Drawing firmer conclusions: autistic children show no evidence of a local processing bias in a controlled copying task

Drawing tasks are frequently used to test competing theories of visuospatial skills in autism. Yet, methodological differences between studies have led to inconsistent findings. To distinguish between accounts based on local bias or global deficit, we present a simple task that has previously reveal...

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Main Authors: Smith, Alastair D., Kenny, Lorcan, Rudnicka, Anna, Briscoe, Josie, Pellicano, Elizabeth
Format: Article
Published: Springer 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35824/
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author Smith, Alastair D.
Kenny, Lorcan
Rudnicka, Anna
Briscoe, Josie
Pellicano, Elizabeth
author_facet Smith, Alastair D.
Kenny, Lorcan
Rudnicka, Anna
Briscoe, Josie
Pellicano, Elizabeth
author_sort Smith, Alastair D.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Drawing tasks are frequently used to test competing theories of visuospatial skills in autism. Yet, methodological differences between studies have led to inconsistent findings. To distinguish between accounts based on local bias or global deficit, we present a simple task that has previously revealed dissociable local/global impairments in neuropsychological patients. Autistic and typical children copied corner elements, arranged in a square configuration. Grouping cues were manipulated to test whether global properties affected the accuracy of reproduction. All children were similarly affected by these manipulations. There was no group difference in the reproduction of local elements, although global accuracy was negatively related to better local processing for autistic children. These data speak against influential theories of visuospatial differences in autism.
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spelling nottingham-358242020-05-04T18:19:07Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35824/ Drawing firmer conclusions: autistic children show no evidence of a local processing bias in a controlled copying task Smith, Alastair D. Kenny, Lorcan Rudnicka, Anna Briscoe, Josie Pellicano, Elizabeth Drawing tasks are frequently used to test competing theories of visuospatial skills in autism. Yet, methodological differences between studies have led to inconsistent findings. To distinguish between accounts based on local bias or global deficit, we present a simple task that has previously revealed dissociable local/global impairments in neuropsychological patients. Autistic and typical children copied corner elements, arranged in a square configuration. Grouping cues were manipulated to test whether global properties affected the accuracy of reproduction. All children were similarly affected by these manipulations. There was no group difference in the reproduction of local elements, although global accuracy was negatively related to better local processing for autistic children. These data speak against influential theories of visuospatial differences in autism. Springer 2016-11-31 Article PeerReviewed Smith, Alastair D., Kenny, Lorcan, Rudnicka, Anna, Briscoe, Josie and Pellicano, Elizabeth (2016) Drawing firmer conclusions: autistic children show no evidence of a local processing bias in a controlled copying task. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46 . pp. 3481-3492. ISSN 1573-3432 Autism; Drawing; Global; Local; Coherence; Grouping http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10803-016-2889-z doi:10.1007/s10803-016-2889-z doi:10.1007/s10803-016-2889-z
spellingShingle Autism; Drawing; Global; Local; Coherence; Grouping
Smith, Alastair D.
Kenny, Lorcan
Rudnicka, Anna
Briscoe, Josie
Pellicano, Elizabeth
Drawing firmer conclusions: autistic children show no evidence of a local processing bias in a controlled copying task
title Drawing firmer conclusions: autistic children show no evidence of a local processing bias in a controlled copying task
title_full Drawing firmer conclusions: autistic children show no evidence of a local processing bias in a controlled copying task
title_fullStr Drawing firmer conclusions: autistic children show no evidence of a local processing bias in a controlled copying task
title_full_unstemmed Drawing firmer conclusions: autistic children show no evidence of a local processing bias in a controlled copying task
title_short Drawing firmer conclusions: autistic children show no evidence of a local processing bias in a controlled copying task
title_sort drawing firmer conclusions: autistic children show no evidence of a local processing bias in a controlled copying task
topic Autism; Drawing; Global; Local; Coherence; Grouping
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35824/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35824/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35824/