A date to remember: the nature of memory in savant 
calendrical calculators

Heavey, Lisa; Pring, Linda; Hermelin, Beate

doi:10.1017/s0033291798007776

Cited by 61 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 42 publications

(46 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This suggests that the calculators must encode date information unusually effectively, rather than having increased memory capacity. Furthermore in another study reported by Heavey et al (1999), calculation facilitated memory retrieval suggesting that, as in language studies (e.g. Slamecka & Graf, 1978), active processing produces more accessible memories compared with passive learning conditions.…”

Section: Number and Calendar Calculatorsmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…Miller, 1989;Sloboda, Hermelin & O'Connor, 1985;Young & Nettlebeck, 1994), linguistic ability (Smith & Tsimpli, 1991;Dowker, Hermelin & Pring, 1996), calendar calculation (giving the correct day of the week that corresponds to a particular date), (Heavey, Pring & Hermelin, 1999), arithmetical calculation (Anderson, O'Connor & Hermelin, 1999), or drawing ability (e.g. Selfe, 1977;Pring & Hermelin, 1997).…”

Section: Savant Talentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Horowitz et al, 1965) also seek to explain the performance of the outstanding calendar and numerical calculating abilities of the twins John and Michael in this way (see Sacks, 1985). However, recent evidence based on group studies, has shown that the information typically involved in the process of number or date calculation, graphic reproduction or musical performance is far from 'undigested' or 'inflexible', as the term rote memory implies, but is instead reliant on highly organized, flexible knowledge structures, capable of being used for generative and creative output (Heavey, Pring & Hermelin, 1999;Hermelin & O'Connor, 1986;Pring & Hermelin, 2002).…”

Section: Practice and Implicit Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To test these conjectures empirically, Heavey, Pring and Hermelin (1999) systematically investigated memory function in a group of savant calendar calculators and a group of age-, ability-and diagnosis-matched participants without savant ability. Their study showed that the savants did not have unusually increased memory capacity with respect to general short-and long-term memory as measured by digit span or recall of words from a list.…”

Section: Number and Calendar Calculatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Memory characteristics in individuals with savant skills

Pring¹

2008

Memory in Autism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Number and Calendar Calculatorsmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Savant Talentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Practice and Implicit Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Number and Calendar Calculatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Memory characteristics in individuals with savant skills

Pring¹

2008

Memory in Autism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…For calendar calculation, Heavey et al (1999) suggest that the calendars can be broken down into 'fragments' of dates. Combining the natural tendency to segment large chunks of information with idiosyncratic interest in dates, calendar calculation skills may emerge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A case study of a multiply talented savant with an autism spectrum disorder: neuropsychological functioning and brain morphometry

Wallace

Happé²,

Giedd

2009

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Neuropsychological functioning and brain morphometry in a savant (case GW) with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and both calendar calculation and artistic skills are quantified and compared with small groups of neurotypical controls. Good memory, mental calculation and visuospatial processing, as well as (implicit) knowledge of calendar structure and 'weak' central coherence characterized the cognitive profile of case GW. Possibly reflecting his savant skills, the superior parietal region of GW's cortex was the only area thicker (while areas such as the superior and medial prefrontal, middle temporal and motor cortices were thinner) than that of a neurotypical control group. Taken from the perspective of learning/practice-based models, skills in domains (e.g. calendars, art, music) that capitalize upon strengths often associated with ASD, such as detailfocused processing, are probably further enhanced through over-learning and massive exposure, and reflected in atypical brain structure.

show abstract

Error monitoring in decision‐making and timing is disrupted in autism spectrum disorder

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties in social interactions. The cognitive domains that support these interactions include perceptual decision‐making, timing, and error‐monitoring, which enable one to appropriately understand and react to the other individual in communicative settings. This study constitutes a comprehensive exploration of decision‐making and interval timing in ASD as well as the first investigation of error‐monitoring abilities of individuals with ASD regarding their performance in the corresponding domains. We found that children with ASD fared similar to typically developing (TD) children in their first‐order task performance in two‐alternative forced choice perceptual decision‐making and temporal reproduction tasks as well as the secondary tasks (signal detection and free finger tapping tasks). Yet, they had a deficit in error‐monitoring in both tasks where their accuracy did not predict their confidence ratings, which was the case for the TD group. The difference between ASD and TD groups was limited to error‐monitoring performance. This study attests to a circumscribed impairment in error‐monitoring in individuals with ASD, which may partially underlie their social interaction problems. This difficulty in cognitively evaluating one's own performance may also relate to theory of mind deficits reported for individuals with ASD, where they struggle in understanding the mental states and intentions of others. This novel finding holds the potential to inform effective interventions for individuals with ASD that can target this error‐monitoring ability to have broad‐ranging effects in multiple domains involved in communication and social interaction. Autism Res 2019, 12: 239–248 © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Lay Summary Decision‐making, timing, and error‐monitoring are three of many abilities that underlie smooth social interactions. To date, these domains have been only investigated separately, but given their interactive role in social interactions that are impaired in ASD, we conducted the first study to investigate them together. Children with ASD were as successful as typically developing children in their task performances, but unlike them, were unaware of their errors in both decision‐making and timing tasks. This deficit that is limited to error‐monitoring can contribute to unraveling the unique cognitive signature of ASD and to formulating interventions with positive implications in multiple domains.

show abstract

A date to remember: the nature of memory in savant calendrical calculators

Cited by 61 publications

References 42 publications

Memory characteristics in individuals with savant skills

Memory characteristics in individuals with savant skills

A case study of a multiply talented savant with an autism spectrum disorder: neuropsychological functioning and brain morphometry

Error monitoring in decision‐making and timing is disrupted in autism spectrum disorder

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About