title: Principal component analysis study of visual and verbal metaphoric comprehension in children with autism and learning disabilities.
abstract: This research extends previous studies regarding the metaphoric competence of autistic and learning disable children on different measures of visual and verbal non-literal language comprehension, as well as cognitive abilities that include semantic knowledge, executive functions, similarities, and reading fluency. Thirty seven children with autism (ASD), 20 children with learning disabilities (LD), and 21 typically developed (TD) children participated in the study. Principal components analysis was used to examine the interrelationship among the various tests in each group. Results showed different patterns in the data according to group. In particular, the results revealed that there is no dichotomy between visual and verbal metaphors in TD children but rather metaphor are classified according to their familiarity level. In the LD group visual metaphors were classified independently of the verbal metaphors. Verbal metaphoric understanding in the ASD group resembled the LD group. In addition, our results revealed the relative weakness of the ASD and LD children in suppressing irrelevant information.
authors: School of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel. nmashal2@gmail.com
authors: Nira
authors: N
authors: Mashal
authors: Anat
authors: A
authors: Kasirer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D032882:Comprehension; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012660:Semantics; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014796:Visual Perception