ERIC Number: EJ747745
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 12
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1362-3613
EISSN: N/A
Disembedding Performance in Children and Adolescents with Asperger Syndrome or High-Functioning Autism
Kaland, Nils; Mortensen, Erik Lykke; Smith, Lars
Autism: The International Journal of Research & Practice, v11 n1 p81-92 2007
The aim of the present study was to assess the findings, reported in earlier studies, that individuals with autism spectrum disorders process visuo-spatial tasks faster than typically developing control persons. The participants in the present study were children and adolescents with Asperger syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA) (N = 13), and a matched group of typically developing children and adolescents (N = 13). The results showed that the participants in the clinical group performed marginally less well than those in the control group on both the Block Design Test and the Embedded Figures Test, but the differences were not statistically significant. Thus, earlier findings suggesting that individuals with autism spectrum disorders solve non-social cognitive tasks faster than typically developing control persons were not replicated. The results are discussed with special reference to the hypothesis of weak central coherence. (Contains 3 tables.)
Descriptors: Children, Adolescents, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Cognitive Tests, Reaction Time, Visual Perception, Matched Groups, Asperger Syndrome, Social Cognition, Autism, Spatial Ability, Task Analysis, Cognitive Ability
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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
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Embedded Figures Test; Block Design Test
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A