Exploration, Arousal and Autism

From Berlyne's theory of exploration three predictions were derived concerning exploratory behaviour of autistic children. These predictions related to (a) the latency and level of exploratory responsiveness, (b) the modulation of the internal state and (c) the temporal course of exploration. To test these predictions, subjects were exposed to a completely novel object in an otherwise familiar environment, and again on five subsequent occasions. The results showed a remarkably consistent trend in exploration over all subjects: although initially inhibited and depressed, exploration eventually increased to a level comparable with that of normal subjects of the same age. But this responsiveness also showed a relatively rapid decline. Thus exploration of novelty was a parabolic function of time. The original predictions received substantial but not entire support. The results were discussed in terms of the interaction between collative and organismal variables, as 'novelty' and arousal. © 1969 Springer-Verlag.