Semino Sara, Zanobini Mirella, Usai Maria Carmen
Department of Education, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
Appl Neuropsychol Child. 2021 Jan;10(1):26-36. doi: 10.1080/21622965.2019.1594231. Epub 2019 Apr 18.
Visual memory in children with high-functioning autism (HFA) is an area of debate. According to the few studies that have examined visual memory in children with autism, the memory profile appears to vary according to the memory process and type of stimuli, and contrasting results may be found. This study aims to analyze the visual memory profile of children with HFA. Fifteen children with HFA (mean age 9.6) and 15 typically developing children (TD; mean age 9.2) matched by chronological age and Leiter-R Brief IQ score took part in the study. Associative and recognition memory as well as visuospatial working memory were assessed. Impairments in face recognition and forward memory were found, whereas associative memory and shape recognition were preserved. The memory profile in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) showed relatively stronger abilities in associative memory than in the other visual memory domains. The results support the hypothesis that the level of stimulus processing may influence memory performance by having a large impact on tasks and stimuli that require access to a semantic or global level of processing. In contrast to the TD population, children with ASD may have difficulty extracting underlying regularities from experiences and generalizing that information. Highlights Children with high-functioning autism (HFA) show preserved ability in associative memory and shape recognition. Face recognition appears to be a specific deficit in children with HFA. Associative memory appeared to be the strongest ability in the memory profile of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children.
高功能自闭症（HFA）儿童的视觉记忆是一个存在争议的领域。根据少数针对自闭症儿童视觉记忆的研究，记忆特征似乎会因记忆过程和刺激类型的不同而有所变化，可能会得出相互矛盾的结果。本研究旨在分析高功能自闭症儿童的视觉记忆特征。15名高功能自闭症儿童（平均年龄9.6岁）和15名发育正常的儿童（TD；平均年龄9.2岁）参与了这项研究，他们在年龄和莱特国际操作量表简版智商得分上相匹配。研究评估了联想记忆、识别记忆以及视觉空间工作记忆。研究发现，这些高功能自闭症儿童在人脸识别和前瞻记忆方面存在缺陷，而联想记忆和形状识别能力则得以保留。自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童的记忆特征显示，其联想记忆能力相对强于其他视觉记忆领域。研究结果支持了以下假设：刺激处理水平可能会对需要进行语义或全局处理水平的任务和刺激产生重大影响，进而影响记忆表现。与发育正常的儿童相比，自闭症谱系障碍儿童可能难以从经验中提取潜在规律并进行信息归纳。要点：高功能自闭症（HFA）儿童在联想记忆和形状识别方面能力保留。人脸识别似乎是高功能自闭症儿童的一个特定缺陷。联想记忆似乎是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童和发育正常（TD）儿童记忆特征中最强的能力。
