Abstract

This study analyzes performance on both a Semantic and a Letter verbal fluency (VF) task in school-age children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HF-ASD) (n = 20) and without ASD (n = 20) and investigates the relationship between VF indicators and age, verbal and non-verbal IQ, ASD severity, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptomatology. Furthermore, the Poor Lexical-Semantic Structure Model and the Slow-Retrieval Model are tested if they could account for semantic retrieval difficulties in children with HF-ASD. The HF-ASD group generated significantly fewer correct responses in both VF tasks in comparison to the control group. The type of task significantly affected performance and both groups showed higher word generativity on the Semantic task. The groups did not differ in clustering, switching, and errors. Age significantly correlated with the VF indicators in the ASD group, but in the control group, there was a significant negative correlation with the number of errors. Non-verbal and verbal IQ did not correlate with any VF indicators in both groups, while ASD severity and ADHD symptomatology correlated positively and significantly with error responses in the ASD group. The Slow-Retrieval Model explains VF difficulties in the HF-ASD group indicating that poorer word generativity can be attributed to slower retrieval of words from the semantic network.

摘要

本研究分析了患有高功能自闭症谱系障碍 (HF-ASD) (n = 20) 和无 ASD (n = 20) 的学龄儿童在语义和字母言语流畅性 (VF) 任务中的表现，并调查了VF 指标与年龄、言语和非言语智商、自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 严重程度和注意力缺陷多动障碍 (ADHD) 症状之间的关系。此外，还测试了不良词汇语义结构模型和慢检索模型是否可以解决 HF-ASD 儿童的语义检索困难。与对照组相比，HF-ASD 组在两项心室颤动任务中产生的正确反应明显较少。任务类型显着影响表现，两组在语义任务上都表现出较高的单词生成能力。这些组在聚类、切换和错误方面没有差异。在 ASD 组中，年龄与 VF 指标显着相关，但在对照组中，与错误数量呈显着负相关。在两组中，非语言和语言智商与任何 VF 指标均不相关，而 ASD 严重程度和 ADHD 症状与 ASD 组的错误反应呈显着正相关。慢速检索模型解释了 HF-ASD 组中的 VF 困难，表明较差的单词生成能力可归因于从语义网络中检索单词的速度较慢。而 ASD 严重程度和 ADHD 症状与 ASD 组的错误反应呈显着正相关。慢速检索模型解释了 HF-ASD 组中的 VF 困难，表明较差的单词生成能力可归因于从语义网络中检索单词的速度较慢。而 ASD 严重程度和 ADHD 症状与 ASD 组的错误反应呈显着正相关。慢速检索模型解释了 HF-ASD 组中的 VF 困难，表明较差的单词生成能力可归因于从语义网络中检索单词的速度较慢。