Do Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Prefer to Match Pictures Based on their Physical Details or their Meaning?

Abstract

This study investigated whether children with high-functioning autism/Asperger's syndrome have a different spontaneous processing style than typically developing children, that is, a style where they prefer details over meaning. Participants were 25 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and 25 typically developing children matched by age, IQ, and sex. In the first 2 experiments, the children were given a picture and asked to choose which of 2 other pictures best matched with it. Pictures could be matched based either on congruence for details or meaning but not both. Hence, a choice for either detail or meaning had to be made. It was ensured that all participants had understood the meaningful relations between the pictures prior to testing. Children with ASD chose to match the pictures by detail significantly more often than the typically developing children. In a second test session, naming aloud the presented pictures prior to matching them was required. This additional manipulation led most children with ASD to match pictures according to meaning. It is concluded that children with ASD tend to spontaneously focus on details despite access to meaningful connections. Naming seems to support the use of meaning in spontaneous processing.

KEYWORDS:

• autism
• local-global processing
• perceptual-conceptual processing
• central coherence

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank participants, parents, and staff from Heilpädagogisches Zentrum “Die Gute Hand,” Autismus Therapie Zentrum Köln, Autismus Therapie Zentrum Aachen, and all participating schools. We also thank Catherine Best from the University of Edinburgh for her helpful comments on this article. Christoph M. Müller was supported by a doctoral grant from the Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft.

Notes

Bormann-Kischkel, C. (1980). Zur Konzeptfindung bei autistischen Kindern [Conceptual processing in children with autism]. Unpublished manuscript, Max-Planck Institute of Psychiatry München.

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