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(Re-)conceptualisation in Asperger’s Syndrome and Typical Individuals with Varying Degrees of Autistic-like Traits

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Abstract

The abilities to form new concepts from scratch (conceptualisation), and to flexibly switch from one concept to another (re-conceptualisation), were investigated in adults with Asperger’s Syndrome and in typically-developed adults with low and high autism spectrum quotients. In consecutively presented morphs, containing increasing percentages of animate or inanimate objects, the emerging objects had to be identified. The abilities to conceptualise and reconceptualise became increasingly impaired with increasing autistic(-like) traits. Across both tasks, all groups recognised animate objects quicker than inanimate objects. However, this ‘animate advantage’ was differently affected by the two tasks. In the Reconceptualisation task, the ‘animate advantage’ gradually disappeared with increasing autistic(-like) traits, whereas in the Conceptualisation task it remained present.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Sven Panis and Bart Machielsen for computing the compactness and homogeneity scores for the silhouettes used in this study. This research was supported by the AHRC.

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  1. Department of Psychology, The University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK

    Hollie G. Burnett & Tjeerd Jellema

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  1. Hollie G. Burnett
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Correspondence to Tjeerd Jellema.

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Burnett, H.G., Jellema, T. (Re-)conceptualisation in Asperger’s Syndrome and Typical Individuals with Varying Degrees of Autistic-like Traits. J Autism Dev Disord 43, 211–223 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1567-z

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