title: Brief report: generalization weaknesses in verbally fluent children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.
abstract: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulty generalizing-i.e., relating new stimuli to past experiences. Few experimental studies have addressed this weakness, despite its impact on intervention effects. In a reanalysis of data (de Marchena et al. Cognition 119(1):96-113, 2011), we tested a novel form of generalization-the ability to transfer a strategy used in one context to a similar context-in verbally fluent youth with ASD and matched typically developing controls. Participants with ASD were subtly less likely to learn from experience; their generalizations were less consistent. Generalization in ASD correlated with receptive vocabulary but not age, suggesting a link to language development. A richer understanding of how to promote generalization in ASD will advance both theory and practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT, 06269-1020, USA. demarchenaa@email.chop.edu.|Center for Autism Research, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3535 Market Street, Suite 860, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA. demarchenaa@email.chop.edu.|Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA. demarchenaa@email.chop.edu.
authors.forename: Ashley B
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4186-6065
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: de Marchena
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT, 06269-1020, USA.
authors.forename: Inge-Marie
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Eigsti
authors.affiliation: Center for Autism Research, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3535 Market Street, Suite 860, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Yerys
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D032882:Comprehension; D005260:Female; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male
keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Generalization; Learning; Reasoning