Verbal fluency as a function of time in autism spectrum disorder: An impairment of initiation processes?

Carmo, Joana C.; Duarte, Élcio Roberto; Pinho, Sandra; Marques, J. Frederico; Filipe, Carlos N.

doi:10.1080/13803395.2015.1062082

Cited by 20 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We were also curious about the differences that we might find in the total average word count and the high and low imageability and concreteness values between the first and the second 30-second intervals. We relied on the studies of Carmo (Carmo et al, 2015(Carmo et al, , 2017 who found impaired performance in the ASD group in the first 30 s and interpreted these results to be preliminary findings of deficits on their initiation process. We, however, did not find significant differences between the ASD and the NTP groups, that is, the ASD group as well as the NTP group produced more words in the first 30 s and much less in the second 30 s, but the two groups did not differ significantly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…EF are widely researched for autistic people (Craig et al, 2016 ; Demetriou et al, 2018 ; Gilotty et al, 2002 ; Hill, 2004 ; Johnston et al, 2019 ; Luna et al, 2007 ; Ozonoff, 1997 ; Ozonoff & McEvoy, 1994 ), however, verbal fluency is a less common area. Even though research of verbal fluency in ASD has mostly focused on high functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger syndrome (Borkowska, 2015 ; Carmo et al, 2015 ; Corbett et al, 2009 ; Inokuchi & Kamio, 2013 ; Kenworthy et al, 2009 ; Spek et al, 2009 ), the studies reported contradicting results. The mentioned studies either found significant impairment in both semantic and phonemic tasks (Corbett et al, 2009 ; Czermainski et al, 2014 ; Kenworthy et al, 2009 ; Kleinhans et al, 2005 ), or similar performance (Borkowska, 2015 ) to the neurotypical group (NTP) but the use of different brain structures or compensatory methods (Baxter et al, 2019 ; Beacher et al, 2012 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, different results can be found for clustering and switching: Begeer et al ( 2014 ) found a similar total number of words with the ASD group producing longer but fewer clusters while Ehlen et al ( 2020 ) observed, that the ASD group produced smaller clusters and also fewer words then the NTP group. On the other hand, up until the 2010s, researchers predominantly tested the verbal fluency of children with ASD (Begeer et al, 2014 ; Corbett et al, 2009 ; Czermainski et al, 2014 ; Kenworthy et al, 2009 ; Sauzéon et al, 2004 ) while the scientific research of adults has been more common in the last few years (Baxter et al, 2019 ; Carmo et al, 2015 ; Ehlen et al, 2020 ; Kiep & Spek, 2017 ; Sauzéon et al, 2004 ). On the assumption that measuring only the overall score in fluency tasks does not capture essential qualitative aspects of the performance research, Carmo et al ( 2017 ) have also perceived verbal fluency as a function of time and observed performance across time intervals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Intact fluency in autism? A comprehensive approach of verbal fluency task including word imageability and concreteness

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Verbal fluency is a cognitive function reflecting executive functions and the ability to retrieve the appropriate information from memory quickly. Previous studies reported conflicting results-impaired and intact verbal fluency-in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Most studies concentrate on overall word productivity, errors, perseverations, clustering, or switching. We used a comprehensive approach to evaluate the reported discrepancy in the literature and introduced a new angle using the concept of word abstraction and imageability. Moreover, we analyzed the performance in two-time intervals (0-30 s and 31-60 s) to assess the temporal dynamics of verbal fluency and a possible activation or initiation deficit in autism. Sixteen adults with ASD and 16 neurotypical control participants, matched by gender, age, and education level, participated in our study. Contrary to our expectations, we did not find a significant difference between groups in word productivity, the number of errors, clustering, or temporal dynamics, neither in semantic nor in phonemic fluency tasks. Surprisingly, the two study groups' performance did not differ in terms of imageability or concreteness characteristics either. Our results raise the possibility that verbal fluency performance is intact in autism. We also suggest using a comprehensive approach when measuring fluency in autism. Lay summary: People with autism tend to think and communicate differently. In our study, we tested whether people with autism come up with more concrete or imageable words and whether their performance is better compared with neurotypicals in the beginning or in the later phase of a task measuring how many words they can produce in a minute. We did not detect any difference between the two groups; however, we recommend studying verbal fluency in autism from more and different angles in the future.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Intact fluency in autism? A comprehensive approach of verbal fluency task including word imageability and concreteness

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It could rather reflect slower overall cognitive processing or more specifically slower verbal elaboration required in this task. It could also reflect a well-described lack of generation of new ideas (87)(88)(89). Concerning the interpretation scores, the indexed interpretation was significantly different between the two groups and this difference was observed with a trend for the total interpretation.…”

Section: Differences Between Asd and Controls On Objective Evaluationsmentioning

confidence: 93%

When Alterations in Social Cognition Meet Subjective Complaints in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evaluation With the “ClaCoS” Battery

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Deficit in social communication is a core feature in Autism Spectrum Disorder but remains poorly assessed in classical clinical practice, especially in adult populations. This gap between needs and practice is partly due to a lack of standardized evaluation tools. The multicentric Research group in psychiatry GDR3557 (Institut de Psychiatrie) developed a new battery for social cognitive evaluation named “ClaCoS,” which allows testing the main components of social cognition: Emotion Recognition, Theory of Mind, Attributional Style, and Social Perception and Knowledge. It further provides an assessment of subjective complaints in social cognition.Methods: We compared the social cognition abilities of 45 adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder without intellectual disability and 45 neurotypically developed volunteers using the “ClaCoS” battery, in order to determine its relevance in the evaluation of social cognition impairments in autism. A correlational approach allowed us to test the links between subjective complaints and objectively measured impairments for the different components of social cognition.Results: As expected, the Autism Spectrum Disorder group showed deficits in all four components of social cognition. Moreover, they reported greater subjective complaints than controls regarding their social abilities, correlated to the neuropsychological assessments.Conclusion: The “ClaCoS” battery is an interesting tool allowing to assess social impairments in autism and to specify the altered components, for a better adjustment of tailored social cognition training programs. Our results further suggest that people with Autism Spectrum Disorder have a good social cognitive insight, i.e., awareness into social cognitive functioning, and may thus benefit from social cognitive training tools.

show abstract

“…Research has shown evidence for impaired verbal fluency functioning in children with autism [6]. However, verbal fluency functioning in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is still unclear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Verbal Fluency is Related to Theory of Mind: Comparison in Control Children and with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Fanid

Shahrokhi²,

Amiri³

2017

INDJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Autism is a pervasive neurodevelopment disorder, primarily encompassing difficulties in the social, language, and communicative domains. Although neurocognitive impairments in theory of mind (ToM) and in executive functions have both been hypothesized to play a causal role in autism, there has been little research investigating the association of these two aspects with regard to autistic symptomatology. The relation between executive function and theory of mind may involve specific processes of verbal ability and/or working memory capacity contributing to ToM. To differentiate these alternatives, we administered task batteries measuring working memory and ToM, as well as measures of verbal fluency, to 15 children with autism spectrum disorder. The results indicated that children with ASD performed significantly worse than normal children on ToM tasks (Z=4.7, p<0 .001). Furthermore, the results indicated that theory of mind abilities in ASD individuals are strongly correlated with language ability (r=0.52, p<0.05). However, it was found that autistic children's difficulty in attributing a ToM is not due to memory failure.

show abstract

Verbal fluency as a function of time in autism spectrum disorder: An impairment of initiation processes?

Cited by 20 publications

References 36 publications

Intact fluency in autism? A comprehensive approach of verbal fluency task including word imageability and concreteness

Intact fluency in autism? A comprehensive approach of verbal fluency task including word imageability and concreteness

When Alterations in Social Cognition Meet Subjective Complaints in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evaluation With the “ClaCoS” Battery

Verbal Fluency is Related to Theory of Mind: Comparison in Control Children and with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About