Visually guided prototype learning in children with autism spectrum disorder

Cognitive impairments in both categorization and attention have been found in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Individuals with ASD may have difficulty forming prototypes because of difficulties attending to all the relevant features in category members. This study examined prototype learning with cartoon animals in 18 children with ASD and 16 children with typical development. A prototype task was manipulated to either include visual cues to the relevant features of the stimuli or not include those cues. Results indicate that as a group, individuals with ASD performed more poorly than individuals with typical development in the prototype task and spent less time attending to relevant features in the animals. When a visual cue was added to the relevant features, groups did not differ in their performance or attention relevant features. These results suggest impairments in both attention and other cognitive processes may relate to impairments in categorization in ASD.