01-02-2013 | Original Paper
Individuals with Asperger’s Disorder Exhibit Difficulty in Switching Attention from a Local Level to a Global Level
Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | Uitgave 2/2013
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The purpose of the present study was to determine whether individuals with Asperger’s disorder exhibit difficulty in switching attention from a local level to a global level. Eleven participants with Asperger’s disorder and 11 age- and gender-matched healthy controls performed a level-repetition switching task using Navon-type hierarchical stimuli. In both groups, level-repetition was beneficial at both levels. Furthermore, individuals with Asperger’s disorder exhibited difficulty in switching attention from a local level to a global level compared to control individuals. These findings suggested that there is a problem with the inhibitory mechanism that influences the output of enhanced local visual processing in Asperger’s disorder.