Neumann Nicola, Braun Christoph, Dubischar-Krivec Anna M, Bölte Sven
Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
University of Greifswald, Center for Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, Greifswald, Germany.
Scand J Child Adolesc Psychiatr Psychol. 2012 Nov 30;1(2):43-50. doi: 10.21307/sjcapp-2013-007. eCollection 2013 May.
Individuals with autism exhibit typical recognition memory performance, but they show a reduced use of context and relational processing in more complex memory tasks. It is unclear whether the same is true for autistic individuals with exceptional memory skill for whom superior rote memory skill has been assumed.
In this study, we investigated recognition memory for high and low associative stimuli in autistic memory experts. In accord with the rote memory notion, we expected an equal recognition performance for high and low associative stimuli and superior memorizing of nonsense material compared to control participants.
Seven autistic memory experts and seven typically developed control subjects, matched according to age, sex, handedness, and full-scale intelligence quotient (IQ), were examined on a continuous old-new recognition paradigm, including high or low associative pseudowords and shapes. Memory expertise was characterized as a currently present outstanding memory skill above the subject's general level of ability and above the general population and was validated through direct clinical observation or some form of credible evidence.
Our hypotheses were partially corroborated with autistic memory experts recognizing high and low associative shapes equally well in contrast to control participants who showed superior recognition of high associative shapes. However, memory experts did not outperform control participants in the recognition of low associative shapes. There were no differences for the recognition of pseudowords.
Findings do not indicate enhanced memory for nonsense material, but a failure to make use of semantic features of abstract stimuli as assumed for autism as a whole.
自闭症患者在识别记忆表现上较为典型，但在更复杂的记忆任务中，他们对情境和关系处理的运用减少。对于那些被认为具有超强死记硬背能力的自闭症记忆超常个体，情况是否相同尚不清楚。
在本研究中，我们调查了自闭症记忆专家对高联想性和低联想性刺激的识别记忆。根据死记硬背的概念，我们预期高联想性和低联想性刺激的识别表现相同，且与对照组相比，他们对无意义材料的记忆能力更强。
选取七名自闭症记忆专家和七名年龄、性别、利手和全量表智商（IQ）相匹配的发育正常的对照受试者，采用连续的新旧识别范式进行测试，包括高联想性或低联想性的假词和形状。记忆超常被定义为当前存在的超出个体一般能力水平和一般人群的杰出记忆技能，并通过直接临床观察或某种形式的可靠证据进行验证。
我们的假设部分得到证实，自闭症记忆专家对高联想性和低联想性形状的识别同样出色，而对照受试者对高联想性形状的识别更好。然而，记忆专家在低联想性形状的识别上并未优于对照受试者。在假词的识别上没有差异。
研究结果并未表明对无意义材料的记忆增强，而是未能像对整个自闭症群体所假设的那样利用抽象刺激的语义特征。
