NATURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF SPATIAL COGNITION IN AUTISM

自闭症空间认知的本质和发展

基本信息

批准号：
6538349
负责人：
JAMIE S OGLINE
金额：
$ 3.62万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER (COLORADO SEMINARY)
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2002
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2002-06-01 至
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6538349
关键词：
Downs syndrome adolescence (12-20) autism behavioral /social science research tag clinical research cognition disorders developmental psychology human subject middle childhood (6-11) neuropsychological tests short term memory space perception

项目摘要

The overall goal of the proposed research is to examine the nature and development of spatial cognition in individuals with autism. Although previous research suggests that spatial cognition may be a strength in those with autism, research findings in this area are inconsistent and need further examination. For instance, central coherence theory claims that those with autism have difficulty attending to the gestalt and will focus more on the local parts of a spatial configuration. This theory is inconsistent with the possibility that individuals with autism may have a strength in the spatial domain because many spatial tasks require attention to both the global and local parts of configurations. Another inconsistency is evident between previous findings of executive deficits in autism and the findings that individuals with autism are not impaired on spatial tasks that may require executive processing, such as the WISC block design. The proposed study will attempt to resolve these inconsistencies and add to knowledge about spatial cognition in autism by testing low-functioning children with autism as compared to Down syndrome and normally developing mental age matched control groups using measures of spatial working memory, global/local processing, and a spatial task previously not examined in this population. Broadening knowledge about spatial cognition in this disorder will allow for a better understanding of development in this disorder and any potential strengths that may exist.

拟议研究的总体目标是检查自闭症患者空间认知的性质和发展。尽管先前的研究表明，在自闭症患者中，空间认知可能是一种优势，但该领域的研究结果是不一致的，需要进一步检查。例如，中央连贯理论声称那些自闭症的人难以参与格式塔，并将更多地关注空间配置的本地部分。该理论与自闭症患者在空间领域中可能具有力量的可能性不一致，因为许多空间任务都需要关注整体和本地配置的部位。先前对自闭症的执行缺陷的发现与自闭症患者在可能需要执行加工（例如WISC Block Design）的空间任务上不会受到损害的发现，这是一个明显的不一致。拟议的研究将试图解决这些不一致之处，并通过测试与唐氏综合症和正常发展的精神年龄相匹配的对照组相比，使用空间工作记忆，全球/局部处理，以及以前未在此人群中未检查过的空间任务，从而增加了自闭症中空间认知的知识。扩大对这种疾病空间认知的知识将使人们更好地了解这种疾病的发展以及可能存在的任何潜在优势。