Week 8 Journal Post

Annotated Bibliography

Kandalaft, M. R., Didehbani, N., Krawczyk, D. C., Allen, T. T., & Chapman, S. B. (2012). Virtual Reality Social Cognition Training for Young Adults with High-Functioning Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,43(1), 34-44. doi:10.1007/s10803-012-1544-6

The article focuses on young adults with high functioning autism. The purpose of the study is to enhance social skills, social cognition and social functioning. The participants are immersed into virtual environments that resemble people in their immediate reality and given the opportunity to engage and interact. 

Greffou, S., Bertone, A., Hahler, E., Hanssens, J., Mottron, L., & Faubert, J. (2011). Postural Hypo-Reactivity in Autism is Contingent on Development and Visual Environment: A Fully Immersive Virtual Reality Study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,42(6), 961-970. doi:10.1007/s10803-011-1326-6

The study uses VE to measure the bodily movement of ASD participants in reaction to stimuli such as: CAVE which is an 8 x 8 x 8 feet room including three walls and a floor that serve as surfaces for the projection of images. The images coupled with sound effected the bodily movement of the participants. Thus, helping the researchers better understand how the autistic brain processes image and sound in relation to motor movement

  

Bekele, E., Crittendon, J., Zheng, Z., Swanson, A., Weitlauf, A., Warren, Z., & Sarkar, N. (2014). Assessing the Utility of a Virtual Environment for Enhancing Facial Affect Recognition in Adolescents with Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,44(7), 1641-1650. doi:10.1007/s10803-014-2035-8

The article is focused on presenting an avatar to adolescents with ASD and giving the avatar facial expressions that express different levels of emotions. The purpose of the study is to have the ASD learner identify the meaning of the facial expression and to further understand the way in which information is processed in a brain with ASD.

  

Lahiri, U., Bekele, E., Dohrmann, E., Warren, Z., & Sarkar, N. (2014). A Physiologically Informed Virtual Reality Based Social Communication System for Individuals with Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,45(4), 919-931. doi:10.1007/s10803-014-2240-5

This study focused on conversation skills. It uses virtual environments to engage the ASD participant with conversation. The researchers monitored the physiological responses of the participants such as, pupil dilation, blink rate, and gaze pattern. Based on the participant’s reaction the conversations were modified to further enhance the performance of the participants. The study demonstrated that virtual environments that reacted to physiological changes in the ASD learner could be an effective developmental intervention tool for person’s with ASD.

Rajendran, G. (2013). Virtual environments and autism: a developmental psychopathological approach. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning,29(4), 334-347. doi:10.1111/jcal.12006

The article discusses how people with autism often have trouble with the obtainment and understanding of information and communication technology. Therefore, the author of the paper argues that virtual realities (VR) or virtual environments (VE) are an ideal learning platform for those with autism. The author argues that this technique not only helps the autistic person learn specific skills it also helps the autistic person be more part of an age filled with technology.