Efeito das atividades físicas em comportamentos operantes de indivíduos diagnosticados com transtorno do espectro autista: revisão sistemática

• Autor(a) principal: Keiner, Simone Assunção
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da PUC_SP
• Texto Completo: https://repositorio.pucsp.br/jspui/handle/handle/23952
• topic: CNPQ::CIENCIAS HUMANAS::PSICOLOGIA::PSICOLOGIA EXPERIMENTAL; Transtornos do espectro do autismo; Avaliação do comportamento; Exercícios físicos; Autism spectrum disorders; Behavioral assessment; Exercise

The scientific literature points to physical exercise as an intervention that reduces behavioral limitations associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study aimed to verify: (1) what hypotheses have been presented by behavior analysts about processes supposedly involved in the modifications of operant behaviors observed among participants diagnosed with ASD after physical activity and how these hypotheses have been investigated; and (2) what is the relationship between hypotheses provided in empirical analytical-behavioral studies and those presented by systematic review and meta-analysis studies. Research was performed on experimental and pre-experimental analytical-behavioral studies identified from: (1) references of systematic reviews and meta-analyses published between 2014 and 2020, found in the databases PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, Education Resources Information Center, MEDLINE and Physical Education Index; and (2) screening of research reports published in behavior analysis journals, cited in systematic reviews and meta-analyses found. As a result, 10 analyticalbehavioral studies were examined, and different hypotheses were identified to explain the positive effects of physical exercise on characteristic ASD behaviors. Among them, the following stand out: (1) changes in motivational variables produced by contingent sensory reinforcement to alternative behaviors of ASD behaviors as determinants of behavioral changes observed after exercise; (2) fatigue or aversive stimulation produced after exercise as a determinant variable of these changes; (3) brain and cognitive structures as determinants of changes in operant behaviors after exercise; (4) exercise as an alternative behavior that produces an escape of non-contingent demand, reducing the probability of ASD problem behaviors with this function; and (5) studies in which no hypotheses were suggested. In nine out of the ten studies, benefits related to the practice of physical exercise were reported on academic behaviors, repeating a sequence of numbers in reverse order (behavior related to executive function), and challenging behaviors. The hypotheses raised were, in some of the studies, supported by an adequate assessment methodology. Such studies used physical exercise as a strategy to ensure access to negative or sensory reinforcers, after prior evaluation that indicated that these conditions were responsible for maintaining the unwanted behaviors that were intended to change. Articles in which other hypotheses were suggested did not employ adequate methodologies to support them. This systematic review points to the importance of functional analyses prior to the implementation of the exercise as an intervention, since identifying the function of problem behaviors allows planning efficient and individualized interventions based on the practice of physical activity, which may vary, for example, in frequency, dosage and intensity