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Category Formation in Autism: Can Individuals with Autism Form Categories and Prototypes of Dot Patterns?

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Abstract

There is a growing amount of evidence suggesting that individuals with autism have difficulty with categorization. One basic cognitive ability that may underlie this difficulty is the ability to abstract a prototype. The current study examined prototype and category formation with dot patterns in high-functioning adults with autism and matched controls. Individuals with autism were found to have difficulty forming prototypes and categories of dot patterns. The eye-tracking data did not reveal any between group differences in attention to the dot patterns. However, relationships between performance and intelligence in the autism group suggest possible processing differences between the groups. Results are consistent with previous studies that have found deficits in prototype formation and extend these deficits to dot patterns.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by NIH/NICHD HD055748 and PA Department of Health SAP # 4100047862. The results presented here were submitted by Holly Zajac Gastgeb as part of her Ph.D. dissertation (Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh). We are grateful to Dr. Catherine Best, Dr. Keiran Rump, Sarah Hannigen, Desirée Wilkinson, Sara Green, and Kao-Wei Chua for testing participants involved in the current study and Dr. Carla Mazefsky for commenting on prior versions of the manuscript.

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  1. Holly Zajac Gastgeb

    Present address: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Webster Hall—Suite 300, 3811 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Holly Zajac Gastgeb & Mark S. Strauss

  2. Department of Psychology, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Eva M. Dundas

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Webster Hall—Suite 300, 3811 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Nancy J. Minshew

Authors
  1. Holly Zajac Gastgeb
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  2. Eva M. Dundas
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  3. Nancy J. Minshew
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  4. Mark S. Strauss
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Correspondence to Holly Zajac Gastgeb.

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Gastgeb, H.Z., Dundas, E.M., Minshew, N.J. et al. Category Formation in Autism: Can Individuals with Autism Form Categories and Prototypes of Dot Patterns?. J Autism Dev Disord 42, 1694–1704 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1411-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1411-x

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