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Papastamou F, Dumont C, Destrebecqz A, Kissine M. Predictive Processing During Cue-Outcome Associative Learning in Autistic Children. J Autism Dev Disord 2024:10.1007/s10803-024-06448-6. [PMID: 38951312 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-024-06448-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/03/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE Predictive coding theories posit that autism is characterized by an over-adjustment to prediction errors, resulting in frequent updates of prior beliefs. Atypical weighting of prediction errors is generally considered to negatively impact the construction of stable models of the world, but may also yield beneficial effects. In a novel associative learning paradigm, we investigated whether unexpected events trigger faster learning updates in favour of subtle but fully predictive cues in autistic children compared to their non-autistic counterparts. We also explored the relationship between children's language proficiency and their predictive performances. METHODS Anticipatory fixations and explicit predictions were recorded during three associative learning tasks with deterministic or probabilistic contingencies. One of the probabilistic tasks was designed so that a fully predictive but subtle cue was overshadowed by a less predictive salient one. RESULTS Both autistic and non-autistic children based their learning on the salient cue, and, contrary to our predictions, showed no signs of updating in favour of the subtle cue. While both groups demonstrated associative learning, autistic children made less accurate explicit predictions than their non-autistic peers in all tasks. Explicit prediction performances were positively correlated with language proficiency in non-autistic children, but no such correlation was observed in autistic children. CONCLUSION These results suggest no over-adjustment to prediction errors in autistic children and highlight the need to control for general performance in cue-outcome associative learning in predictive processing studies. Further research is needed to explore the nature of the relationship between predictive processing and language development in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fanny Papastamou
- | F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique Fondation d'utilité publique, Rue d'Egmont 5, Brussels, B-1000, Belgium.
- CRCN, Université libre de Bruxelles, 50 avenue F.D. Roosevelt, Brussels, CP 175, 1050, Belgium.
| | - Charlotte Dumont
- | F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique Fondation d'utilité publique, Rue d'Egmont 5, Brussels, B-1000, Belgium
- CRCN, Université libre de Bruxelles, 50 avenue F.D. Roosevelt, Brussels, CP 175, 1050, Belgium
| | - Arnaud Destrebecqz
- CRCN, Université libre de Bruxelles, 50 avenue F.D. Roosevelt, Brussels, CP 175, 1050, Belgium
| | - Mikhail Kissine
- | F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique Fondation d'utilité publique, Rue d'Egmont 5, Brussels, B-1000, Belgium
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Horvath S, Arunachalam S. Assessing receptive verb knowledge in late talkers and autistic children: advances and cautionary tales. J Neurodev Disord 2023; 15:44. [PMID: 38087233 PMCID: PMC10717976 DOI: 10.1186/s11689-023-09512-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Using eye-tracking, we assessed the receptive verb vocabularies of age-matched late talkers and typically developing children (experiment 1) and autistic preschoolers (experiment 2). We evaluated how many verbs participants knew and how quickly they processed the linguistic prompt. Our goal is to explore how these eye-gaze measures can be operationalized to capture verb knowledge in late talkers and autistic children. METHOD Participants previewed two dynamic scenes side-by-side (e.g., "stretching" and "clapping") and were then prompted to find the target verb's referent. Children's eye-gaze behaviors were operationalized using established approaches in the field with modifications in consideration for the type of stimuli (dynamic scenes versus static images) and the populations included. Accuracy was calculated as a proportion of time spent looking to the target, and linguistic processing was operationalized as latency of children's first look to the target. RESULTS In experiment 1, there were no group differences in the proportion of verbs known, but late talkers required longer to demonstrate their knowledge than typically developing children. Latency was predicted by age but not language abilities. In experiment 2, autistic children's accuracy and latency were both predicted by receptive language abilities. CONCLUSION Eye gaze can be used to assess receptive verb vocabulary in a variety of populations, but in operationalizing gaze behavior, we must account for between- and within-group differences. Bootstrapped cluster-permutation analysis is one way to create individualized measures of children's gaze behavior, but more research is warranted using an individual differences approach with this type of analysis.
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Huettig F, Voeten CC, Pascual E, Liang J, Hintz F. Do autistic children differ in language-mediated prediction? Cognition 2023; 239:105571. [PMID: 37516086 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/31/2023]
Abstract
Prediction appears to be an important characteristic of the human mind. It has also been suggested that prediction is a core difference of autistic1 children. Past research exploring language-mediated anticipatory eye movements in autistic children, however, has been somewhat contradictory, with some studies finding normal anticipatory processing in autistic children with low levels of autistic traits but others observing weaker prediction effects in autistic children with less receptive language skills. Here we investigated language-mediated anticipatory eye movements in young children who differed in the severity of their level of autistic traits and were in professional institutional care in Hangzhou, China. We chose the same spoken sentences (translated into Mandarin Chinese) and visual stimuli as a previous study which observed robust prediction effects in young children (Mani & Huettig, 2012) and included a control group of typically-developing children. Typically developing but not autistic children showed robust prediction effects. Most interestingly, autistic children with lower communication, motor, and (adaptive) behavior scores exhibited both less predictive and non-predictive visual attention behavior. Our results raise the possibility that differences in language-mediated anticipatory eye movements in autistic children with higher levels of autistic traits may be differences in visual attention in disguise, a hypothesis that needs further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Falk Huettig
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
| | - Cesko C Voeten
- University of Pennsylvania, Department of Linguistics, Philadelphia, PA, USA; University of Pennsylvania, Department of Biology, Philadelphia, PA, USA; University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Fryske Akademy, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands
| | - Esther Pascual
- Institute of Linguistics, Shanghai International Studies University, China
| | | | - Florian Hintz
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Phillipps University, Marburg, Germany
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LaTourrette A, Waxman S, Wakschlag LS, Norton ES, Weisleder A. From Recognizing Known Words to Learning New Ones: Comparing Online Speech Processing in Typically Developing and Late-Talking 2-Year-Olds. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2023; 66:1658-1677. [PMID: 36989138 PMCID: PMC10457094 DOI: 10.1044/2023_jslhr-22-00580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Revised: 12/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE This study examines online speech processing in typically developing and late-talking 2-year-old children, comparing both groups' word recognition, word prediction, and word learning. METHOD English-acquiring U.S. children, from the "When to Worry" study of language and social-emotional development, were identified as typical talkers (n = 67, M age = 27.0 months, SD = 1.4; Study 1) or late talkers (n = 30, M age = 27.0 months, SD = 2.0; Study 2). Children completed an eye-tracking task assessing their ability to recognize both nouns and verbs, to use verbs to predict an upcoming noun's referent, and to use verbs to infer the meaning of novel nouns. RESULTS Both typical and late talkers recognized nouns and verbs and used familiar verbs to predict the referents of upcoming nouns, whether the noun was familiar ("You can eat the apple") or novel ("You can eat the dax"). Late talkers were slower in using familiar nouns to orient to the target and were both slower and less accurate in using familiar verbs to identify the upcoming noun's referent. Notably, however, both groups learned and retained novel word meanings with similar success. CONCLUSIONS Late talkers demonstrated slower lexical processing, especially for verbs. Yet, their success in using familiar verbs to learn novel nouns suggests that, as a group, their slower processing did not impair word learning in this task. This sets the foundation for future work investigating whether these measures predict later language outcomes and can differentiate late talkers with transient delays from those with language disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sandra Waxman
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
| | - Lauren S. Wakschlag
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
- Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
| | - Elizabeth S. Norton
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
- Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
| | - Adriana Weisleder
- Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
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5
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He AX, Luyster RJ, Arunachalam S. Parental tuning of language input to autistic and nonspectrum children. Front Psychol 2022; 13:954983. [PMID: 36211865 PMCID: PMC9537044 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.954983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Caregivers’ language input supports children’s language development, and it is often tuned to the child’s current level of skill. Evidence suggests that parental input is tuned to accommodate children’s expressive language levels, but accommodation to receptive language abilities is less understood. In particular, little is known about parental sensitivity to children’s abilities to process language in real time. Compared to nonspectrum children, children on the spectrum are slower to process language. In this study, we ask: Do parents of autistic children and those of nonspectrum children tune their language input to accommodate children’s different language processing abilities? Children with and without a diagnosis of autism (ages 2–6 years, N = 35) and their parents viewed a display of six images, one of which was the target. The parent labeled the target to direct the child’s attention to it. We first examined children’s language processing abilities by assessing their latencies to shift gaze to the labeled referent; from this, we found slower latencies in the autistic group than in the nonspectrum group, in line with previous findings. We then examined features of parents’ language and found that parents in both groups produced similar language, suggesting that parents may not adjust their language input according to children’s speed of language processing. This finding suggests that (1) capturing parental sensitivity to children’s receptive language, and specifically language processing, may enrich our models of individual differences in language input, and (2) future work should investigate if supporting caregivers in tuning their language use according to children’s language processing can improve children’s language outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela Xiaoxue He
- Department of English and Literature, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Rhiannon J. Luyster
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Emerson College, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Sudha Arunachalam
- Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, New York University, New York, NY, United States
- *Correspondence: Sudha Arunachalam,
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6
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Ellis Weismer S, Saffran JR. Differences in Prediction May Underlie Language Disorder in Autism. Front Psychol 2022; 13:897187. [PMID: 35756305 PMCID: PMC9221834 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.897187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Language delay is often one of the first concerns of parents of toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and early language abilities predict broader outcomes for children on the autism spectrum. Yet, mechanisms underlying language deficits in autistic children remain underspecified. One prominent component of linguistic behavior is the use of predictions or expectations during learning and processing. Several researcher teams have posited prediction deficit accounts of ASD. The basic assumption of the prediction accounts is that information is processed by making predictions and testing violations against expectations (prediction errors). Flexible (neurotypical) brains attribute differential weights to prediction errors to determine when new learning is appropriate, while autistic individuals are thought to assign disproportionate weight to prediction errors. According to some views, these prediction deficits are hypothesized to lead to higher levels of perceived novelty, resulting in “hyperplasticity” of learning based on the most recent input. In this article, we adopt the perspective that it would be useful to investigate whether language deficits in children with ASD can be attributed to atypical domain-general prediction processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Ellis Weismer
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States.,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Jenny R Saffran
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States.,Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States
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Ai W, Cunningham WA, Lai MC. Reconsidering autistic ‘camouflaging’ as transactional impression management. Trends Cogn Sci 2022; 26:631-645. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2022] [Revised: 05/02/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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8
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Andreou G, Raxioni K. Language development, reading and word learning in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): a review on eye tracking studies. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2022; 70:2-19. [PMID: 38456140 PMCID: PMC10916904 DOI: 10.1080/20473869.2021.2024404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 12/16/2021] [Indexed: 03/09/2024]
Abstract
Objectives: The purpose of this article is to review research that has been conducted over the past five years on language development, reading skills and word learning with the use of the eye tracking machine as regards the population with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in comparison to typically developed population. Materials and methods: A combination of relevant terms from Google Scholar, Research Gate and PsychINFO databases was used and as a result 24 studies emerged. The total number of studies that met the inclusion criteria was 21. Results: Studies focusing on the language development of people with ASD have presented significant findings regarding vocabulary processing and the preferential focus on specific stimuli (images, audio) over a wide range of ages that in some cases have not been investigated until then. Furthermore, studies on reading have found that adults with ASD showed a strong preference for images and symbols over texts, longer reading time and performances similar to the typical population in vocabulary processing. Studies on word learning demonstrated that adults with ASD are able to rely on gaze cues in order to learn a new word and they have the ability to use syntactic bootstrapping. For preschool and early school-aged children with ASD the results showed that they are capable of cross-situational learning. Conclusions: This review provides information on the effectiveness of the eye tracking method as a tool that can contribute to the identification of deficits in language processing on the part of individuals with ASD from early childhood to adulthood, and more specifically as regards the domains of language development, reading and word learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgia Andreou
- Department of Special Education, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece
| | - Katerina Raxioni
- Department of Special Education, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece
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9
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Prescott KE, Mathée-Scott J, Reuter T, Edwards J, Saffran J, Ellis Weismer S. Predictive language processing in young autistic children. Autism Res 2022; 15:892-903. [PMID: 35142078 PMCID: PMC9090958 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Revised: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Recent theories propose that domain-general deficits in prediction (i.e., the ability to anticipate upcoming information) underlie the behavioral characteristics associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). If these theories are correct, autistic children might be expected to demonstrate difficulties on linguistic tasks that rely on predictive processing. Previous research has largely focused on older autistic children and adolescents with average language and cognition. The present study used an eye-gaze task to evaluate predictive language processing among 3- to 4-year-old autistic children (n = 34) and 1.5- to 3-year-old, language-matched neurotypical (NT) children (n = 34). Children viewed images (e.g., a cake and a ball) and heard sentences with informative verbs (e.g., Eat the cake) or neutral verbs (e.g., Find the cake). Analyses of children's looking behaviors indicated that young autistic children, like their language-matched NT peers, engaged in predictive language processing. Regression results revealed a significant effect of diagnostic group, when statistically controlling for age differences. The NT group displayed larger difference scores between the informative and neutral verb conditions (in looks to target nouns) compared to the ASD group. Receptive language measures were predictive of looking behavior across time for both groups, such that children with stronger language skills were more efficient in making use of informative verbs to process upcoming information. Taken together, these results suggest that young autistic children can engage in predictive processing though further research is warranted to explore the developmental trajectory relative to NT development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn E Prescott
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.,Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Janine Mathée-Scott
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.,Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Tracy Reuter
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Jan Edwards
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, Maryland, USA.,Maryland Language Science Center, University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Jenny Saffran
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Susan Ellis Weismer
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.,Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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10
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Stark E, Stacey J, Mandy W, Kringelbach ML, Happé F. Autistic Cognition: Charting Routes to Anxiety. Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 25:571-581. [PMID: 33958281 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Revised: 03/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Conditions are typified by a divergence in cognitive style from that of the non-autistic population. Cognitive differences in autism may underlie significant strengths, but also increase vulnerability to psychopathology such as anxiety, which is a major problem for many autistic people. Many autistic people also do not respond to typical psychotherapeutic interventions, suggesting that autism-specific models and interventions are needed. We advance a theoretical model explaining how three constructs, attenuated predictions, intolerance of uncertainty, and 'black and white thinking', may interact to lead to anxiety in autism. We hope to start a dialogue surrounding how we can best address specific autistic cognitive differences that may lead to distress by developing appropriate models, measurements, and psychotherapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eloise Stark
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Health National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK.
| | - James Stacey
- Oxford Health National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK
| | - Will Mandy
- Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, UK
| | - Morten L Kringelbach
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Francesca Happé
- Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
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11
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Vulchanova M, Chahboun S, Galindo-Prieto B, Vulchanov V. Gaze and Motor Traces of Language Processing: Evidence from Autism Spectrum Disorders in Comparison to Typical Controls. Cogn Neuropsychol 2019; 36:383-409. [PMID: 31434524 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2019.1652155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
We investigated what strategies underlie figurative language processing in two groups of participants distinguished by the presence of a developmental deficit, highly-verbal participants with autism, and control participants without autism in two age ranges each. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder are characterised by impaired social interaction and communication. Even at the high end of the spectrum, where structural language is adequate, difficulties in comprehending non-literal aspects of language are widely attested. The exact causes of these problems are, however, still open to debate. In an interactive sentence-picture matching task participants selected the most suitable image representation of a non-literal figurative expression that matched the target meaning, while their eye-movements and hand movements were being tracked. Our results suggest that individuals with ASD have different processing patterns than typically developing peers when interpreting figurative language, even when they provide the correct answers. Both children with and without autism, and participants with autism display greater uncertainty and competition between alternatives when providing the answer, often reflected in also considering the literal interpretation of the expression against its target figurative meaning. We provide evidence that expression transparency and decomposability play a central role in figurative language processing across all groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mila Vulchanova
- Language Acquisition and Language Processing Lab, Department of Language and Literature, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
| | - Sobh Chahboun
- Department of Pedagogy, Queen Maud University College, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Beatriz Galindo-Prieto
- Idletechs AS, Trondheim, Norway.,Department of Engineering Cybernetics (ITK), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway.,Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM), Cornell University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Valentin Vulchanov
- Language Acquisition and Language Processing Lab, Department of Language and Literature, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
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12
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Su YE, Naigles LR. Online Processing of Subject-Verb-Object Order in a Diverse Sample of Mandarin-Exposed Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism Res 2019; 12:1829-1844. [PMID: 31402597 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2019] [Revised: 06/15/2019] [Accepted: 07/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Grammatical comprehension remains a strength in English-exposed young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet limited research has investigated how preschool children with ASD process grammatical structures in real time, in any language. Using the eye-movement measures of Intermodal Preferential Looking, we assessed online processing of subject-verb-object (SVO) order in seventy 2- to 5-year-old children with ASD exposed to Mandarin Chinese across the spectrum, whose vocabulary production scores were dramatically delayed compared with the typical controls. With this Mandarin-exposed sample, we tested the extent to which children with ASD require (a) highly consistent input and/or (b) good discourse/pragmatics for acquiring grammatical structures. Children viewed side-by-side videos depicting reversible actions (e.g., a bird pushing a horse vs. a horse pushing a bird), and heard an audio matching only one of those actions; their eyegaze to each video was coded and analyzed. Both typically developing children and children with ASD demonstrated comprehension of SVO word order, suggesting that core grammatical structures such as basic word order may be preserved in children with ASD across languages despite radical differences in language environment, social/pragmatic abilities, and neurological organization. However, children with ASD were less efficient in online sentence processing than typical children, and the efficiency of their online sentence processing was related to their standardized language assessment scores. Of note is that across both Mandarin Chinese and English, some proportion of minimally verbal children with ASD exhibited SVO comprehension despite their profoundly impaired expressive language skills. Autism Res 2019, 12: 1829-1844. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Grammar is a strength in the language comprehension of young English learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Eye-movement data from a diverse sample of Chinese preschoolers with ASD indicated similar grammatical strength of basic word order in Chinese (e.g., to understand sentences like "The bird is pushing the horse"). Moreover, children's proficiency of sentence processing was related to their language assessment scores. Across languages, such knowledge is even spared in some minimally verbal children with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Esther Su
- Child Language Lab, School of Foreign Languages, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Letitia R Naigles
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Mansfield, Connecticut
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13
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Howard PL, Zhang L, Benson V. What Can Eye Movements Tell Us about Subtle Cognitive Processing Differences in Autism? Vision (Basel) 2019; 3:E22. [PMID: 31735823 PMCID: PMC6802779 DOI: 10.3390/vision3020022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2019] [Revised: 05/15/2019] [Accepted: 05/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is neurodevelopmental condition principally characterised by impairments in social interaction and communication, and repetitive behaviours and interests. This article reviews the eye movement studies designed to investigate the underlying sampling or processing differences that might account for the principal characteristics of autism. Following a brief summary of a previous review chapter by one of the authors of the current paper, a detailed review of eye movement studies investigating various aspects of processing in autism over the last decade will be presented. The literature will be organised into sections covering different cognitive components, including language and social communication and interaction studies. The aim of the review will be to show how eye movement studies provide a very useful on-line processing measure, allowing us to account for observed differences in behavioural data (accuracy and reaction times). The subtle processing differences that eye movement data reveal in both language and social processing have the potential to impact in the everyday communication domain in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philippa L Howard
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth BH12 5BB, UK
| | - Li Zhang
- Academy of Psychology and Behaviour, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300074, China
| | - Valerie Benson
- School of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston PR1 2HE, UK
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