title: Brief report: cognitive flexibility and focused attention in children and adolescents with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism as measured on the computerized version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to assess mental flexibility and set maintenance of a group of individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA) (N = 13; mean age 16,4), as compared with a matched group of typically developing children and adolescents (N = 13; mean age 15,6) on the computerized version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). The participants in the AS/HFA group performed less well than the controls on all categories of the WCST, but the differences did not reach conventional statistical significance on most categories of the WCST. On the category failure to maintain set, however, the AS/HFA participants performed significantly less well than the controls, suggesting a deficit of focused attention.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Social Science, Lillehammer University College, Gudbrandsdalsvegen 350, Lillehammer 2624, Norway. nils@kaland.net
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kaland
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Erik Lykke
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Mortensen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011340:Problem Solving; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012718:Set, Psychology; D012984:Software