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Eye Tracking Young Children with Autism
Published on: March 27, 2012
Executive functions in young children with autism
E M Griffith1, B F Pennington, E A Wehner
1Department of Psychology, University of Denver, CO 80208, USA. egriffit@nova.psy.du.edu
Child Development
|August 14, 1999
Summary
Executive dysfunction is not consistently observed in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Studies found no differences in executive function tasks, challenging the prevailing hypothesis in this age group.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Research
Background:
- The executive dysfunction hypothesis suggests core autism deficits stem from impaired executive functions.
- Previous research primarily focused on older individuals, yielding consistent findings.
- Studies involving young children with autism have produced conflicting results regarding executive function.
- This research investigates executive function in preschoolers with autism.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare executive function task performance between preschoolers with autism and neurotypical controls.
- To examine longitudinal changes in executive function over one year in young children with autism.
- To challenge or support the executive dysfunction hypothesis in early childhood autism.
Main Methods:
- Two studies were conducted comparing preschoolers with autism (mean age 51 months) to age-, verbal-, and nonverbal-matched controls.
- Study 1 assessed 18 children with autism and 17 controls on 8 executive function tasks.
- Study 2 longitudinally assessed a subset (13 autism, 11 control) on the Spatial Reversal task over one year.
Main Results:
- No significant group differences were found in performance on 8 executive function tasks in Study 1.
- Children with autism initiated fewer joint attention and social interaction behaviors.
- No significant changes in Spatial Reversal task performance were observed in either group over one year in Study 2.
Conclusions:
- The findings challenge the executive dysfunction hypothesis of autism in young children.
- Executive function may not be the primary deficit underlying autism in preschoolers.
- Further research is needed to understand the developmental trajectory of executive functions in autism.
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