title: Local and Global Visual Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Influence of Task and Sample Characteristics and Relation to Symptom Severity.
abstract: Local and global visual processing abilities and processing style were investigated in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) versus typically developing individuals, children versus adolescents and boys versus girls. Individuals with ASD displayed more attention to detail in daily life, while laboratory tasks showed slightly reduced global processing abilities, intact local processing abilities, and a more locally oriented processing style. However, the presence of these group differences depended on particular task and sample (i.e., age and gender) characteristics. Most measures of local and global processing did not correlate with each other and were not associated with processing style. Significant associations between local-global processing and ASD symptom severity were observed, but the causality of these associations remains unclear.
authors.affiliation: Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 32, Box 3765, 3000, Louvain, Belgium. Lien.VanEylen@ppw.kuleuven.be.|Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Louvain, Belgium. Lien.VanEylen@ppw.kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Lien
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Van Eylen
authors.affiliation: Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Louvain, Belgium.|Department of Child Psychiatry, UPC-KU Leuven, Louvain, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Boets
authors.affiliation: Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Louvain, Belgium.|Department of Child Psychiatry, UPC-KU Leuven, Louvain, Belgium.|Department of Clinical Genetics, University Hospital Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Steyaert
authors.affiliation: Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Louvain, Belgium.|Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, KU Leuven, Louvain, Belgium.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wagemans
authors.affiliation: Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 32, Box 3765, 3000, Louvain, Belgium.|Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Louvain, Belgium.|Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Noens
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014796:Visual Perception
keywords: Autism spectrum disorders; Global processing; Local processing; Sample characteristics; Symptom severity; Visual processing