Visual search strategies of children with and without autism spectrum disorders during an embedded figures task

Individuals with ASD often demonstrate superior performance on embedded figures tasks (EFTs). We investigated visual scanning behaviour in children with ASD during an EFT in an attempt replicating a previous study examining differences in visual search behaviour. Twenty-three children with, and 31 c...

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Main Authors: Horlin, Chiara, Albrecht, Matthew, Falkmer, Marita, Leung, Denise, Ordqvist, Anna, Tan, Tele, Lee, Wee, Falkmer, Torbjorn
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier Inc. 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34591
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author Horlin, Chiara
Albrecht, Matthew
Falkmer, Marita
Leung, Denise
Ordqvist, Anna
Tan, Tele
Lee, Wee
Falkmer, Torbjorn
author_facet Horlin, Chiara
Albrecht, Matthew
Falkmer, Marita
Leung, Denise
Ordqvist, Anna
Tan, Tele
Lee, Wee
Falkmer, Torbjorn
author_sort Horlin, Chiara
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Individuals with ASD often demonstrate superior performance on embedded figures tasks (EFTs). We investigated visual scanning behaviour in children with ASD during an EFT in an attempt replicating a previous study examining differences in visual search behaviour. Twenty-three children with, and 31 children without an ASD were shown 16 items from the Figure-Ground subtest of the TVPS-3 while wearing an eye tracker. Children with ASD exhibited fewer fixations, and less time per fixation, on the target figure. Accuracy was similar between the two groups. There were no other noteworthy differences between children with and without ASD. Differences in visual scanning patterns in the presence of typical behavioural performance suggest that any purported differences in processing style may not be detrimental to cognitive performance and further refinement of the current methodology may lead to support for a purported advantageous cognitive style.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2014
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-345912017-09-13T15:11:16Z Visual search strategies of children with and without autism spectrum disorders during an embedded figures task Horlin, Chiara Albrecht, Matthew Falkmer, Marita Leung, Denise Ordqvist, Anna Tan, Tele Lee, Wee Falkmer, Torbjorn Embedded figures test ASD Visual search Eye tracking Individuals with ASD often demonstrate superior performance on embedded figures tasks (EFTs). We investigated visual scanning behaviour in children with ASD during an EFT in an attempt replicating a previous study examining differences in visual search behaviour. Twenty-three children with, and 31 children without an ASD were shown 16 items from the Figure-Ground subtest of the TVPS-3 while wearing an eye tracker. Children with ASD exhibited fewer fixations, and less time per fixation, on the target figure. Accuracy was similar between the two groups. There were no other noteworthy differences between children with and without ASD. Differences in visual scanning patterns in the presence of typical behavioural performance suggest that any purported differences in processing style may not be detrimental to cognitive performance and further refinement of the current methodology may lead to support for a purported advantageous cognitive style. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34591 10.1016/j.rasd.2014.01.006 Elsevier Inc. restricted
spellingShingle Embedded figures test
ASD
Visual search
Eye tracking
Horlin, Chiara
Albrecht, Matthew
Falkmer, Marita
Leung, Denise
Ordqvist, Anna
Tan, Tele
Lee, Wee
Falkmer, Torbjorn
Visual search strategies of children with and without autism spectrum disorders during an embedded figures task
title Visual search strategies of children with and without autism spectrum disorders during an embedded figures task
title_full Visual search strategies of children with and without autism spectrum disorders during an embedded figures task
title_fullStr Visual search strategies of children with and without autism spectrum disorders during an embedded figures task
title_full_unstemmed Visual search strategies of children with and without autism spectrum disorders during an embedded figures task
title_short Visual search strategies of children with and without autism spectrum disorders during an embedded figures task
title_sort visual search strategies of children with and without autism spectrum disorders during an embedded figures task
topic Embedded figures test
ASD
Visual search
Eye tracking
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34591