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Pantomimic representation in psychotic children

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Abstract

Previous research suggests that verbal deficits among psychotic children may be paralleled by deficits in nonverbal pantomime. However, certain questions such as the level of pantomime exhibited by psychotic children, its susceptibility to modification, and its relation to other symbolic functions have not been systematically examined. To investigate these issues, 24 psychotic children were required to represent absent objects (e.g., toothbrush) via pantomime after receiving verbal instructions or instructions accompanied by a model demonstrating the pantomime. Also, measures of receptive and expressive speech, human figure drawings, and pretend play were obtained. The findings indicated very few complete failures in pantomime; higher pantomime performance when a model was provided although even in this condition most responses consisted of low-level substitutions of a body part in place of the absent object; and significant relationships between pantomime and measures of receptive vocabulary, echolalia, drawing, and play. The relationship of the findings to symbolic functioning in normal children and their relevance to understanding symbolic deficits in psychotic children are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. League School of Boston, USA

    Frank Curcio

  2. Psychology Department, Boston University, 64 Cummington Street, 02215, Boston, Massachusetts

    Elizabeth Ann Piserchia

Authors
  1. Frank Curcio
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  2. Elizabeth Ann Piserchia
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Additional information

We would like to express our appreciation to Margot Flouton, John Houlihan, Joanne Krakow, and Jeanne Paccia for their assistance during various phases of this research and to the League School staff for their cooperation and support. We also thank Marjorie Smith for critically reading an earlier version of this manuscript.

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Curcio, F., Piserchia, E.A. Pantomimic representation in psychotic children. J Autism Dev Disord 8, 181–189 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537867

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