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Updated: Aug 14, 2025

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism
Published on: October 3, 2018
To What Extent is the Contribution of Language to Learning via Instructions Modulated by the Expression of Autism
Félice van 't Wout1, Christopher Jarrold2
1University of Exeter, Perry Road, Prince of Wales Road, EX4 4QG, Exeter, UK. f.m.van-t-wout@exeter.ac.uk.
Abstract:
Language plays a fundamental role in enabling flexible, goal-directed behaviour. This study investigated whether the contribution of language to instruction encoding is modulated by the expression of autism traits, as measured by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (ASQ) questionnaire. Participants (N = 108) completed six choice reaction time tasks, with each task consisting of six stimulus-response mappings. During an instruction phase preceding each task, participants performed either a verbal, non-verbal or no distractor task. Participants made more errors in the verbal distractor task condition, but this detrimental effect did not differ significantly between the high (top 33%) and low (bottom 33%) ASQ groups. Hence, the contribution of language to instruction encoding does not appear to be modulated by the expression of autism traits.
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