Abstract
This study examines declarative memory retrieval in ASD depending on the availability and access to stored conceptual knowledge. Fifteen autistic participants and a matched control group of 18 typically-developed (TD) volunteers completed a Remember-Know paradigm manipulated by encoding-type (categorical, perceptual) and item-typicality (high-typical, low-typical). The autistic group showed worse and slower recognition and less recollection but equivalent familiarity-based memories compared to TDs. Notably, low-typical items did not improve their memories as they did for TDs, likely due to difficulties in matching low-fit information to the stored schema. Results suggest that memory decline in ASD may derive from the episodic system and its dynamics with the semantic system. These findings may inform interventional strategies for enhancing learning abilities in ASD.
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Notes
Typicality refers to a semantic organization process reflecting how good an item is in representing its category. Typical items share the prototypical features of their categories (e.g., an apple in the Fruit category); atypical items present less fit with their categorical prototype (e.g., a dolphin is atypical in Mammals) (see Medin et al., 2007; Murphy & Medin, 1985; Rosch, 1978).
The items were selected from normative studies of concepts and their related pictures conducted with Portuguese samples (Santi et al., 2015; Souza et al, 2021b). The typicality ratings were obtained for items (displayed in a picture) representing specific basic concepts (e.g., penguin as less typical and cardinal as typical) within a specific superordinate category (e.g., birds).
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The authors would like to thank all the feedback from colleagues and experts who helped improve this work, the cooperation of the institutions that mediated the access to the clinical sample, and the participants for their valuable contribution to the present research.
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This research was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal, with grants awarded to CS (PD/BD/128249/2016), OH (SFRH/BPD/115533/2016) and JCC (Norma Transitória DL57/2016/CP1439/CT02 and through the Research Center for Psychological Science of the Faculty of Psychology, University of Lisbon, UIDB/ UIDP 04527/2020). The funders had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, publication decision, or manuscript preparation.
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CS, MG, and JC, contributed equally to designing the study, the procedures, and drafting the manuscript. CS executed the data collection and respective preliminary data analysis. OH performed the mixed-effects regression analyses in R. MG, and JC supervised and coordinated the whole process of producing this work. JB-C was responsible for the recruitment of individuals with ASD and for confirming their clinical diagnosis. All authors revised the manuscript and provided theoretical comments based on their expertise.
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Souza, C., Garrido, M.V., Horchak, O.V. et al. The Distinctive Pattern of Declarative Memories in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Further Evidence of Episodic Memory Constraints. J Autism Dev Disord 53, 3012–3022 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05579-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05579-y