Binding of multiple features in memory by high-functioning adults with autism spectrum disorder.
Diminished episodic memory and diminished use of semantic information to aid recall by individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are both thought to result from diminished relational binding of elements of complex stimuli. To test this hypothesis, we asked high-functioning adults with ASD and typical comparison participants to study grids in which some cells contained drawings of objects in non-canonical colours. Participants were told at study which features (colour, item, location) would be tested in a later memory test. In a second experiment, participants studied similar grids and were told that they would be tested on object-location or object-colour combinations. Recognition of combinations was significantly diminished in ASD, which survived covarying performance on the Color Trails Test (D'Elia et al. Color trails test. Professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources, Lutz, 1996), a test of executive difficulties. The findings raise the possibility that medial temporal as well as frontal lobe processes are dysfunctional in ASD.
Autism Research Group, Department of Psychology, City University London, Northampton Square, London, EC1V 0HB, UK, d.m.bowler@city.ac.uk.
Dermot M
DM
Bowler
Sebastian B
SB
Gaigg
John M
JM
Gardiner
D000328:Adult; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D011939:Mental Recall; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012660:Semantics; D013850:Thinking