title: Beyond perception: musical representation and on-line processing in autism.
abstract: Whilst findings from experimental studies suggest that perceptual mechanisms underpinning musical cognition are preserved or enhanced in autism, little is known about how higher-level, structural aspects of music are processed. Twenty participants with autism, together with age and intelligence matched controls, completed a musical priming task in which global and local musical contexts were manipulated. The results from the study revealed no between-group differences and showed that both global and local musical contexts influenced participants' congruity judgements. The findings were interpreted within the context of studies showing weakened sensitivity to verbal/semantic information in autism.
authors.affiliation: Goldsmiths College, University of London, New Cross, London, SE14 6NW, UK. P.Heaton@gold.ac.uk
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Heaton
authors.forename: Kerry
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Cummins
authors.forename: Francesca G E
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Happé
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009146:Music