facial palsy for an average of 17 months. During the follow-up program, lasting between 6 and 36 months, two patients were evaluated as having HB grade III facial palsy; the other two patients were diagnosed with grade IV HB facial palsy. None of the patients developed tongue atrophy, speech disorder, or masticatordys function. Conclusions: Anastomosis between the AC and FN is a safe and effective treatment for facial paralysis after cerebellopontine tumor resection. Nerve reanimation may be feasible even for patients with peripheral polyneuropathy. This study also offers a new option for patients with a progression-free status.

Computer-aided diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder from EEG signals using deep learning with FAWT and multiscale permutation entropy features.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopment disorder, is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and emerges as a major threat to children. Its computer-aided diagnosis used by neurologists improves the detection process and has a favorable impact on patients' health. Currently, a biomarker termed electroencephalography (EEG) is considered as vital tool to detect abnormal electrical activity in the brain. In this context, the present paper brings forth a novel approach for automated diagnosis of ASD from multichannel EEG signals using flexible analytic wavelet transform (FAWT). Firstly, this approach processes the acquired EEG signals with filtering and segmentation into short-duration EEG segments in the range of 5-20 s. These segmented EEG signals are decomposed into five levels using FAWT technique to obtain various sub-bands. Further, multiscale permutation entropy values are extracted from decomposed sub-bands which are used as feature vectors in the present work. Afterwards, these feature vectors are evaluated by traditional machine learning algorithms viz., k-nearest neighbor, logistic regression, support vector machine, and random forest, as well as convolutional neural network (CNN) as deep learning algorithm with different segment durations. The analysis of results reveals that CNN provides maximum accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve of 99.19%, 99.34%, 99.21%, and 0.9997, respectively, for 10 s duration EEG segment to identify ASD patients among healthy individuals. Thus, the proposed CNN architecture would be extremely helpful during diagnostic process of autism disease for neurologists.

Detection of Autism Spectrum Disorder using Machine Learning

AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD) is a neurological disorder caused by differences in brain. It is one among the major disorders by which adults as well as children are suffering. In Autism Spectrum Disorder the word Autism means- a developmental disorder that is characterized by difficulty in social interaction and communication. It is derived from Greek word ‘auto’ which means ‘self’. Spectrum means- which is not limited to specific conditions and Disorder means- a state of confusion/mess. Characteristics related to ASD can include can’t able to make eye contact with others, does not respond to name and can’t able to show facial expressions like happy, sad, angry, and surprised by 9 months of age, showing no gestures by 12 months of age, does not show interest to play with other children by 36 months of age. Some other characteristics include-delaying language skills, delaying learning skills, unusual eating and sleeping habits, gastrointestinal issues (for example, constipation), unusual mood or emotional reactions, anxiety, stress, lack of fear or more fear than expected [1].

Development of Moral Judgments in Impersonal and Personal Dilemmas in Autistic Spectrum Disorders from Childhood to Late Adolescence.

A potential underlying mechanism associated with the difficulties in social interactions in Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) concerns the abnormal development of moral reasoning. The present study examined utilitarian and deontological judgments in impersonal and personal moral dilemmas, comparing 66 individuals with ASD and 61 typically developing (TD) individuals between 6 and 18years. Utilitarian judgments decreased with age. This decline was much more gradual for personal dilemmas in the ASD than in the TD group. ASD individuals rated utilitarian judgments as more appropriate but felt less calm, consistent with the Empathy Imbalance hypothesis. Utilitarian judgments were associated with social interaction difficulties in ASD. These findings identify possible social therapeutic targets for more efficient coping strategies in individuals with ASD.

Connections between and within extended psychosis and autistic phenotypes and social relationships in the general population

ObjectivesNon - clinical individuals with higher levels of autistic traits and psychotic experiences also have problems in social relationships. Therefore, this study aimed to model complex associations between autistic and psychotic phenotypes and indicators of social relationships in the general population using a network approach. MethodsThe sample consisted of 649 participants with a mean age of M = 40.23 and SD = 13.09 sampled from the general population. The sample was representative for the 18–65 years old general population in the Slovak Republic. The following scales were administered: Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences, The Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory, and NIH Toolbox Adult Social Relationship Scales. Associations between variables and the presence of communities were identified using Exploratory Graph Analysis. ResultsResults revealed four highly stable and densely connected communities within the network: social relationships, autistic traits, positive symptoms, and the last one consisting of all negative symptoms, problems in social interactions, and depression. The most important variables in the network were difficulties in social interaction, perceived rejection, bizarre ideas, depression, and social withdrawal. ConclusionsThe psychotic and autistic phenotypes in the general population showed a network of connections with characteristics of social relationships. Community detection revealed that autistic traits and psychotic–like experiences formed relatively independent communities. Further, there was substantial overlap between negative symptoms (e.g., social withdrawal), and core features of the autistic phenotype, especially social interaction difficulties.

Neural substrates of theory of mind in adults with autism spectrum disorder: An fMRI study of the social animation task

Although the neural mechanisms of the theory of mind (ToM) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through fMRI using the social animation task have been investigated, little is known in adults with ASD. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the neural substrates of ToM in adults with ASD. Moreover, we aimed to elucidate the relationship between brain activation and behavior of social interaction in adults with ASD. Twenty-four healthy controls and 24 adults with the clinical diagnosis of ASD were recruited. Participants were asked to complete the social animation task in functional magnetic resonance imaging. The imaging analyses of within (whole brain analysis) and between (5 regions of interest) group comparisons were conducted to explore the process of ToM. The correlation analyses were further conducted to explore the relationship between neural activations associated with ToM and social interaction abilities assessed by ADI-R. The ASD group showed greater activation in the left precuneus and right superior temporal gyrus (STG) than the control group. For correlation analyses, greater right STG activation was positively correlated with autistic symptoms assessed by the ADI-R in the ASD group. ASD adults might spend a lot of effort on identification processing, thereby influencing social communication skills. Also, the neural deficits of ToM in ASD adults might be associated with their social interaction difficulties.

Is helping you helping me? The assessment of helping others using event sampling methodology in a clinical and a non-clinical sample.

Individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) and social phobia (SP) have difficulties in social interactions. It is unknown, however, whether such difficulties prevent them from helping others, thereby depriving them of the natural benefits of helping, such as receiving gratitude. Using event sampling methodology (ESM), individuals (MDD, n= 118; SP, n= 47; and control group, n= 119) responded to questions about the frequency of helping, in total at 5333 time points, and their well-being. Contrary to our hypothesis, individuals in the MDD, SP and control group did not differ in their helping frequency. Results did show an association between helping and well-being, such that helping is related to well-being and well-being to helping. Understanding the complex relation of helping others and well-being and how this might be used during therapy and prevention programmes are discussed.

Everyday life of children in out-of-home care during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT This article scrutinises the impacts of COVID-19 on the everyday life of children in out-of-home care in Finland during the first year of the pandemic. A content analysis was conducted on survey data of municipal social workers’ evaluations on the effect of the pandemic on 773 children in foster and residential care. The pandemic, with restrictions and recommendations of social distancing, had impacts on the everyday settings of children: school, spare time and family. The effects of remote school were twofold: for some, it was a good solution, while for others the impact was negative. There were positive effects on the relations between the child and their foster family, but more common was the hardships on discontinuity in the fragile relations with birth parents. As children in care more often have difficulties in learning and social interaction, as well as fragility in social relations the pandemic has affected children in out-of-home care especially in their school, family and peer environments. The impacts on decisions made by the social workers due to the pandemic in individual cases were mainly associated with increased support and contact arrangements.

Отношения с социальным окружением как мотив правопослушного поведения молодежи: опыт кросс-культурного исследования

Introduction. Understanding the grounds of the law-abiding behavior of young people is a socially significant, but poorly studied research domain. Knowledge of the psychological causes of law-abiding behavior is important for the implementation of preventive work with deviant youth and the socialization of the younger generation. Contemporary scientific ideas do not have sufficient information about the role of the entire system of relations of the subject with the social environment for the motivation of law-abiding behavior, focusing on the study of the role of its specific participants - family members, relatives, friends and colleagues. 
 The study is focused on the relations with the social environment as a motive for law-abiding behavior. For this purpose, the study performs a cross-cultural assessment of these relationships in Chinese and Russian youth samples.
 Methodology, methods and techniques. The methodological basis of the study is the social network approach to the social environment studies. This approach makes it possible to describe the social environment as a quasi-social group, the basis (center) of which is the subject, while the rest of the participants are connected to the subject through social and psychological relations. Application of this approach reveals the significance of the social environment as a motive for law-abiding behavior, showing the effect of relations with the social environment on delinquent behavior readiness.
 Cross-cultural studies represent the research strategy. Information collecting method is a questionnaire analyzing the social relations and the motives of law-abiding behavior, as well as a standardized self-report measuring the subjective interaction features. 
 Results processing method: descriptive statistics, non-parametric alternative to one-way analysis of variance - Kruskal-Wallis H-test.
 Survey sample: 100 people, consisted of Russian (50 people) and Chinese (50 people) students, of the similar age and gender. 
 Results: the social environment features have been determined affecting law-abiding behavior and making up motivation: (1) Social environment parameters (volume, homogeneity, interaction difficulties) within the average (standard) values do not affect the law-abiding behavior of young people; (2) Self-assessment of interaction with the social environment enhances the motivation for law-abiding behavior for Russian youth; (3) Social support from individuals in the social environment enhances the motivation for law-abiding behavior in the Russian and Chinese sampling; (4) The system of motives for law-abiding behavior can be represented as emotional, social, personal and rational motives developed under the social environment influence. 
 Scientific Novelty. The data obtained expand the understanding of the motivating role of relationships with the social environment, showing that the help and support of others, as well as self-assessment of interaction with the social environment, enhances the law-abiding behavior motivation. 
 Practical Significance. The represented classification of the motives of law-abiding behavior can be applied to develop procedures for measuring and evaluating the readiness of young people to comply with legal standards.

Adults with autism spectrum disorders – specificity of functioning, needs, limitations, possibilities

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) belongs to the group of neurodevelopmental disorders that are characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and social communication, accompanied by limited, repetitive and stereotypical patterns of behavior, activity and interests. They are usually diagnosed early in life, but are increasingly being diagnosed for the first time in adults who were not diagnosed in childhood. Diagnosing adults with ASD is a big challenge for professionals, a long process and a complex and difficult task. Receiving a diagnosis of ASD in adulthood is very important for these people and can help people around them better understand the specific behaviors of a person with ASD. An important potential benefit of obtaining an ASD diagnosis is also the ability to obtain the necessary professional support. For most people, these disorders are life-long, and therefore there is an absolute need to support people with ASD beyond childhood and adolescence. The analysis of the social situation of adults with ASD in Poland shows that no systemic solutions have been developed to help these people throughout their lives, especially in “transition” periods, such as starting school, the next stage of education, or transition to adulthood. Effective support systems for adults with ASD and their families should be developed as soon as possible. People with ASD have a variety of needs that require the coordination of activities in the field of health care, education, finance and social affairs throughout their lives, and taking active measures in the integration and participation of people with ASD and their families in society.

Brief opportunistic interventions by general practitioners to promote smoking cessation: A conversation analytic study

Very brief opportunistic interventions for smoking cessation are effective, cost-saving for health systems, and universally recommended in guidelines. However, evidence suggests that clinicians are reluctant to intervene, citing interactional difficulties. Only one UK study has specifically examined smoking discussions, within naturally occurring primary care consultations. However smoking cessation treatment was not available at the time. We examined existing datasets amounting to 519 video-recordings of GP consultations in England for instances of talk about smoking. We used conversation analytic methods to assess patients' responses to doctors asking about smoking, giving advice on smoking, and offering cessation treatment. In 31 recordings it was apparent that the patient smoked, and, in 25/31 consultations, doctors initiated the topic of smoking. They did so by asking about smoking status, commonly during the history-taking phase of the consultation. In many instances, these questions led to active resistance from patients against being placed in a discreditable category, for example by minimising their smoking. This was more pronounced when GPs pursued efforts to quantify the amount smoked. Thereafter, where doctors returned to the topic of smoking, they did so typically by linking smoking to the patient's medical condition, which likewise led to resistance. Guidance recommends that GPs advise on how best to quit smoking where patients are interested in doing so, but this was only evident in a minority of consultations. Where GPs offered support for cessation, they did so using interactional practices that minimised the need for the patient to respond and thereby accept. Interactional difficulties were found to be common in consultations between GPs and people who smoke when GPs actions aligned with some VBA guidelines. Future research should examine when and how advice on how best to quit, and offers of support, should be delivered within primary care consultations.

Adaptation and validation of two annotation scales for assessing social skills in a corpus of multimodal collaborative interactions.

Behavioral observation scales are important for understanding and assessing social skills. In the context of collaborative problem-solving (CPS) skills, considered essential in the 21st century, there are no validated scales in French that can be adapted to different CPS tasks. The aim of this study is to adapt and validate, by annotating a new video corpus of dyadic interactions that we have collected, two observational scales allowing us to qualitatively assess CPS skills: the Social Performance Rating Scale (SPRS) and the Social Skills of Collaboration Scale (SSC). The construct validity of these two scales was assessed by exploratory factor analysis and inter-item correlations. We also checked inter-judge agreement using inter-class correlation coefficients. Internal consistency was determined using Cronbach's alpha and convergent and divergent validity by assessing correlations between the two scales and measures of depression and alexithymia. Finally, the discriminative properties of the two scales were analyzed by comparing the scores obtained by a group of anxious individuals and a non-anxious control group. The results show that our two scales have excellent inter-item correlations. Internal consistency is excellent (alpha SPRS =0.90; SSC = 0.93). Inter-rater agreement ranged from moderate to high. Finally, convergent validity was significant with the alexithymia scale, as was divergent validity with the depression scale. Anxious individuals had lower scores on both scales than non-anxious individuals. Both scales show good psychometric properties for assessing social skills relevant to different collaborative tasks. They also identify individuals with difficulties in social interaction. Thus, they could allow monitoring the effectiveness of training social skills useful in CPS.