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Abstract
Personal familiarity has been shown to affect the test performances of several types of children including those of minority backgrounds, from lower socioeconomic levels, and with speech and language impairments. Familiarity is also related to differential social behaviors of children with autism in a variety of situations. The present study investigated the difference in test performance when familiar versus unfamiliar examiners tested children with autism.
The subjects were 26 children diagnosed with autism or atypical pervasive developmental disorders (19 males and 7 females) who ranged in age from 48 to 88 months (mean = 64.5 months). To ascertain the effects of familiarity of the examiner on test behavior the children were matched by age, severity of autism, and approximate developmental level. Six examiners volunteered to test the subjects; four were undergraduate students in psychology and two were graduate students in psychology.
The children in the treatment group were tested by familiar examiners who administered the cognitive subtests of the Psychoeducational Profile-Revised (PEP-R). The children in the control group were tested by unfamiliar examiners who administered the same subtests. Familiarity was established when a child demonstrated behaviors individually indicative of familiarity. The examiner spent time with the child prior to testing until all of the designated behaviors were observed, constituting familiarity.
Children were individually tested and the testing sessions were videotaped. Independent evaluators also coded the videotapes for the number of prompts, refusals, and stereotypic behaviors that occurred.
The results of a Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks Test (one-tailed) indicated a significant difference between the groups on the Cognitive Verbal subscale (z = −2.51, p < .006) and Cognitive Performance subscale (z = −1.79, p < .037) of the PEP-R. A significant difference between the two groups in stereotypic behaviors was also indicated (z = −1.65, p < .05). Examiner familiarity had significant positive effects on the behavior and testing performance of children with autism.
