Mimicry is a key mechanism of social interaction that promotes affiliation and prosocial behavior. In autism spectrum disorder (ASD), however, evidence is mixed: basic imitation abilities often appear intact, but their regulation by social cues and context may be altered. This study tested whether children with ASD show prosocial behaviors after being mimicked. Thirty children with ASD (ages 6–9) were randomly assigned to a mimicry or no-mimicry condition during interaction. Prosocial behavior was measured using a pen-dropping task. Mimicked children were more likely to help and picked up more pens, although wide confidence intervals render the true size of the effect uncertain. These findings provide preliminary evidence that mimicry may foster low-cost helping in ASD, though replication with larger, better characterized samples is essential.
Objectives:
This cross-sectional pilot study on a Polish sample aimed to analyze the phenomenon of challenging behaviors in students with ASD attending special schools. Specifically, the study examined their types, severity, functions, and relationships with the level of adaptive behaviors.
Methods:
The study included 53 students with ASD exhibiting challenging behaviors in a school setting. Data on the severity and frequency of these behaviors (BPI-01), the functions of the most problematic behaviors (QABF), and adaptive skills (ABAS-3) were provided by teachers. Information regarding students’ health and sensory functioning was collected from their parents.
Results:
Exploratory data analyses revealed correlations between the level of intellectual functioning and the nature and severity of behaviors, as well as significant variability in the functions of challenging behaviors. All domains of adaptive functioning, as well as General Adaptive Composite, showed negative correlations with self-injurious and stereotypical behaviors.
Conclusions:
The collected data highlight the importance of assessing behavior functions, intellectual level, and adaptive skills when selecting intervention strategies. They also suggest the validity of teaching recognition and expression of needs as a potential method for minimizing difficulties in the daily functioning of individuals with ASD.
The aim of this article is to examine the extent to which generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) can support public policy designers in developing preliminary concepts for behavioural interventions. The authors conducted an experiment in which four proposals to reduce food waste were developed with varying degrees of GenAI involvement and subsequently evaluated by 15 public policy practitioners. The results show that GenAI can effectively assist designers in generating logically coherent and persuasive public policy proposals. Productive collaboration requires two key conditions: grounding the design process in a consistent conceptual framework (Theory of Change) and carefully planning how to integrate different GenAI tools with human workflow (the TRIP method). The article also highlights the need for further research on GenAI applications throughout the full design cycle, including empirical research with target groups and stakeholder consultations. It points to ethical challenges related to authorship and accountability for AI-generated content. The paper contributes to the growing interdisciplinary reflection on the use of breakthrough technologies, in particular GenAI, in public policy formulation.
This article examines the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) as a cornerstone of contemporary digitalised governance. Originally introduced in response to the 2008 financial crisis to address systemic opacity in financial markets, the LEI has since evolved into a global public-good infrastructure that enables interoperability, transparency, and accountability across jurisdictions and sectors. This study investigates the extent to which the LEI can be effectively implemented in Poland and the European Union, and what legal, institutional, and economic barriers constrain its universal adoption. The research employs a multi-method design, combining doctrinal and comparative analysis with empirical evidence from European supervisory projects (the EIOPA, ESMA, ECB, and EBA) and a Polish case study conducted under an NCN project on tax administration. Findings confirm that the LEI strengthens systemic risk monitoring, audit quality, and SME participation in global trade, but also reveal persistent barriers, including renewal costs, administrative burdens, and fragmented domestic identifiers. The analysis identifies four pillars of reform – universality, interoperability, continuity, and public co-financing – necessary to embed the LEI within governance systems. Comparative lessons from the United States and Japan demonstrate that statutory identifiers can extend beyond finance and support innovation while oversight is maintained. The article concludes that only by recognising the LEI as a structural component of digitalised governance can its transformative potential for transparent, resilient, and inclusive public administration be fully realised.
