ERIC Number: EJ947553
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0891-4222
EISSN: N/A
Principal Component Analysis Study of Visual and Verbal Metaphoric Comprehension in Children with Autism and Learning Disabilities
Mashal, Nira; Kasirer, Anat
Research in Developmental Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal, v33 n1 p274-282 Jan-Feb 2012
This research extends previous studies regarding the metaphoric competence of autistic and learning disabled children on different measures of visual and verbal non-literal language comprehension, as well as cognitive abilities that include semantic knowledge, executive functions, similarities, and reading fluency. Thirty seven children with autism (ASD), 20 children with learning disabilities (LD), and 21 typically developed (TD) children participated in the study. Principal components analysis was used to examine the interrelationship among the various tests in each group. Results showed different patterns in the data according to group. In particular, the results revealed that there is no dichotomy between visual and verbal metaphors in TD children but rather metaphor are classified according to their familiarity level. In the LD group visual metaphors were classified independently of the verbal metaphors. Verbal metaphoric understanding in the ASD group resembled the LD group. In addition, our results revealed the relative weakness of the ASD and LD children in suppressing irrelevant information. (Contains 4 tables.)
Descriptors: Factor Analysis, Autism, Learning Disabilities, Children, Comprehension, Figurative Language, Cognitive Ability, Executive Function, Reading Fluency, Semantics
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A