Abstract
Investigated the use of cohesive links to create a reciprocal conversation in individuals with autism, Asperger syndrome, and a control group of children and adolescents with nonspecific social problems. All subjects engaged in a 10-minute conversation with an examiner that touched on various topics. The conversation was audiotaped, transcribed, and coded blindly for several types of cohesive links. Compared to controls, the higher functioning autistic group referred less to a previous stretch of the conversation and more to an aspect of the physical environment. The Asperger group, on the other hand, was very similar to the controls except they made more unclear references that were difficult to interpret. Implications of these findings for understanding the communicative failure of subjects with pervasive developmental disorder are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, C., & Bishop, D. V. M. (1989). Conversational characteristics of children with semantic-pragmatic disorder. I: Exchange structure, turntaking, repairs and cohesion.British Journal of Disorders of Communication, 24, 211–239.
American Psychiatric Association. (1980).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Baltaxe, C. A. M., & D'Angiola, N. (1992). Cohesion in the discourse interaction of autistic, specifically language-impaired and normal children.Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 22, 1–21.
Baron-Cohen, S. (1988). Social and pragmatic deficits in autism: cognitive or affective?Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 18, 379–402.
Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A., Frith, U. (1985). Does the autistic child have a ‘theory of mind’?Cognition, 21, 37–46.
Bartolucci, G., & Fine, J. (1987). The frequency of cohesion weakness in psychiatric syndromes.Applied Psycholinguistics, 8, 67–74.
Bartolucci, G., & Pierce, S. J. (1977). A preliminary comparison of phonological development in autistic, normal, and mentally retarded subjects.British Journal of Disorders of Communication, 12, 137–147.
Bartolucci, G., Pierce, S. J., & Streiner, D. L. (1980). Cross-sectional studies of grammatical morphemes in autistic and mentally retarded children.Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 10, 39–50.
Bartolucci, G., Pierce, S. J., Streiner, D. L., & Eppel, P. T. (1976). Phonological investigation of verbal autistic and mentally retarded subjects.Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 6, 303–316.
Boucher, J. (1976). Is autism primarily a language disorder?British Journal of Disorders of Communication, 11, 135–143.
Fine. J. (in press).How language works: Cohesion in normal and nonstandard communication. Norwood NJ: Ablex.
Fine, J., & Bartolucci, G. (1981). Cohesion and retrieval categories in normal and disturbed communication: A methodological note.Discourse Process, 4, 267–270.
Fine, J., Bartolucci, G., Ginsberg, G., & Szatmari, P. (1991). The use of intonation to communicate in pervasive developmental disorders.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 771–782.
Flavell, J. H., Botkin, R. T., Fry, C. L., Wright, J. W., & Jarvis, B. W. (1968).The development of role-taking and communication skills in children. New York: Wiley.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1985).An introduction to functional grammar. London: Edward Arnold.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1976).Cohesion in English. London: Longman.
Harvey, P. D., Earle-Boyer, E. A., & Levlinson, J. C. (1986). Distractibility and discourse failure: their association in mania and schizophrenia.Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 174, 274–279.
Nagy, J., & Szatmari, P. (1986). A chart review of schizotypal personality disorders in children.Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 16, 351–367.
Pierce, S. J., & Bartolucci, G. (1977). A syntactic investigation of verbal autistic, mentally retarded and normal children.Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 7, 121–134.
Reich, W., Herjanic, B., Welner, Z., & Grandley, P. R. (1982). Development of a structured psychiatric interview for children: Agreement on diagnosis comparing parent and child interviews.Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 10, 325–336.
Rochester, S. R., & Martin, J. R. (1977). The art of referring: The Speaker's use of noun phrases to instruct the listener. In R. O. Freedle (Ed.),Discourse production and comprehension. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Rochester, S. R., & Martin, J. R. (1979).Crazy talk. New York: Plenum Press.
Szatmari, P. (1992). The validity of autistic spectrum disorders.Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 22, 583–600, 1992.
Szatmari, P., Bartolucci, G., & Bremner, R. (1989). Asperger's syndrome and autism: Comparisons on early history and outcome.Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 31, 709–720.
Szatmari, P., Bartolucci, G., Bremner, R., Bond, S., & Rich, S. (1989). A follow-up study of high functioning autistic children.Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19, 213–225.
Szatmari, P., Bremner, R., & Nagy, J. (1989). Asperger's syndrome: A review of clinical features.Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 34, 554–560.
Tager-Flusberg, H. (1985). Psycholinguistic approaches to language and communication in autism. In E. Schopler & G. Mesibov (Eds.),Communication problems in autism. New York: Plenum Press.
Ulatowska, F. C., Hagaski, M. M., Cannito, M. P., & Fleming, S. G., (1986). Disruption of reference in aging.Brain and Language, 28, 24–41.
Wing, L. (1981). Asperger's syndrome: A clinical account.Psychological Medicine, 11: 115–130.
World Health Organization. (1992).ICD-10. Classification of mental and behavioral disorders, Clinical description and diagnostic guidelines. Geneva: Author.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This work was supported by funds from the Medical Research Council of Canada. Dr. Szatmari was supported by an award from the Ontario Mental Health Foundation.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fine, J., Bartolucci, G., Szatmari, P. et al. Cohesive discourse in pervasive developmental disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 24, 315–329 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02172230
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02172230