title: Brief Report: impaired Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST) in school-age children with autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: Cognitive flexibility has been measured with inductive reasoning or explicit rule tasks in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST) differs from previous cognitive flexibility tasks in ASD research by giving children an abstract, ambiguous rule to switch. The ASD group (N = 22; Mean age = 8.28 years, SD = 1.52) achieved a lower shift percentage than the typically developing verbal mental-age control group (N = 22; Mean age = 6.26 years, SD = 0.82). There was a significant positive correlation between verbal mental age and shift percentage for children with ASD. Group differences on the FIST converge and extend prior evidence documenting an impaired ability to adapt rapidly to changes in task demands for individuals with ASD.
authors.affiliation: Center for Autism Research, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3535 Market Street, Suite 860, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. yerysb@email.chop.edu
authors.forename: Benjamin E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Yerys
authors.forename: Brian C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moody
authors.forename: Bruce F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Pennington
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Hepburn
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012574:Schools