Understanding Executive Control in Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Lab and in the Real World

Kenworthy, Lauren; Yerys, Benjamin E.; Anthony, Laura Gutermuth; Wallace, Gregory L.

doi:10.1007/s11065-008-9077-7

Cited by 394 publications

(339 citation statements)

References 130 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

321

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…One possible explanation lies in the computerised administration of the CANTAB; it has been proposed that a participant's ability to infer the experimenter's intentions may affect test performance in an experimenter-administered situation (see Kenworthy, Yerys, Anthony, & Wallace, 2008;S. J.…”

Section: Cognitive Universalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring ‘The autisms’ at a cognitive level

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The autism spectrum is characterized by genetic and behavioral heterogeneity. However, it is still unknown whether there is a universal pattern of cognitive impairment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and whether multiple cognitive impairments are needed to explain the full range of behavioral symptoms. This study aimed to determine whether three widely acknowledged cognitive abnormalities (Theory of Mind (ToM) impairment, Executive Function (EF) impairment, and the presence of a Local Processing Bias (LB)) are universal and fractionable in autism, and whether the relationship between cognition and behavior is dependent on the method of behavioral assessment. Thirty‐one high‐functioning children with ASD and thirty‐seven children with neurotypical development (NTD), comparable in age, gender and Intelligence Quotient (IQ), completed several tasks tapping into ToM, EF, and LB, and autistic symptomatology was assessed through parental and teacher questionnaires, parental interview and direct observation. We found that ToM and EF deficits differentiated the groups and some ToM and EF tasks were related to each other. ToM and EF were together able to correctly classify more than three‐quarters of the children into cases and controls, despite relating to none of the specific behavioral measures. Only a small subgroup of individuals displayed a LB, which was unrelated to ToM and EF, and did not aid diagnostic classification, most likely contributing to non‐diagnostic symptoms in a subgroup. Despite the characteristic heterogeneity of the autism spectrum, it remains a possibility therefore that a single cognitive cause may underlie the range of diagnostic symptoms in all individuals with autism. Autism Res 2016, 9: 1328–1339. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

show abstract

Section: Cognitive Universalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring ‘The autisms’ at a cognitive level

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although we expected individuals with autism to be particularly adversely affected by an increase in distractor complexity, given evidence of executive difficulties associated with the condition (see Kenworthy, Yerys, Anthony, & Wallace, 2008), children with autism were actually less affected than controls by this difficulty manipulation. However, subsequent work by Jarrold and Russell (1997) showed that individuals with autism were less likely than controls to perceive the canonical dot representations as immediate indicators of numerosity, and so 'counted' these stimuli more slowly than controls.…”

Section: What Are the Key Constraints On Working Memory Performance?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Mid-Career Award Working out how working memory works: evidence from typical and atypical development

Jarrold

2017

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Telephone: +44 (0)117 9288450Working out how 2 Abstract Working memory is an extremely influential concept within experimental psychology, with, at the time of writing, over 90 papers with this term in their title published in this journal alone since 2000. One reason for this interest is that measures of working memory tend to be strong correlates of important indices of real world function. In addition, at first sight working memory appears to be a relatively simple concept to understand. However, despite this apparent simplicity, explaining working memory performance is not straightforward. In this paper I address this challenge, with a particular focus on the development of working memory performance in children; both children developing typically and those experiencing atypical development. I specifically highlight the multiple constraints on working memory performance, and how these constraints inter-relate. I then consider the broader theoretical implications of each of these constraints for current accounts of working memory and its development.

show abstract

“…Again it is unclear whether this may also relate to online social behaviours and the nature of information presented by an individual with WS or indeed with ASD due to the similar association between the disorder and attention and executive control deficits (e.g. see Kenworthy et al, 2010 for a review). Again this is an avenue for debate and research attention.…”

Section: Disinhibiitonmentioning

confidence: 99%