Do individuals with autism process words in context? Evidence from language-mediated eye-movements

It is widely argued that people with autism have difficulty processing ambiguous linguistic information in context. To investigate this claim, we recorded the eye-movements of 24 adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and 24 language-matched peers as they monitored spoken sentences for words corresponding to objects on a computer display. Following a target word, participants looked more at a competitor object sharing the same onset than at phonologically unrelated objects. This effect was, however, mediated by the sentence context such that participants looked less at the phonological competitor if it was semantically incongruous with the preceding verb. Contrary to predictions, the two groups evidenced similar effects of context on eye-movements. Instead, across both groups, the effect of sentence context was reduced in individuals with relatively poor language skills. Implications for the weak central coherence account of autism are discussed.

[1]  N. Minshew,et al.  Neuropsychologic functioning in autism: Profile of a complex information processing disorder , 1997, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

[2]  M. Tanenhaus,et al.  Continuous mapping from sound to meaning in spoken-language comprehension: immediate effects of verb-based thematic constraints. , 2004, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[3]  U. Frith Autism: Explaining the Enigma , 2005 .

[4]  J. Brock,et al.  To Match or Not to Match? Methodological Issues in Autism-Related Research , 2004, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[5]  S. Scott,et al.  Functional Integration across Brain Regions Improves Speech Perception under Adverse Listening Conditions , 2007, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[6]  P. Mundy,et al.  Weak Central Coherence and Its Relations to Theory of Mind and Anxiety in Autism , 2005, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[7]  D. Barr Analyzing ‘visual world’ eyetracking data using multilevel logistic regression , 2008 .

[8]  Daniel B. Wright,et al.  Understanding Statistics: An Introduction for the Social Sciences , 1997 .

[9]  B. Spencer,et al.  A check list of symptoms of autism of early life. , 1959, West Virginia Medical Journal.

[10]  Max Coltheart,et al.  The MRC Psycholinguistic Database , 1981 .

[11]  C. Hulme Understanding Developmental Language Disorders , 2008 .

[12]  C. Norbury,et al.  Barking up the wrong tree? Lexical ambiguity resolution in children with language impairments and autistic spectrum disorders. , 2005, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[13]  K. Nation Developmental language disorders , 2005 .

[14]  Roger M. Cooper,et al.  The control of eye fixation by the meaning of spoken language: A new methodology for the real-time investigation of speech perception, memory, and language processing. , 1974 .

[15]  Kate Nation,et al.  Investigating individual differences in children's real-time sentence comprehension using language-mediated eye movements. , 2003, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[16]  M. Catani,et al.  The rises and falls of disconnection syndromes. , 2005, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[17]  Beatriz López,et al.  Do children with autism fail to process information in context? , 2003, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[18]  Angela D Friederici,et al.  Lexical–semantic processes in children with specific language impairment , 2006, Neuroreport.

[19]  G. Altmann,et al.  Incremental interpretation at verbs: restricting the domain of subsequent reference , 1999, Cognition.

[20]  Paul D. Allopenna,et al.  Tracking the Time Course of Spoken Word Recognition Using Eye Movements: Evidence for Continuous Mapping Models , 1998 .

[21]  Naama Friedmann,et al.  Is the movement deficit in syntactic SLI related to traces or to thematic role transfer? , 2007, Brain and Language.

[22]  Julie C. Sedivy,et al.  Subject Terms: Linguistics Language Eyes & eyesight Cognition & reasoning , 1995 .

[23]  M. Losh,et al.  Narrative Ability in High-Functioning Children with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome , 2003, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[24]  I. Noens,et al.  Captured by details: sense-making, language and communication in autism. , 2005, Journal of communication disorders.

[25]  Caroline C Brown,et al.  The temporal binding deficit hypothesis of autism , 2002, Development and Psychopathology.

[26]  F. Happé Central coherence and theory of mind in autism: Reading homographs in context , 1997 .

[27]  U. Frith,et al.  The Weak Coherence Account: Detail-focused Cognitive Style in Autism Spectrum Disorders , 2006, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[28]  D. Bishop,et al.  Inferential processing and story recall in children with communication problems: a comparison of specific language impairment, pragmatic language impairment and high-functioning autism. , 2002, International journal of language & communication disorders.

[29]  Ruth A. Carper,et al.  Autism and Abnormal Development of Brain Connectivity , 2004, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[30]  C. Norbury Factors supporting idiom comprehension in children with communication disorders. , 2004, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[31]  Uta Frith,et al.  Reading for meaning and reading for sound in autistic and dyslexic children , 1983 .

[32]  Simon Baron-Cohen,et al.  A test of central coherence theory: linguistic processing in high-functioning adults with autism or Asperger syndrome: is local coherence impaired? , 1999, Cognition.

[33]  Uta Frith,et al.  Do readers with autism make bridging inferences from world knowledge? , 2007, Journal of experimental child psychology.