Brief report: memory performance on the California verbal learning test - children's version in Autism spectrum...

According to the Task Support Hypothesis (TSH; Bowler et al. in Neuropsychologia 35:65-70, 1997) individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) perform more similarly to their typically developing peers on learning and memory tasks when provided with external support at retrieval. We administered the California Verbal Learning Test-Children's Version to 15 high-functioning youths with ASD and 15 matched comparison participants. Although ASD and comparison participants had comparable levels of overall performance, the ASD group, but not the comparison group, improved significantly from free to cued recall, providing support for the TSH. These results indicate that verbal memory performance in youths with ASD is relatively intact, but may be facilitated by external supports.