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Structure Mapping in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Levels of Information Processing and Relations to Executive Functions

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Abstract

Analogical reasoning was investigated among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) without intellectual disabilities and typical development (TD). Children were asked to select one of two targets in two conditions: (1) with and without spatial structure similarity; (2) with and without a perceptual distractor. Results demonstrate that children with ASD were able to select targets based on structural similarity, but this ability decreased to chance level when presented with a perceptual distractor. Everyday executive functions were positively correlated with structural selections among children with ASD. Results suggest that although children with ASD were able to select based on systematicity principle, perceptual distractor decreased their selection so that their cognitive system produced less structure similarities, that negatively affects spatial analogical reasoning.

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Acknowledgments

A partial version of this study was presented at the 2013 IASSID conference in Tokyo. The preparation of this paper is partially based on a master’s thesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Special Education, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, 31905, Haifa, Israel

    Orit E. Hetzroni & Kiril Shalahevich

Authors
  1. Orit E. Hetzroni
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  2. Kiril Shalahevich
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Contributions

Orit E Hetzroni and Kiril Shalahevich conceived and planned the experiment, verified the analytical methods and wrote the manuscript. Kiril Shalahevich carried out the implementation. Orit E hetzroni supervised the project.

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Correspondence to Orit E. Hetzroni.

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Conflict of interest

Orit E. Hetzroni and Kiril Shalahevich declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Hetzroni, O.E., Shalahevich, K. Structure Mapping in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Levels of Information Processing and Relations to Executive Functions. J Autism Dev Disord 48, 824–833 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3376-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3376-x

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