The I in autism: Severity and social functioning in autism are related to self‐processing.
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| Title: | The I in autism: Severity and social functioning in autism are related to self‐processing. |
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| Authors: | Gillespie‐Smith, Karri, Ballantyne, Carrie, Branigan, Holly P., Turk, David J., Cunningham, Sheila J. |
| Source: | British Journal of Developmental Psychology. Mar2018, Vol. 36 Issue 1, p127-141. 15p. |
| Subjects: | Autism, Child development, Cognition, Communication, Memory, Self-perception, Social skills, Severity of illness index, Children |
| Abstract: | It is well established that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show impaired understanding of others and deficits within social functioning. However, it is still unknown whether self‐processing is related to these impairments and to what extent self impacts social functioning and communication. Using an ownership paradigm, we show that children with ASD and chronological‐ and verbal‐age‐matched typically developing (TD) children do show the self‐referential effect in memory. In addition, the self‐bias was dependent on symptom severity and socio‐communicative ability. Children with milder ASD symptoms were more likely to have a high self‐bias, consistent with a low attention to others relative to self. In contrast, severe ASD symptoms were associated with reduced self‐bias, consistent with an ‘absent‐self’ hypothesis. These findings indicate that deficits in self‐processing may be related to impairments in social cognition for those on the lower end of the autism spectrum. Statement of contribution |
| Copyright of British Journal of Developmental Psychology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | It is well established that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show impaired understanding of others and deficits within social functioning. However, it is still unknown whether self‐processing is related to these impairments and to what extent self impacts social functioning and communication. Using an ownership paradigm, we show that children with ASD and chronological‐ and verbal‐age‐matched typically developing (TD) children do show the self‐referential effect in memory. In addition, the self‐bias was dependent on symptom severity and socio‐communicative ability. Children with milder ASD symptoms were more likely to have a high self‐bias, consistent with a low attention to others relative to self. In contrast, severe ASD symptoms were associated with reduced self‐bias, consistent with an ‘absent‐self’ hypothesis. These findings indicate that deficits in self‐processing may be related to impairments in social cognition for those on the lower end of the autism spectrum. Statement of contribution <italic><bold>What is already known on this subject?</bold></italic> Impaired self‐processing in autism is linked to social and cognitive deficits. There are discrepancies across the literature, with reports of both intact <italic>and</italic> impaired self‐processing in autism. Ownership tasks are developmentally appropriate and have shown to induce self‐memory bias in young children.<italic><bold>What does this study add?</bold></italic> Using an ownership task, children with autism showed a significant self‐memory bias, greater than typical peers. Severity was negatively correlated with level of self‐bias, potentially explaining the previous discrepancies. Severe autism symptoms are associated with an ‘absent self’, and mild autism symptoms reduce attention to others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 0261510X |
| DOI: | 10.1111/bjdp.12219 |
