Global and configural visual processing in adults with autism and Asperger syndrome

Missing the big picture: impaired development of global shape processing in autism

“…Our findings of atypical global processing in autism are consistent with one study using a similar task with HFA and TD adults [Rondan & Deruelle, 2007] and another with adolescents [Wang et al, 2007]. Unlike the previous studies that reported evidence of a typical global advantage in HFA individuals under certain stimulus conditions (e.g., selective attention version of the task), we did not observe this pattern.…”

Does preterm birth affect global and configural processing differently?

“…Rather, our findings suggest that preterm children do show a dissociation between global and configural processing skills, with the former being spared and the latter compromised. This is in line with previous studies showing a similar dissociation in neurodevelopmental disorders, 6,[8][9][10][11] that suggests a possible common deviance in the development of the visuocognitive system.The current and dominant view of the visual system is marked by the functional and anatomical dissociation between a dorsal and a ventral stream (specialized for processing information about motion and space, and form and colour respectively).19 It has been hypothesized that the dorsal stream is more plastic than the ventral stream, both for possible enhancement (e.g. in the congenitally deaf absence of competitive auditory inputs promotes supranormal cortical development) and for deficits (e.g.…”

“…[7][8][9] Importantly, this dissociation has received substantial support from recent research showing that atypical development differentially affects global and configural skills, with the former being spared and the latter being deficient. 6,[8][9][10][11] Interestingly, a comparable dissociation has also been found in children born with congenital cataracts, 12,13 who show increased difficulties in tasks involving configural processing, such as motion 14 conditions, yet they are both characterized by exposure to the visual world at a different time from expected under normal development -early deprivation and early stimulation respectively -which could, in turn, result in atypical development of visual function. Following the line of recent studies on the development of human visuoperception, the investigation of a possible dissociation between global and configural abilities in preterm children appears of special interest.…”

“…For this, we compared the performance of healthy preterm children with that of a closely matched comparison group on two perceptual tasks previously found effective in pinpointing differences between local and global, and between local and configural processing strategies. 6 Configural processing refers to any process that takes into account the spatial interrelationships between stimulus components.7 It is contrasted with part-based processing, which is also called featural or local processing.7 Although local properties of a stimulus are clearly understood as the parts or elements composing it, global and configural properties of visual stimuli have been termed interchangeably in several studies. However, global properties of a visual stimulus are defined by their position in the hierarchical structure of the stimulus, whereas configural properties are defined as a function of interrelations among component parts of the stimulus.…”

Augmented feedback in autistic disorder

“…The lack of eye contact may therefore indicate passive omission rather than deliberate avoidance (Kylliäinen et al 2012). Rondan and Deruelle (2007) described a processing style in children with AD, which involves focusing on facial features to determine direct gaze. This processing style suggests a cognitive style that prefers featured processing (local perceptual processing style) (Senju et al 2008).…”