Quantification Judgement in High Functioning Autism: Superior or Different?

Gagnon, Louise; Mottron, Laurent; Bherer, Louis; Joanette, Yves

doi:10.1007/s10803-004-5288-9

Cited by 19 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Both the `breakpoint' of rapid enumeration and the K scores on MOT indicate that participants with autism represent fewer elements `simultaneously' than typically developing participants, most often 3 instead of 4 items, consistent with the results of Gagnon and colleagues (2004). We had predicted this pattern on the basis of Gagnon's results and representation of fewer elements in scenes in autism.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

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The development of individuation in autism.

O’Hearn

Franconeri

Wright

et al. 2013

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

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Evidence suggests that people with autism use holistic information differently than typical adults. The current studies examine this possibility by investigating how core visual processes that contribute to holistic processing – individuation and element grouping – develop in participants with autism and typically developing (TD) participants matched for age, IQ and gender. Individuation refers to the ability to `see' up to 4 elements simultaneously; grouping these elements can change the number of elements that are rapidly apprehended. We examined these core processes using two well-established paradigms, rapid enumeration and multiple object tracking (MOT). In both tasks, a performance limit of about 4 elements in adulthood is thought to reflect individuation capacity. Participants with autism has a smaller individuation capacity than TD controls, regardless of whether they were enumerating static elements or tracking moving ones. To manipulate holistic information and individuation performance, we grouped the elements into a design or had elements move together. Participants with autism were affected to a similar degree as TD participants by the holistic information, whether the manipulation helped or hurt performance, consistent with evidence that some types of gestalt/grouping information are processed typically in autism. There was substantial development in autism from childhood to adolescence, but not from adolescence to adulthood, a pattern distinct from TD participants. These results provide important information about core visual processes in autism, as well as insight into the architecture of vision (e.g., individuation appears distinct from visual strengths in autism, such as visual search, despite similarities).

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…Gagnon and colleagues (2004) found this pattern, despite their original hypothesis that those with autism would perform better than TD adults due to their associations with mathematical skill. The participants with autism appeared to use a serial process with fewer elements – around 3 - than TD participants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

The development of individuation in autism.

O’Hearn

Franconeri

Wright

et al. 2013

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

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“…Whereas previous research often focused on one single aspect of mathematics (Gagnon et al, 2004) or used a composite math score (Chiang & Lin, 2007), the present study uses a multi-componential approach and incorporates different subcomponents of early mathematics. In addition, the present study puts a focus on the important developmental period of preschool age.…”

Section: Objectives and Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Numerical Competencies in 4- and 5-Year-Old Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Titeca

Roeyers

Desoete

2015

Focus Autism Other Dev Disabl

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Studies comparing mathematical abilities of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing children are hitherto scarce, inconclusive, and mainly focusing on elementary school children or adolescents. The present study wants to gain insight into the foundation of mathematics by looking at preschool performances. Five early numerical competencies known to be important for mathematical development were examined: verbal subitizing, counting, magnitude comparison, estimation, and arithmetic operations. These competencies were studied in 20 high-functioning children with ASD and 20 age-matched control children aged 4 and 5 years. Our data revealed similar early number processing in children with and without ASD at preschool age, meaning that both groups did not differ on the foundation of mathematics development. Given the pervasiveness and the family impact of the condition of ASD, this is an important positive message for parents and preschool teachers. Implications and several directions for future research are proposed.

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“…Individuals with autism, on average, are more likely to have a subitizing range of up to three elements, compared to four elements in TD individuals [O'Hearn, Franconeri, Wright, Minshew, & Luna, ]. Gagnon et al report a similar pattern, with a quadratic function (i.e., change in slope) between three and five elements evident typically but not in adults with autism [Gagnon et al, ; see also Jarrold & Russell, ]. This decreased capacity could impact the ability to see several objects in a scene [O'Hearn, Lakusta, Schroer, Minshew, & Luna, ], and also to group elements into a holistic representation, both visual skills known to be affected in autism [Shah & Frith, ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This decreased capacity could impact the ability to see several objects in a scene [O'Hearn, Lakusta, Schroer, Minshew, & Luna, ], and also to group elements into a holistic representation, both visual skills known to be affected in autism [Shah & Frith, ]. The former reflects how many objects are individuated; the latter relates to relationships between parts and wholes, reflecting that an object can be part of a collection, or a “chunk,” as well an “object.” Specifically, as visual perception is hierarchical, seeing multiple elements in parallel, potentially as a chunk [Cowan, ; Yantis, ], may be needed to merge these elements into a holistic representation [Gagnon et al, ; Treisman, ]. In this way, differences in parallel processing of multiple elements in autism might contribute to both impaired subitizing and the well‐documented differences on holistic tasks such as the embedded figures task and face recognition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abnormalities in brain systems supporting individuation and enumeration in autism

et al. 2015

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Previous work indicates that adults with autism display a decreased capacity when rapidly enumerating small sets of elements (i.e., subitizing), compared to typically developing (TD) individuals. This ability is crucial for fundamental visual functions such as object individuation and parallel processing. Thus, the deficit in autism suggests limits in these skills. To examine the neural basis of this limitation, adults with and without high functioning autism rapidly enumerated 1 to 8 randomly located squares during a neuroimaging study. Typically, adults are thought to use parallel visual processes to quantify up to three or four elements, and serial processes to enumerate more (5+) elements. We hypothesized that parietal lobe regions associated with counting would be recruited with smaller sets of elements in adults with autism, compared to TD adults. Consistent with this hypothesis, activation in parietal regions increased with smaller set sizes in adults with autism compared to TD adults. Increased activation for three elements was evident in several regions, including those thought to underlie subitizing. In addition, regions specific to the counting range in TD adults were often equally active for set sizes in the subitizing range in the adults with autism. Finally, significant deactivation was evident in TD adults, presumably reflecting relative suppression of regions specialized for competing processes, but was not apparent in adults with autism. These differences in brain function in adults with autism on a simple enumeration task suggest atypical brain organization and function that is likely to impact most visual tasks, especially those with multiple elements.

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Quantification Judgement in High Functioning Autism: Superior or Different?

Cited by 19 publications

References 56 publications

The development of individuation in autism.

The development of individuation in autism.

Early Numerical Competencies in 4- and 5-Year-Old Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abnormalities in brain systems supporting individuation and enumeration in autism

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