Development of autobiographical memory in children with autism spectrum disorders: Deficits, gains, and predictors of performance

Episodic memory impairment and its influencing factors in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: systematic review and meta-analysis

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are considered to experience difficulties with episodic memory (EM), while studies on EM in ASD have shown inconsistent results. A meta-analysis of 65 episodic memory studies with a combined sample size of 1652 individuals with ASD and 1626 typically developing individuals was conducted to analyze factors that may affect EM in ASD. The results showed that ASD had a significant medium to large effect size decrease in EM ability. Age period, task type, and reporting method significantly reduced the observed heterogeneity while EM type did not reduce the observed heterogeneity. The results of the meta-regression revealed that it was verbal IQ rather than full-scale IQ that was significantly correlated with EM in individuals with ASD. These findings suggest that individuals with ASD have reduced EM abilities and the potential factors is still needed to be explored.

Specificity of Episodic Future Thinking in Adolescents: Comparing Childhood Maltreatment, Autism Spectrum, and Typical Development

Maltreatment and autism can be associated with overlapping difficulties across functional domains (e.g., social, emotional, and sensory) and high rates of mental health problems. A cognitive approach focussing on affect-laden cognition, here on episodic future thinking (FT), could help inform cognitive assessments and adapt psychological interventions. Three groups of adolescents (N = 85), (i) maltreatment (n = 28), (ii) autism (n = 29), and (iii) typical development without maltreatment/autism (TD; n = 28), matched in age (10-16 years old), sex (assigned at birth), and socioeconomic status, completed a newly adapted online Autobiographical Future Thinking Test. As predicted, the maltreatment group generated significantly fewer specific future events relative to the TD group, however, the number of specific future events did not significantly differ between the autism and the other groups. Exploratory analyses showed that lower FT specificity was significantly associated with more depressive (but not anxiety) symptoms across the three groups. These findings shed light on the cognitive profiles of both maltreatment and autism during adolescence and signal FT as a potential therapeutic target for adolescents with these developmental differences. Our study lays the foundation for additional comparisons of maltreatment-related presentations versus autism with improved designs and a broader set of cognitive and clinical domains.

A meta-analysis of cognitive flexibility in autism spectrum disorder

Cognitive flexibility is a fundamental process that underlies adaptive behaviour in response to environmental change. Studies examining the profile of cognitive flexibility in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have reported inconsistent findings. To address whether difficulties with cognitive flexibility are characteristic of autism, we conducted a random-effects meta-analysis and employed subgroup analyses and meta-regression to assess the impact of relevant moderator variables such as task, outcomes, and age. Fifty-nine studies were included and comprised of 2122 autistic individuals without intellectual disabilities and 2036 neurotypical controls, with an age range of 4 to 85 years. The results showed that autistic individuals have greater difficulties with cognitive flexibility, with an overall statistically significant small to moderate effect size. Subgroup analyses revealed a significant difference between task outcomes, with perseverative errors obtaining the largest effect size. In summary, the present meta-analysis highlights the existence of cognitive flexibility difficulties in autistic people, in the absence of learning disabilities, but also that this profile is characterised by substantial heterogeneity. Potential contributing factors are discussed.

Atypical Semantic Fluency and Recall in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders Associated with Autism Symptoms and Adaptive Functioning

It is unclear whether children with autism spectrum disorders have atypical semantic fluency and lower memory for the semantics of words. Therefore, we examined semantic typicality, fluency and recall for the categories of fruits and animals in 60 children with autism aged 7-15 years (boys: 48/girls: 12) compared to 60 typically developing controls. Relative to controls, the autism group had reduced animal fluency, fruit typicality and recall for fruits. Notably, these measures were associated with more autistic-like symptoms and/or lower adaptive functioning across the autism and control groups. In conclusion, atypical semantics of fruits in the autism group may reflect development of idiosyncratic semantic networks while their lower semantic fluency and recall suggest impaired executive language functions.

Nature and Effects of Autobiographical Memory Issues in Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorders

This comprehensive thematic review focuses on autobiographical memory (AM) in individuals with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with the overarching aim of informing and instructing stakeholders on this important memory structure that is often compromised in individuals with ASD. Accordingly, articles that best address the theme were selected from legitimate publishers with prime peer-reviewed journals. ASD is recognized as a neurodevelopmental disorder, often impacting on many aspects of language, cognitive, and social-emotional development. Considerable research has documented the problems children and adults with ASD frequently exhibit in language and its offshoots, the development of executive function, and theory of mind or the ability to reflect on the thoughts and feelings of self and others. These studies resulted in numerous assessments and intervention strategies designed to target the noted issues, among them problems with AM. Specialists in a variety of medical, psychological, and educational fields are exploring the nature and development of AM across the lifespan and the effects of AM weaknesses on cognitive and social-emotional factors such as self-regulation, social interactions, and self-identity. Researchers are reporting on the nature of AM deficits in persons with ASD and how AM deficits interact with or may explain other difficulties exhibited by these persons, but to date, little of this research has been incorporated into assessment and intervention strategies for persons with ASD. The aims of this article are to: 1. Describe the nature of AM, 2. Expound on assessments of AM, 3. Explain the effects of deficits in AMs on the personal narratives, self-regulation, and self-identity of persons with ASD, and 4. Explore intervention strategies to facilitate AM and the abilities of persons with ASD to tell coherent personal narratives.

A Meta-analysis of Mental Time Travel in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are associated with cognitive dysfunctions, including mental time travel (MTT). However, findings on diminished MTT ability may be confounded by a number of factors, including the individuals' language ability, factors related to the MTT task and the demographic factors of participants. The present study provided a meta-analysis of MTT ability in people with ASD. The results showed significant overall reductions in MTT ability in people with ASD. Moderator analyses revealed that the variables examined did not explain the reduction in MTT ability. These findings suggest that MTT ability is diminished in people with ASD and that the degree of this diminishment may not depend on the characteristics of measures or demographic variables of people with ASD.

Inhibitory Control in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Meta-analyses on Indirect and Direct Measures

This manuscript aimed to advance our understanding of inhibitory control (IC) in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), adopting a meta-analytic multilevel approach. The first meta-analysis, on 164 studies adopting direct measures, indicated a significant small-to-medium (g = 0.484) deficit in the group with ASD (n = 5140) compared with controls (n = 6075). Similar effect sizes between response inhibition and interference control were found, but they were differentially affected by intellectual functioning and age. The second meta-analysis, on 24 studies using indirect measures, revealed a large deficit (g = 1.334) in the group with ASD (n = 985) compared with controls (n = 1300). Presentation format, intellectual functioning, and age were significant moderators. The effect of comorbidity with ADHD was not statistically significant. Implications are discussed for IC research and practice in autism.

Hippocampal gamma and sharp-wave ripple oscillations are altered in a Cntnap2 mouse model of autism spectrum disorder

Impaired synaptic neurotransmission may underly circuit alterations contributing to behavioral autism spectrum disorder (ASD) phenotypes. A critical component of impairments reported in somatosensory and prefrontal cortex of ASD mouse models are parvalbumin (PV)-expressing fast-spiking interneurons. However, it remains unknown whether PV interneurons mediating hippocampal networks crucial to navigation and memory processing are similarly impaired. Using PV-labeled transgenic mice, a battery of behavioral assays, in vitro patch-clamp electrophysiology, and in vivo 32-channel silicon probe local field potential recordings, we address this question in a Cntnap2-null mutant mouse model representing a human ASD risk factor gene. Cntnap2-/- mice show a reduction in hippocampal PV interneuron density, reduced inhibitory input to CA1 pyramidal cells, deficits in spatial discrimination ability, and frequency-dependent circuit changes within the hippocampus, including alterations in gamma oscillations, sharp-wave ripples, and theta-gamma modulation. Our findings highlight hippocampal involvement in ASD and implicate interneurons as a potential therapeutical target.

Intact context memory performance in adults with autism spectrum disorder

Research on memory in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) finds increased difficulty encoding contextual associations in episodic memory and suggests executive dysfunction (e.g., selective attention, cognitive flexibility) and deficient metacognitive monitoring as potential contributing factors. Findings from our lab suggest that age-related impairments in selective attention contribute to those in context memory accuracy and older adults tended to show dependence in context memory accuracy between relevant and irrelevant context details (i.e., hyper-binding). Using an aging framework, we tested the effects of selective attention on context memory in a sample of 23 adults with ASD and 23 typically developed adults. Participants studied grayscale objects flanked by two types of contexts (color, scene) on opposing sides and were told to attend to only one object-context relationship, ignoring the other context. At test, participants made object and context recognition decisions and judgment of confidence decisions allowing for an evaluation of context memory performance, hyper-binding, and metacognitive performance for context judgments in a single task. Results showed that adults with ASD performed similarly to typically developed adults on all measures. These findings suggest that context memory performance is not always disrupted in adults with ASD, even when demands on selective attention are high. We discuss the need for continued research to evaluate episodic memory in a wider variety of adults with ASD.

Supporting autistic adults' episodic memory recall in interviews: The role of executive functions, theory of mind, and language abilities

Autistic people have difficulties recalling episodic memories, including retrieving fewer or less specific and detailed memories compared to typically developing people. However, the ability to effectively recall episodic memories is crucial in many real-world contexts, such as the criminal justice system, medical consultations, and employment interviews. Autistic people’s episodic memory difficulties are most apparent when open, unsupportive questions are used. The ‘Task Support Hypothesis’ posits that autistic people can recall as much information as typically developing people with more supportive questioning. Alongside problems retrieving episodic memories, autistic people also experience difficulties with executive functioning, theory of mind, and expressive language. The current study aimed to assess the impact of these abilities on recall in two previous studies by the authors that compared autistic and typically developing adults on recall specificity in police, healthcare, and employment interviews, and recall quality in employment interviews under unsupported and supported questioning. Under unsupported questioning only, autistic adults’ episodic autobiographical memory recall specificity was predicted by expressive language, whereas for the typically developing group, only theory of mind was a significant predictor. No other predictors were significant across the study. Implications for the task support hypothesis are discussed.

The Episodic Memory Profile in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Bayesian Meta-Analysis

Although autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are commonly characterized by diminished episodic memory, the literature in this area is mixed. We address these inconsistent findings by employing multilevel Bayesian meta-analysis to quantify episodic memory differences between individuals with ASD and typically developing (TD) controls. We used meta-regression to evaluate the effects of test modality (e.g., word list, story recall), delay interval (immediate vs. delayed), retrieval demands (recognition vs. recall), and sensory modality (auditory vs. visual) on episodic memory in ASD. A total of 338 effect sizes from 113 empirical articles, including 5,632 unique participants (ASD = 2,777, TD = 2,855), were included. Results show that the memory deficits associated with ASD were larger for recall (g = -0.52, se = 0.04, 95% CrI [-0.60, -0.43]) compared to recognition (g = -0.25, se = 0.05, 95% CrI [-0.35, -0.14]) and differed based on the testing modality. For example, effect sizes were smallest for words (g = -0.28, se = 0.05, 95% CrI [-0.38, -0.18]), pictures (g = -0.38, se = 0.07, 95% CrI [-0.52, -0.24]), and figure reproduction (g = -0.49, se = 0.11, 95% CrI [-0.70, -0.27]). However, effect sizes for sentences (g = -0.59, se = 0.20, 95% CrI [-1.00, -0.21]), stories (Hedges' g = -0.54, se = 0.08, 95% CrI [-0.69, -0.38]) and staged events (g = -0.75, se = 0.10, 95% CrI [-0.95, -0.55]) were much larger. These findings suggest that ASD is associated with a small to medium reduction in scores on episodic memory tests relative to TD controls.

Autobiographical Memory and Social Identity in Autism: Preliminary Results of Social Positioning and Cognitive Intervention

Autobiographical memory (AM) is closely linked to the self-concept, and fulfills directive, identity, social, and adaptive functions. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are now known to have atypical AM, which may be closely associated with social communication difficulties. This may result in qualitatively different autobiographical narratives, notably regarding social identity. In the present study, we sought to investigate this concept and develop a cognitive intervention targeting individuals with ASD. First, 13 adolescents with ASD and 13 typically developing adolescents underwent an AM interview featuring an original coding system designed to analyze the social self. We observed that the narratives produced by the ASD group focused more on the family than on extended social spheres, compared with those of the comparison group. Moreover, participants with ASD did not include themselves in the social groups they mentioned, and produced more references to others, compared with typically developing participants. Second, we designed a cognitive intervention program consisting of individual and group sessions that targeted AM. We conducted a pilot study among three adolescents with ASD aged 12, 16, and 17 years. Preliminary results showed that the program increased extra-family narrative references by the two youngest adolescents, who produced more social integration markers. Our study of autobiographical narratives yielded interesting findings about social positioning in ASD and showed how AM can be targeted in rehabilitation programs as a vector of social interaction.

Self-concept Clarity and Autobiographical Memory Functions in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder Without Intellectual Deficiency

The structural characteristics of self-concept refer to the way in which the elements of self-knowledge are organized and can be experienced by individuals in the form of self-concept clarity. It is intimately linked to autobiographical memory. Therefore, we sought to compare self-concept clarity and autobiographical memory between adults with ASD without Intellectual Deficiency and controls. We also explored the association between self-concept clarity and autistic traits, autobiographical memory functions and executive functions. Statistical analyses were performed using Bayesian methods. Our results showed both a lower clarity of self-concept and a lower social function of autobiographical memory in the ASDwID than in the control group. We also presented a link between clarity of self-concept and the self-function of autobiographical memory.

Autobiographical Memory in Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Hearing Loss, and Childhood Trauma: Implications for Social Communication Intervention

Purpose Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) work with a variety of populations at risk for poor autobiographical and episodic memory. The purpose of this tutorial is to describe autobiographical memory and how it is affected in children with autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, hearing loss, and childhood trauma, as well as provide clinicians with practical strategies for supporting autobiographical memory in each of these clinical populations. Method This tutorial reviews the literature on (a) autobiographical and episodic memory in typical development; (b) its relation to theory of mind, personal narrative skills, and executive functions; (c) elaborative reminiscing in typical development; (d) how autobiographical memory is impaired in children with autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, hearing loss, and childhood trauma; and (e) strategies for supporting autobiographical memory in each clinical population. Conclusions When adequately prepared, SLPs are uniquely situated to address autobiographical and episodic memory in their work with children, families, and related professionals. This is a long-overdue focus of such great clinical import that justifies its inclusion in the traditional training and preparation of SLPs. Adapting elaborative reminiscing strategies for use with various clinical populations is promising for facilitating healthy EM development and related cognitive functions.

Reminiscing and Autobiographical Memory in ASD: Mother-Child Conversations About Emotional Events and How Preschool-Aged Children Recall the Past

Autobiographical memory (AM) is a socially-relevant cognitive skill. Little is known regarding AM during early childhood in ASD. Parent-child reminiscing conversations predict AM in non-ASD populations but have rarely been examined in autism. To address this gap, 17 preschool-aged children (ages 4-6 years) with ASD and 21 children without ASD matched on age, sex, and expressive language completed assessments of AM, executive functioning, self-related variables, and a parent-child reminiscing task. Children with ASD had less specific AM, which related to theory of mind, self-concept, and working memory. AM specificity also related to child observed autism traits. Mothers of children with ASD made more closed-ended and off-topic utterances during reminiscing, although only maternal open-ended elaborations predicted better AM in ASD.

Children with ASD Show Impaired Item-Space Recollection, But Preserved Item-Color Recollection

Although individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been often shown to display similar memory performance on semantic memory tasks compared to typically developing (TD) children, there is ongoing debate about whether and how their ability to remember specific past events (i.e., episodic memory) is impaired. We assessed a sample of 62 children with ASD and 72 TD children, ranging in age between 8 and 12 years on 2 memory tasks. Participants encoded a series of images and their association with either where they appeared on the screen (item-space association task) or with the color of an image's border (item-color association task). Children with ASD showed worse memory in the item-space association task compared to their TD peers, but comparable memory for the item-color association task. These differences persisted when age, intellectual quotient, and general item recognition memory were accounted for statistically. We interpret these results in light of evidence for specific deficits along the dorsal stream affecting processing of spatiotemporal information in ASD. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1985-1997. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC LAY SUMMARY: Episodic memory requires the ability to bind contextual details (such as color, location, etc.) to an item or event in order to remember the past with specific detail. Here, we compared children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children on tasks examining episodic memory. Children with ASD recalled more poorly previously seen items and their associated space-related details, but they performed comparably to TD children on color details. We discuss the possible mechanisms that contribute to worse spatial processing/recall in ASD.

Linking the Puzzle Pieces of the Past: A Study of Relational Memory in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Our memories are made of detailed sensory information representing the puzzle pieces of our personal past. The type of memory integrating sensory features is referred to as relational memory. The main objective of this study was to investigate whether relational memory is affected in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) since altered relational memory may contribute to atypical episodic memory observed in ASD. We also examined the association between perceptual style and relational memory abilities. Children with ASD (n = 14) and typically developed (TD) children (n = 16, 9-15 years old) completed a memory task with three conditions: two single-feature conditions measuring memory for objects and locations, and one relational memory condition measuring memory for objects and their locations combined. The Children's embedded figures test was administered to measure perceptual style. The ASD group selected more incorrect stimuli (false alarms) than the TD group, resulting in a lower proportion of correctly recognized targets across all memory conditions. The ASD group did not display a more local perceptual style than the TD group. However, perceptual style was associated with improved memory abilities across conditions. Our findings indicate that the overall memory performance of children with ASD is less stable, leading them to more incorrect responses than TD children. This may be due to the executive demands of the memory tasks, rather than specific impairments in memory binding. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1959-1969. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC LAY SUMMARY: The present study shows that children with autism have a less stable memory than typically developed children, which is reflected in a higher amount of incorrect memory responses. Overall, our results indicate that children with autism display difficulties in differentiating previously studied from novel information when solving both single-feature memory tasks and a relational memory task (requiring memory of combination of features). These difficulties may have implications for how children with autism remember episodes from their personal past.

The Witness-Aimed First Account (WAFA): A new technique for interviewing autistic witnesses and victims

LAY ABSTRACT

Autistic people may be more likely to be interviewed by police as a victim/witness, yet they experience social communication difficulties alongside specific memory difficulties that can impact their ability to recall information from memory. Police interviewing techniques do not take account of these differences, and so are often ineffective. We developed a new technique for interviewing autistic witnesses, referred to a Witness-Aimed First Account, which was designed to better support differences in the way that autistic witnesses process information in memory. The Witness-Aimed First Account technique encourages witnesses to first segment the witnessed event into discrete, parameter-bound event topics, which are then displayed on post-it notes while the witness goes onto freely recall as much information as they can from within each parameter-bound topic in turn. Since witnessed events are rarely cohesive stories with a logical chain of events, we also explored autistic and non-autistic witnesses' recall when the events were witnessed in a random (nonsensical) order. Thirty-three autistic and 30 typically developing participants were interviewed about their memory for two videos depicting criminal events. Clip segments of one video were 'scrambled', disrupting the event's narrative structure; the other video was watched intact. Although both autistic and non-autistic witnesses recalled fewer details with less accuracy from the scrambled video, Witness-Aimed First Account interviews resulted in more detailed and accurate recall from both autistic and non-autistic witnesses, for both scrambled and unscrambled videos. The Witness-Aimed First Account technique may be a useful tool to improve witnesses' accounts within a legally appropriate, non-leading framework.

Interviewing autistic adults: Adaptations to support recall in police, employment, and healthcare interviews

Recalling specific past experiences is critical for most formal social interactions, including when being interviewed for employment, as a witness or defendant in the criminal justice system, or as a patient during a clinical consultation. Such interviews can be difficult for autistic adults under standard open questioning, yet applied research into effective methods to facilitate autistic adults’ recall is only recently beginning to emerge. The current study tested the efficacy of different prompting techniques to support autistic adults’ recall of specific personal memories; 30 autistic and 30 typically developing adults (intelligence quotients > 85) were asked to recall specific instances from their past, relevant to criminal justice system, healthcare, and employment interviews. Questions comprised ‘open questions’, ‘semantic prompting’ (where semantic knowledge was used to prompt specific episodic retrieval) and ‘visual–verbal prompting’ (a pie-diagram with prompts to recall specific details, for example, who, what, and where). Half the participants received the questions in advance. Consistent with previous research, autistic participants reported memories with reduced specificity. For both groups, visual–verbal prompting support improved specificity and episodic relevance, while semantic prompting also aided recall for employment questions (but not health or criminal justice system). Findings offer new practical insight for interviewers to facilitate communication with typically developing and autistic adults.

Episodic Autobiographical Memory in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Exploration With the Autobiographical Interview

Introduction: The literature has provided contradictory results regarding the status of episodic memory in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This might be explained by methodological differences across studies. In the present one, the well-recommended Autobiographical Interview was used in which important aspects of episodic memory were assessed, namely, the number and richness of phenomenological memory details, before and after a retrieval support. Method: Twenty-five well-documented adults with ASD without Intellectual Disability (nine women) and 25 control participants were included and asked to recall six specific autobiographical events. The number and richness of details were assessed globally and for five categories of details (perceptual/sensory, temporal, contextual, emotional, and cognitive), firstly before and then after a specific cueing phase consisting in a series of specific questions to elicit more precise memory details. Results: Cumulatively, from the spontaneous recall to the cueing phase, the number of internal details was lower in ASD individuals compared to controls, but this difference was relevant only after the specific cueing procedure and observed only for contextual details. In contrast, no relevant group difference was observed during spontaneous recall. The detail richness was not impaired in ASD throughout the Autobiographical Interview procedure. Conclusion: Our results speak against a clear impairment of episodicity of autobiographical memory in ASD individuals. They thus challenge previous ones showing both a reduced specificity and episodicity of autobiographical memory in this population and call for further studies to get a better understanding on the status of episodic autobiographical memory in ASD.

Positive Effect of Visual Cuing in Episodic Memory and Episodic Future Thinking in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Cognitive studies generally report impaired autobiographical memory in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but mostly using verbal paradigms. In the present study, we therefore investigated the properties of both past and future autobiographical productions using visual cues in 16 boys with ASD and 16 typically developing (TD) participants aged between 10 and 18 years. We focused on sensory properties, emotional properties, and recollection, probing past and future productions for both near and distant time periods. Results showed that the ASD group performed more poorly than controls on free recall for recent periods, but performed like them when provided with visual cues. In addition, the ASD group reported fewer sensory details than controls and exhibited difficulties in the experience of recollection for the most remote events. These data suggest a combination of consolidation and binding deficits. Finally, our findings reveal the relevance of using visual cues to probe autobiographical memory, with possible perspectives for memory rehabilitation.

Exploring the neurocognitive basis of episodic recollection in autism

Increasing evidence indicates that the subjective experience of recollection is diminished in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to neurotypical individuals. The neurocognitive basis of this difference in how past events are re-experienced has been debated and various theoretical accounts have been proposed to date. Although each existing theory may capture particular features of memory in ASD, recent research questions whether any of these explanations are alone sufficient or indeed fully supported. This review first briefly considers the cognitive neuroscience of how episodic recollection operates in the neurotypical population, informing predictions about the encoding and retrieval mechanisms that might function atypically in ASD. We then review existing research on recollection in ASD, which has often not distinguished between different theoretical explanations. Recent evidence suggests a distinct difficulty engaging recollective retrieval processes, specifically the ability to consciously reconstruct and monitor a past experience, which is likely underpinned by altered functional interactions between neurocognitive systems rather than brain region-specific or process-specific dysfunction. This integrative approach serves to highlight how memory research in ASD may enhance our understanding of memory processes and networks in the typical brain. We make suggestions for future research that are important for further specifying the neurocognitive basis of episodic recollection in ASD and linking such difficulties to social developmental and educational outcomes.

Neural Correlates of Reflection on Present and Past Selves in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Previous studies indicate that autobiographical memory is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Successful recollection of information referring to one’s own person requires the intact ability to re-activate representation of the past self. In the current fMRI study we investigated process of conscious reflection on the present self, the past self, and a close-other in the ASD and typically developing groups. Significant inter-group differences were found in the Past-Self condition. In individuals with ASD, reflection on the past self was associated with additional engagement of the posterior cingulate and posterior temporal structures. We hypothesize that this enhanced activation of widely distributed neural network reflects substantial difficulties in processes of reflection on one’s own person in the past.

The Influence of task Demands, Verbal Ability and Executive Functions on Item and Source Memory in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is generally associated with difficulties in contextual source memory but not single item memory. There are surprising inconsistencies in the literature, however, that the current study seeks to address by examining item and source memory in age and ability matched groups of 22 ASD and 21 comparison adults. Results show that group differences in source memory are moderated by task demands but not by individual differences in verbal ability, executive function or item memory. By contrast, unexpected group differences in item memory could largely be explained by individual differences in source memory. These observations shed light on the factors underlying inconsistent findings in the memory literature in ASD, which has important implications for theory and practice.

Novel four-session treatment intervention for anxiety and high-functioning autism: A single case report for Externalizing Metaphors Therapy

TOPIC

The Brief Services psychotherapy paradigm has evolved to produce cost-effective and clinically significant outcomes in children's mental health. Though its clinical evaluation is still in its infancy, it has been utilized to a much lesser degree with autism spectrum disorders, which typically require a longer-term approach to psychotherapy treatment.

PURPOSE

The current paper introduces a novel, four-session intervention that aims to decrease anxiety experienced by clients presenting with high-functioning autism. Externalizing Metaphors Therapy is based upon the externalization of problems, transformation of metaphoric imagery, shifting of maladaptive emotional schemas, and the generalization of problems. A case study is utilized to visually aid in the understanding of this new treatment intervention.

SOURCE

A composite literature review was conducted with regards to significant works in Narrative Therapy, treatment interventions for anxiety and high functioning autism, evidence-based treatments for anxiety, and practice based approaches in psychotherapy. Works were selected based on their relevance to the research filed of anxiety and autism.

CONCLUSIONS

This clinical research challenges the children's mental health field in addressing anxiety and high-functioning autism from a brief framework. Further clinical research is needed to clinically evaluate the current model.

Reduced specificity of autobiographical memories in young people with tic disorders

OBJECTIVE

Depression is common in Tourette syndrome and Chronic Tic Disorders (TS/CTD) and contributes to significant impairment. The specificity of autobiographical memories is implicated in an individual's sense of self and their daily functioning but also in the onset and development of depression in the general population. Here, we examined whether memory specificity is reduced in young people with TS/CTD, relative to control participants, and whether memory specificity is associated with depression.

METHOD

Thirty young people with TS/CTD (14 females; age: x̅ = 11.31; SD = 1.66; 87% White British) and twenty-six (12 females; age: x̅ = 11.23; SD = 2.43; 77% White British) control participants completed the study. Participants completed the Autobiographical Memory Task, which asks participants to respond with a specific memory to cue words, and a questionnaire measure of depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, IQ and depressive symptomatology. Young people with TS/CTD had less specific autobiographical memories than their peers (p < 0.001, r = 0.49). Across both groups, increased memory specificity for positive cue words was associated with reduced depressive symptomatology (p < 0.001, R² = 0.51).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicate that autobiographical memory in young people with TS is characterised by a lack of specificity and, as with neurotypical peers, reduced memory specificity for positive words is associated with depressive symptoms. Autobiographical memory specificity could be an important factor in understanding mood symptoms that characterise young people with TS/CTD and may be an important cognitive target to reduce the development of depression in young people with TS/CTD.

Anxious Imagery in Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Investigation into Occurrence, Content, Features and Implications for Therapy

Mental imagery has been implicated in anxiety disorders in adults, but has not been investigated in child and adolescent populations. Anxiety is highly prevalent in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and as people with ASD are often thought of as 'visual thinkers', the potential role of distressing imagery in children with ASD merits exploration. Participants aged 8-16 years were grouped as follows: ASD/high anxiety, ASD/low anxiety, non-ASD/high anxiety and non-ASD/low anxiety. Imagery and associated features were assessed using an interview. Group differences were found in number and frequency of images experienced. There were few differences between the groups in the characteristics of the spontaneous images, which included emotional valence, vividness, controllability and realism. Implications for treatment are discussed.

Self-Disorders in Individuals with Autistic Traits: Contribution of Reduced Autobiographical Reasoning Capacities

The present web-based study (N = 840) aimed to illuminate the cognitive mechanisms underlying self-disorders in autism. Initially, participants selected three self-defining memories. Then, we assessed their capacity to give meaning to these events (i.e., meaning making), their tendency to scrutinize autobiographical memory to better understand themselves (i.e., self-continuity function of autobiographical memory) and their clarity of self-concept. The results showed that individuals with high autistic traits (ATs) had a lower clarity of self-concept than control participants. Meaning making was also reduced in AT individuals and mediated the relation between AT and self-concept clarity. Our results suggest that the reduced clarity of self-concept in AT individuals is related to an impaired capacity to make meaning of important past life events.

Verbal, Visual, and Intermediary Support for Child Witnesses with Autism During Investigative Interviews

Three promising investigative interview interventions were assessed in 270 children (age 6-11 years): 71 with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 199 who were typically developing (TD). Children received 'Verbal Labels', 'Sketch Reinstatement of Context' or 'Registered Intermediary' interviews designed to improve interview performance without decreasing accuracy. Children with ASD showed no increases in the number of correct details recalled for any of the three interview types (compared to a Best-Practice police interview), whereas TD children showed significant improvements in the Registered Intermediary and Verbal Labels interviews. Findings suggested that children with ASD can perform as well as TD children in certain types of investigative interviews, but some expected benefits (e.g., of Registered Intermediaries) were not apparent in this study.

What Happened to Paul? Manifestation of Abnormal Pain Response for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder

During the progression of a pilot nutrition intervention designed to teach cooking skills to young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), one participant-Paul-fell in the parking lot. Prior to the accident, Paul had been making significant gains in the program and had communicated in a number of ways his enthusiasm. After his accident, which resulted in broken and dislocated bones in his ankle, his demeanor was dramatically altered, program gains were lost, and staff noted the appearance of many new challenging behaviors. This article analyzes Paul's behavior in reference to the pain response in autism. For some time, it was believed that many individuals with ASD did not experience pain based on anecdotal reports of how individuals responded to injury with seeming indifference. This view has given way of late to a more nuanced understanding of how atypical sensory processing and stimulus over-selectivity spill over into pain pathways and pain amplification mechanisms. The consequence is not a reduction in pain sensation, but a different expression of pain, determined by that individual's particular communicative, cognitive, or physiological challenges. From this perspective, many of the disruptive and harmful behaviors that emerged after Paul's accident can be seen as a delayed response to the incident. This article concludes by arguing that professionals across all domains of health care need to begin to see behavior as communicative for those with ASD. This is particularly true of changes in behavior, which can be significant indicators of health care problems rather than something to be dismissed as another manifestation of the condition.

Reality Monitoring and Metamemory in Adults with Autism Spectrum Conditions

Studies of reality monitoring (RM) often implicate medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in distinguishing internal and external information, a region linked to autism-related deficits in social and self-referential information processing, executive function, and memory. This study used two RM conditions (self-other; perceived-imagined) to investigate RM and metamemory in adults with autism. The autism group showed a deficit in RM, which did not differ across source conditions, and both groups exhibited a self-encoding benefit on recognition and source memory. Metamemory for perceived-imagined information, but not for self-other information, was significantly lower in the autism group. Therefore, reality monitoring and metamemory, sensitive to mPFC function, appear impaired in autism, highlighting a difficulty in remembering and monitoring internal and external details of past events.

Behavioural and cognitive sex/gender differences in autism spectrum condition and typically developing males and females

Studies assessing sex/gender differences in autism spectrum conditions often fail to include typically developing control groups. It is, therefore, unclear whether observed sex/gender differences reflect those found in the general population or are particular to autism spectrum conditions. A systematic search identified articles comparing behavioural and cognitive characteristics in males and females with and without an autism spectrum condition diagnosis. A total of 13 studies were included in meta-analyses of sex/gender differences in core autism spectrum condition symptoms (social/communication impairments and restricted/repetitive behaviours and interests) and intelligence quotient. A total of 20 studies were included in a qualitative review of sex/gender differences in additional autism spectrum condition symptoms. For core traits and intelligence quotient, sex/gender differences were comparable in autism spectrum conditions and typical samples. Some additional autism spectrum condition symptoms displayed different patterns of sex/gender differences in autism spectrum conditions and typically developing groups, including measures of executive function, empathising and systemising traits, internalising and externalising problems and play behaviours. Individuals with autism spectrum conditions display typical sex/gender differences in core autism spectrum condition traits, suggesting that diagnostic criteria based on these symptoms should take into account typical sex/gender differences. However, awareness of associated autism spectrum condition symptoms should include the possibility of different male and female phenotypes, to ensure those who do not fit the 'typical' autism spectrum condition presentation are not missed.

The salience of the self: Self-referential processing and internalizing problems in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate atypical processing of, and memory for, self-referenced information, which may contribute to the heightened rates of co-occurring internalizing problems. We assessed affective and cognitive aspects of self-referential processing in verbally-fluent children with ASD (N = 79), and an age-matched comparison sample (COM, N = 73) of children without an autism diagnosis. We examined group differences in these two aspects of the self-system, and their joint contributions to individual differnces in internalizing problems. Using a self-referenced memory (SRM) task, participants indicated whether a series of positive and negative trait adjectives described themselves and a well-known fictional character. Participants were then surprised with a recognition memory test on the same adjectives. Overall, individuals with ASD showed a reduction in the extent to which they preferentially endorsed positive over negative trait adjectives about themselves, and a reduction in their preferential memory for self- over other-referenced information. Across the full sample, these two aspects of self-referential processing jointly predicted self-reported internalizing problems. Specifically, self-evaluations were strongly and inversely associated with internalizing problems but only for children with relatively high SRM. These findings suggest that the salience of the self influences the extent to which affective self-evaluations impact emotional functioning for youth both with and without ASD. Implications for basic (e.g., developmental) and translational (e.g., intervention) research are discussed. Autism Res 2017, 10: 949-960. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Telling Tales: Personal Event Narratives and Life Stories

Purpose

Speech-language pathologists know much more about children's development of fictional narratives than they do about children's development of personal narratives and the role these personal narratives play in academic success, social–emotional development, and self-regulation. The purpose of this tutorial is to provide clinicians with strategies for assessing and developing children's and adolescents' personal narratives.

Method

This tutorial reviews the literature on (a) the development of autobiographical event narratives and life stories, (b) factors that contribute to development of these genres, (c) the importance of these genres for the development of sense of self-identity and self-regulation, (d) deficits in personal narrative genres, and (e) strategies for eliciting and assessing event narratives and life stories.

Implications

To promote development of personal event narratives and life stories, speech-language pathologists can help clients retrieve information about interesting events, provide experiences worthy of narrating, and draw upon published narratives to serve as model texts. Clinicians can also address four interrelated processes in intervention: reminiscing, reflecting, making coherent connections, and signaling the plot structure. Furthermore, they can activate metacognitive awareness of how evaluations of experiences, coherence, and plot structure are signaled in well-formed personal event narratives and life stories.

Personality traits, autobiographical memory and knowledge of self and others: A comparative study in young people with autism spectrum disorder

The relationship between dissociable components of autobiographical memory (e.g. semantic personality traits and episodic memory retrieval) and other cognitive skills that are proposed to enable one to develop a sense of self (e.g. introspection) have not previously been explored for children with autism spectrum disorder. This study compared autobiographical memory (semantic and episodic) and knowledge of self (internal/external self-knowledge and introspection/mentalising abilities) in children (aged 11-18 years) with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and typically developing controls (total N = 48). Novel and standard tasks were employed. Compared to typically developing controls, young people with autism spectrum disorder had autobiographical memory difficulties that were characterised by a reduction in the retrieval of semantic personality traits, with more initial prompts required to facilitate episodic memory retrieval and fewer episodic memories containing emotional and sensory information. Knowledge of the self and others was also impaired, with reduced introspection and poorer mentalising abilities. Young people with autism spectrum disorder were also identified as presenting with an atypical relationship between autobiographical memory and self-knowledge, which was significantly different from typically developing controls. Test performance is discussed in relation to the functions of autobiographical memory, with consideration of how these cognitive difficulties may contribute to clinical practices and the social and behavioural characteristics of autism spectrum disorder.

Cognitive control and episodic memory in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

INTRODUCTION

To further investigate manifestations of episodic memory impairments in adolescents, we examined the role of encoding on recognition of stimuli in conditions designed to emphasize their item-specific versus relational characteristics in a group of 12-18 year olds with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We also examined how strategic learning and memory processes, verbal abilities, attention, and age were associated with recognition in this group.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

Twenty two high functioning adolescents with ASD (mean age=15 years; SD=1.8; range=12.2-17.9), and 26 age, gender, and IQ-matched adolescents with typical development (TYP) (mean age=14.7 years; SD=1.9; range=12.3-17.8) completed the Relational and Item-Specific Encoding task (RiSE), the California Verbal Learning Test-Children's Version (CVLT-C), the Wechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence, and the Connors' Parent Rating Scale-Revised. Univariate statistical analyses were performed.

RESULTS

The ASD group showed poorer performance on strategic memory assessed by the CVLT-C. Surprisingly, on the RiSE, ASD showed poorer discriminability for objects encoded in item-specific versus relational encoding conditions and were more impaired in familiarity (after relational encoding) than in recollection. ASD also did not show the hypothesized association between item and associative recognition and CVLT-C performance found in TYP. Instead, in the ASD group recognition was associated with increased age.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings from the RiSE task demonstrated that adolescents with ASD do not always exhibit impaired memory for relational information as commonly believed. Instead, memory was worse when cognitive control demands were high, when encoding focused on specific item features, and when familiarity was used to retrieve relational information. Recognition also was better in older participants. This suggests that learning and memory deficits in adolescents with ASD, may not be due primarily to failed relational binding processes in the hippocampus but, rather to disrupted strategic memory and familiarity processes associated with the prefrontal and perirhinal cortices. These findings demonstrate the importance and utility of using well-validated cognitive neuroscience tasks and of considering the ages of participants when comparing the neural underpinnings of different memory processes in both typical and atypical populations.

Early Memories of Individuals on the Autism Spectrum Assessed Using Online Self-Reports

"When I was one and a half years old, I was on a ferry lying on red seats" - while several autobiographical accounts by people with autism reveal vivid memories of early childhood, the vast amount of experimental investigations found deficits in personal autobiographic memory in autism. To assess this contradiction empirically, we implemented an online questionnaire on early childhood events to compare people on the autism spectrum (AS) and non-autistic people with respect to their earliest autobiographical episodic memories and the earliest semantic know event as told by another person. Results indicate that people on the AS do not differ from non-autistic people in the age of their earliest know events but remember events from an earlier age in childhood and with more sensory details, contradicting the assumption of an overall deficit in personal episodic memory in autism. Furthermore, our results emphasize the supporting influence of language for memory formation and give evidence for an important role of sensory features in memories of people on the AS.

Parents' strategies to elicit autobiographical memories in autism spectrum disorders, developmental language disorders and typically developing children

Conversations about the past support the development of autobiographical memory. Parents' strategies to elicit child's participation and recall during past event conversations were compared across three school-age diagnostic groups: autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 11), developmental language disorders (n = 11) and typically developing (TD, n = 11). We focused on the prevalence of directives versus enrichment of events. Groups did not differ in number of events, length, and total turns. However, parents of children with ASD produced more direct questions, corrections, and unrelated turns than parents of TD children. Results highlight how parents adjusted their conversational style to their child's communication difficulties to maximize interactions and how these strategies may affect the development of personal conversations.

A preliminary study of gender differences in autobiographical memory in children with an autism spectrum disorder

Autobiographical memory was assessed in 24 children (12 male, 12 female, aged between 8 and 16 years) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a comparison group of 24 typically developing (TD) children matched for age, IQ, gender and receptive language. Results suggested that a deficit in specific memory retrieval in the ASD group was more characteristic of male participants. Females in both the TD and ASD groups generated more detailed and emotional memories than males. They also demonstrated superior verbal fluency scores; verbal fluency and autobiographical memory cueing task performance were significantly positively correlated in females. Results are discussed in light of recent research suggesting gender differences in the phenotype of ASD.

La mémoire autobiographique chez l’enfant avec Trouble du Spectre Autistique : du passé au futur

Objectifs

L’étude de la mémoire autobiographique dans l’autisme a été principalement réalisée chez l’adulte [1] et plus rarement chez l’enfant, révélant principalement des déficits en mémoire épisodique [2]. Il n’existe qu’une étude chez l’adolescent [3] cherchant à caractériser les souvenirs épisodiques, incluant notamment leurs propriétés sensorielles. L’objectif de notre étude est d’évaluer les productions épisodiques d’événements à la fois passés et futurs, chez des adolescents avec trouble du spectre autistique, en utilisant un support et en explorant les détails phénoménologiques, émotionnels et les capacités de récollection.

Matériel et méthodes

Un échantillon de 16 adolescents avec un diagnostic de trouble du spectre autistique sans déficience intellectuelle (TSA-SDI), et un groupe de 16 enfants au développement typique, ont réalisé une tâche de mémoire autobiographique originale, ludique et contrôlée, comprenant à la fois une évaluation rapide et indicée de la composante sémantique et plus détaillée de la composante épisodique.

Résultats

Les participants avec TSA-SDI présentent des difficultés de restitution des souvenirs épisodiques comparés aux témoins et bénéficient significativement de l’indiçage. Au niveau des propriétés perceptives, les adolescents avec TSA fournissent moins de couleurs que les témoins, alors que le nombre total de détails perceptifs ne diffère pas entre les deux groupes. Enfin, la reviviscence diffère selon la période évoquée : la reviviscence d’évènements passés est moins précise que la projection dans le futur.

Conclusion

Ces résultats confirment l’existence de troubles en mémoire épisodique chez les adolescents avec TSA-SDI, améliorés en présence d’un support visuel. Les propriétés sensorielles semblent être impliquées différemment dans l’organisation des souvenirs, notamment les couleurs, probablement en relation avec une perception atypique chez les personnes avec TSA-SDI [4]. L’impact de la perception des couleurs sur la mémoire est une piste de recherche à approfondir.