Executive function in preschoolers with autism: Evidence consistent with a secondary deficit

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Volumn 37, Issue 6, 2007, Pages 1068-1079

  Yerys, Benjamin E ^a   Hepburn, Susan L ^b   Pennington, Bruce F ^a   Rogers, Sally J ^c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF DENVER   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

Autism; Children; Cognitive flexibility; Executive function

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; AUTISM; BRAIN FUNCTION; COGNITIVE DEFECT; COMPARATIVE STUDY; CONTROLLED STUDY; FEMALE; HUMAN; HYPOTHESIS; MAJOR CLINICAL STUDY; MALE; PRESCHOOL CHILD; PRIORITY JOURNAL; RISK ASSESSMENT; RISK FACTOR;

APTITUDE; AUTISTIC DISORDER; CHILD, PRESCHOOL; CONCEPT FORMATION; DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES; DOWN SYNDROME; FEMALE; HUMANS; INHIBITION (PSYCHOLOGY); LONGITUDINAL STUDIES; MALE; MEMORY, SHORT-TERM; MENTAL RETARDATION; NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS; ORIENTATION; PROBLEM SOLVING; REFERENCE VALUES; REVERSAL LEARNING; RISK FACTORS; SET (PSYCHOLOGY);

EID: 34250863938     PISSN: 01623257     EISSN: 15733432     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-006-0250-7     Document Type: Article

References (34)

1. Burack, J. A., Iarocci, G., Bowler, D., & Mottron, L. (2002). Benefits and pitfalls in the merging of disciplines: The example of developmental psychopathology and the study of persons with autism. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 225-237.
2. Carlson, S. M., Moses, L. J., & Claxton, L. J. (2004). Individual differences in executive functioning and theory of mind: An investigation of inhibitory control and planning ability. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 87, 299-319.
3. Damasio, A., & Maurer, R. (1978). A neurological model for childhood autism. Archives of Neurology, 35, 777-786.
4. Dawson, G., Meltzoff, A. N., Osterling, J., & Rindaldi, J. (1998). Neuropsychological correlates of early symptoms of autism. Child Development, 69, 1276-1285.
5. Dawson, G., Munson, J., Estes, A., Osterling, J., McPartland, J., Toth, K., Carver, L., & Abbott, R. (2002). Neurocognitive function and joint attention ability in young children with autism spectrum disorder versus developmental delay. Child Development, 73, 345-358.
6. DiLavore, P. C., & Lord, C., (1995). The pre-linguistic autism diagnostic observation schedule. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 25, 355-379.
7. Goldberg, M. C., Mostofsky, S. H., Cutting, L. E., Mahone, E. M., Astor, B. C., Denckla, M. B., & Landa, R. J. (2005). Subtle executive impairment in children with autism and children with ADHD. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35, 279-293.
8. Griffith, E. M. (2003). Examining the feedback hypothesis of the executive function deficit in autism. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences & Engineering, 63, 3473.
9. Griffith, E. M., Pennington, B. F., Wehner, E. A., & Rogers, S. J. (1999). Executive function in young children with autism. Child Development, 70, 817-832.
10. Hill, E. L. (2004). Evaluating the theory of executive dysfunction in autism. Developmental Review, 24, 189-233.
11. Hughes, C. (2001). Executive dysfunction in autism: Its nature and implications for the everyday problems experienced by individuals with autism. In Burack, J. A., Charman, T., Yirmiya, N., & Zelazo, P. R. (Eds.) The development of autism: Perspectives from theory and research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
12. Hughes, C., & Russell, J. (1993). Autistic children's difficulty with mental disengagement from an object: Its implications for theories of autism. Developmental Psychology, 29, 498-510.
13. Hughes, C., Russell, J., & Robbins, T. W. (1994). Evidence for executive dysfunction in autism. Neuropsychologia, 32, 477-492.
14. Joseph, R. M., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2004). The relationship of theory of mind and executive functions to symptom type and severity in children with autism. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 137-155.
15. Kaufman, P., Leckman, J., & Ort, S. (1989). Delayed response performance in males with Fragile X. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 12, 69.
16. Lord, C., Rutter, M., & Le Couteur, A. (1994). Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised: A revised version of a diagnostic interview for caregivers of individuals with possible pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24, 659-685.
17. Lord, C., Rutter, M., DiLavore, P. C., & Risi, S. (1999). Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale-WPS (ADOS-WPS). Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.
18. Liss, M., Fein, D., Allen, D., Dunn, M., Feinstein, C., Morris, R., Waterhouse, L., & Rapin, I. (2001). Executive functioning in high-functioning children with autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42, 261-270.
19. McEvoy, R., Rogers, S. J., & Pennington, B. F. (1993). Executive function and social communication deficits in young autistic children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 34, 563-578.
20. Minshew, N. J., & Goldstein, J. G. (2001). The pattern of intact and impaired memory functions in autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42, 1095-1101.
21. Mullen, E. M. (1992). Mullen scales of early learning. Cranston, RI: T.O.T.A.L. Child, Inc.
22. Mullen, E. M. (1997). Manual for the Mullen scales of early learning: AGS edition. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service, Inc.
23. Ozonoff, S. (1995). Reliability and validity of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in autism. Neuropsychology, 4, 491-500.
24. Ozonoff, S., Pennington, B. F., & Rogers, S. J. (1991). Executive function deficits in high-functioning autistic individuals: Relationship to theory of mind. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 31, 1081-1105.
25. Pennington, B. F., & Ozonoff, S. (1996). Executive functions and developmental psychopathologies. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 37, 51-87.
26. Rogers, S. J., & Wehner, E. A. (1997). Modification of the Windows task for young children. Unpublished data.
27. Russell, J., Mauthner, N., Sharpe, S., & Tidswell, T. (1991). The 'Windows task' as a measure of strategic deception in preschoolers and in autistic subjects. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9, 331-349.
28. Rutherford, M. D., & Rogers, S. J. (2003). Cognitive underpinnings of pretend play in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33, 289-302.
29. Seltzer, M. M., Abbeduto, L., Krauss, M. W., Greenberg, J., Swe, A. (2004). Comparison groups in autism family research: Down syndrome, fragile x syndrome, and schizophrenia. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34, 41-48.
30. Swettenham, J., Baron-Cohen, S., Charman, T., Cox, A., Baird, G., Drew, A., Rees, L., & Wheelwright, S. (1998). The frequency and distribution of spontaneous attention shifts between social and nonsocial stimuli in autistic, typically developing, and nonautistic developmentally delayed infants. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 39, 747-753.
31. Williams, D. L., Goldstein, G., & Minshew, N. J. (2005). Impaired memory for faces and social scenes in autism: Clinical implications of the memory disorder. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 20, 1-15.
32. Williams, D. L., Goldstein, G., & Minshew, N. J. (2006). The profile of memory function in children with autism. Neuropsychology, 20, 21-29.
33. Welsh, M., & Pennington, B. F. (1988). Assessing frontal lobe functioning in children: Views from developmental psychology. Developmental Neuropsychology, 4, 199-230.
34. Welsh, M. C., Pennington, B. F., Ozonoff, S., Rouse, B., & McCabe, E. R. B. (1990). Neuropsychology of early-treated phenylketonuria: Specific executive function deficits. Child Development, 61, 1697-1713.