Time Reproduction Performance Is Associated With Age and Working Memory in High‐Functioning Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Lay Abstract Temporal processing refers to our ability to “sense” or register the passage of time and to use that information to guide behavior. There is evidence that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) differ from children without ASD in their ability to process temporal information. Prior research has shown that age and working memory (the ability to hold and manipulate information in short-term memory storage) impact performance on temporal processing tasks in typically developing children, but it is not known whether there are similar associations in youth with ASD. It is also known that children with high levels of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity, who do not have ASD, tend to perform more poorly on measures of temporal processing. Our study examined the effects of working memory, age, and inattention/hyperactivity on the accuracy and consistency of temporal processing in 27 high-functioning youth with ASD and 25 youth without ASD. Our results show that youth with ASD are less accurate and less consistent in their ability to estimate time intervals, relative to typically developing youth. The difference in accuracy between the groups is more pronounced at younger ages, while working memory has a differential effect on consistency. Within the ASD group, inattention/hyperactivity was not associated with either accuracy or consistency. This study shows for the first time that both age and working memory affect how youth with and without ASD perceive and represent the passage of time. Scientific Abstract Impaired temporal processing has historically been viewed as a hallmark feature of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Recent evidence suggests temporal processing deficits may also be characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, little is known about the factors that impact temporal processing in children with ASD. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of co-morbid attention problems, working memory (WM), age, and their interactions, on time reproduction in youth with and without ASD. Twenty-seven high functioning individuals with ASD and 25 demographically comparable typically developing individuals (ages 9–17; 85% male) were assessed on measures of time reproduction, auditory WM, and inattention/hyperactivity. The time reproduction task required depression of a computer key to mimic interval durations of 4, 8, 12, 16, or 20 seconds. Mixed effects regression analyses were used to model accuracy and variability of time reproduction as functions of diagnostic group, interval duration, age, WM, and inattention/hyperactivity. A significant group by age interaction was detected for accuracy, with the deficit in the ASD group being greater in younger children. There was a significant group by WM interaction for consistency, with the effects of poor WM on performance consistency being more pronounced in youth with ASD. All participants tended to underestimate longer interval durations and to be less consistent for shorter interval durations; these effec...

Supporting the Writing Skills of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder Through Assistive Technologies

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Abnormal functional activation and maturation of ventromedial prefrontal cortex and cerebellum during temporal discounting in autism spectrum disorder

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Central tendency effects in time interval reproduction in autism

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