01-10-2013 | Original Paper
Global/Local Processing in Autism: Not a Disability, but a Disinclination
Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | Uitgave 10/2013
Log in om toegang te krijgenAbstract
It is widely suggested that ASD is characterized by atypical local/global processing, but the published findings are contradictory. In an effort to resolve this question, we tested a large group of children on both a free-choice task and an instructed task using hierarchical local–global stimuli. We find that although children with autism showed a reduced preference to report global properties of a stimulus when given a choice, their ability to process global properties when instructed to do so is unimpaired. These findings support prior claims that people with ASD show a disinclination, not a disability, in global processing, and highlight the broader question of whether other characteristics of autism may also reflect disinclinations rather than disabilities.