Lexical Processing in Toddlers with ASD: Does Weak Central Coherence Play a Role?

This study investigated whether vocabulary delays in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) can be explained by a cognitive style that prioritizes processing of detailed, local features of input over global contextual integration-as claimed by the weak central coherence (WCC) theory. Thirty t...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders Vol. 46; no. 12; pp. 3755 - 3770
Autores principales: Ellis Weismer, Susan, Haebig, Eileen, Edwards, Jan, Saffran, Jenny, Venker, Courtney
Formato: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Springer Nature Dec2016
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:This study investigated whether vocabulary delays in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) can be explained by a cognitive style that prioritizes processing of detailed, local features of input over global contextual integration-as claimed by the weak central coherence (WCC) theory. Thirty toddlers with ASD and 30 younger, cognition-matched typical controls participated in a looking-while-listening task that assessed whether perceptual or semantic similarities among named images disrupted word recognition relative to a neutral condition. Overlap of perceptual features invited local processing whereas semantic overlap invited global processing. With the possible exception of a subset of toddlers who had very low vocabulary skills, these results provide no evidence that WCC is characteristic of lexical processing in toddlers with ASD.