title: Fragmented visuospatial processing in children with pervasive developmental disorder.
abstract: Children diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger Syndrome (AS) may be characterised by a similar perceptual focus on details as children with autistic disorder (AD). This was tested by analysing their performance in a visuoperceptual task [the Children's Embedded Figure Test (CEFT)] and a graphic reproduction task [the Rey Complex Figure Task (Rey CFT)]. Control groups were children with Tourette Syndrome (TS) and typically developing children. The TS sample performed similarly to the normal control group in both tasks. The CEFT results did not show the expected preference for local processing in children with PDD-NOS. However, the Rey CFT data revealed that the children with this lesser variant of PDD processed visuospatial information in a fragmented way and were deficient in global processing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Psychiatry, UMCN St. Radboud ACKJON/de Lingewal, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. w.schlooz@RvAgroep.nl
authors.forename: Wim A J M
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Schlooz
authors.forename: Wouter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hulstijn
authors.forename: Pieter J A
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: van den Broek
authors.forename: Angela C A M
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: van der Pijll
authors.forename: Fons
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gabreëls
authors.forename: Rutger J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: van der Gaag
authors.forename: Jan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Rotteveel
mesh_terms: D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019370:Observation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*