A critical cognitive ability that has received relatively little attention in individuals with autism is the ability to form categories. Previous studies of categorization in individuals with autism have found mixed results, some indicating that these individuals have a deficit in categorization and others suggesting that they do not. These studies are limited, however, because they have not closely investigated the role that typicality or task complexity may have on categorization. The current study addresses these issues by examining the effect of exemplar typicality on both the reaction times and accuracy of categorizing basic level exemplars. High-functioning children, teens, and adults with autism and matched controls were tested in a category verification procedure. Results indicate that the processing and accuracy of categorization improves throughout the lifespan for typical and somewhat typical category exemplars, but that processing differences are found throughout the lifespan with respect to atypical or poor category exemplars. The results are discussed in relation to potential differences in the type of processing that may be required for categorizing typical and atypical category members. Parallels are also drawn between the results of the current studies and the results of previous studies on face processing in individuals with autism.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-12052005-134908 |
| Date | 20 March 2006 |
| Creators | Gastgeb, Holly Zajac |
| Contributors | Jana M. Iverson, Mark S. Strauss, Susan B. Campbell |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-12052005-134908/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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