Executive Function Abilities in Autism and Tourette Syndrome: An Information Processing Approach

TLDR

The study examined executive function abilities in autism using information processing paradigms. The authors compared non‑retarded autistic children to matched Tourette Syndrome and developmentally normal controls using information processing tasks. Autistic children matched controls on global‑local processing and inhibition but were impaired in cognitive flexibility, whereas Tourette Syndrome children performed like normal controls, refining understanding of executive dysfunction in autism.

Abstract

This study used information processing paradigms to provide a detailed examination of executive function abilities in autism. The performance of non-retarded autistic children was compared with that of two matched control groups, one with Tourette Syndrome and the other developmentally normal. Autistic subjects performed as well as controls on tasks requiring global-local processing and inhibition of neutral responses. In contrast to both control groups, however, the autistic sample was significantly impaired on a measure of cognitive flexibility. The performance of children with Tourette Syndrome did not differ from that of normal controls on any task. These results refine our knowledge about executive dysfunction in autism and suggest a new conceptual framework and general method for investigating the cognitive underpinnings of neurodevelopmental disorders.