| This study investigated the performance of individuals with high-functioning autism (IQ scores of 70 or above) on the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF). A group of 20 8- to 14-year-old children with high-functioning autism and a matched group of 20 8- to 14-year-old children without autism participated in this study. The participants were Caucasian males and were matched according to age, parent's socioeconomic status, Wechsler (WISC-III) Verbal IQ, Performance IQ, and Full Scale IQ scores.; A quantitative 36-point scoring system (Taylor, 1959) was used to investigate how these two groups completed the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF). The ROCF is a two-dimensional figure containing 18 details arranged within or on a central rectangle. The participant was asked to copy the figure, draw it immediately from memory, and draw if from memory after a 20- to 30-minute delay. Participants were not aware they will be asked to draw the figure more than once. Scores on memory (Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning), motor abilities (Finger Tapping, Grooved Pegboard), and conceptual abilities (Halstead Category and Wechsler Block Design subtest) were also investigated in this study to investigate possible factors that may affect how one completes the ROCF.; This study found no significant differences in copying the ROCF between the two groups. The only statistically significant difference was found on the Visual Memory subtest (WRAML). When the Bonferroni correction alpha was applied (.05/4 = .0125), there was still a statistical difference. This study did not show support for the Central Coherence Theory (Shah & Frith, 1993). However, the significance with the visual memory variable suggests individuals with autism have difficulty with visual stimuli and the way they encode the information. |
