With such an "operational" definition we cannot blame the neuropsy and cognitive approaches for taking ownership of the concept. We did behavioralize the definition,
"Stimulus overselectivity, or restricted stimulus control, refers to stimulus control that is atypically limited with respect to range, breadth, or number of stimuli or stimulus features (Lovaas, Koegel, & Schreibman, 1979; Schreibman, 1997),"
and overselectivity belongs in the stimulus control literatire with behavior analysis. We need the stimulus control literature to understand learning, not learning, and to plan learning. Lovaas knew that. And as he said, if the student is not learning the way we teach, we have to teach the way the student learns.
Look for William Dube and team's research for more top notch research in overselectivity in people with autism. I really love the differential observing response variable and have used successfully across repertoires and children's profiles.
