A hierarchical analysis of patterns of noncompliance in autistic and behavior-disturbed children

A reanalysis of data from an experimental study of autistic negativism is presented. Subjects were autistic, behavior-disturbed, or normal and ranged in age from 5 to 12 years. There were nine subjects per group. Experimental conditions consisted of a verbal request for a verbal response, a nonverbal request for a nonverbal response, and a verbal request for a nonverbal response. Data were reanalyzed by dichotomizing subjects as either compliant or noncompliant on the basis of the number of correct responses; scalogram analysis was then performed on the dichotomized data. The children's responses to the messages formed a cumulative, unidimensional hierarchy based on the individual patterns of responses, with verbal requests for verbal responses eliciting the least compliance and verbal requests for nonverbal responses the most. Implications of the hierarchy for a developmental theory of autistic negativism and the relationship of task demands to compliance are discussed.