1,721,006 research outputs found
Local-global visuospatial processing in Autism Spectrum Disorders and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities: A cross-task and cross-disorder comparison
Get PDFVisuospatial abilities are considered essential to our interaction with the environment and are involved in many every-day activities (Hegarty & Waller, 2005; Jansen, Wiedenbauer, & Hahn, 2010). A useful way to approach this neuropsychological domain is the global-local paradigm, according to which, people may attend an event using a global processing style, in which they consider the gestalt of a set of stimuli, or a local processing style, in which they focus on details (Förster & Dannenberg, 2010; Navon, 1977; Schooler, 2002). An abundance of research on global versus local processing has revealed preferential processing styles (with a global or local bias) in specific neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly as concerns Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) (Caron, Mottron, Dawson, Bertiaume, & Dawson, 2006; Kuschner, Bodner, & Minshew, 2009). Conflicting findings have often emerged in the literature (see for example Van der Hallen, Evers, Brewaeys, Van den Noortgate, & Wagemans, 2015), however, showing that participants with different developmental disorders can process both global and local information, depending on the task requirements and the cognitive domain involved, but in different and atypical ways (Dukette & Stiles, 2001). These results prevent possible generalizations and need to be further explored. Differently, global and local processing styles have never been studied in children with other neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NLD), even though there is evidence to suggest that the issue could be relevant in individuals with NLD as well (Chow & Skuy, 1999). For this reason, cross-task and cross-syndrome comparisons are suggested as the best way to analyze these processing abilities and reveal similarities and differences in global and local processing styles in neurodevelopmental disorders (D’Souza, Booth, Connolly, Happé, & Karmiloff-Smith, 2016).
The main aim of this PhD dissertation is to improve our understanding of the role of global and local visuospatial processing in the neuropsychological profile of specific neurodevelopmental disorders, using cross-task and cross-disorder comparisons. Children with ASD without intellectual disability (ID) or NLD were tested in terms of their performance in different domains of visuospatial skills, comparing them with each other and with children who had other neurodevelopmental disorders, such as dyslexia or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The assessment focused on visuospatial processing speed, visuo-perceptual and visuo-constructive abilities, visuospatial working memory (VSWM), and their interplay with local and global processing. Based on the modified Block Design Task (BDT) paradigm (Caron et al., 2006), new tasks and stimuli have been devised in order to assess the previously mentioned visuospatial abilities, and four studies have been carried out.
Study I aimed to make a cross-task comparison on global-local visuospatial processing in two groups of participants with ASD without ID – with and without a visuospatial peak (–P and –NP) – comparing them with matched typically developing (TD) individuals. The results helped us to clarify the visuospatial profile of the two groups of individuals with ASD, demonstrating the importance of taking specific factors into account (i.e. the visuospatial domains examined and the perceptual reasoning abilities). Participants with ASD-NP performed poorly in all domains, revealing weaker spatial integration abilities in the visuo-perceptual domain and a diminished sensitivity to perceptual coherence in the VSWM, while the ASD-P group used both global and local processing effectively according to the task, and a local bias only emerged in the visuo-constructive task. In agreement with D’Souza and coauthors (2016), our results support the conviction that labelling individuals with ASD as ‘local processors’ is restrictive. They may use both local and global processing styles depending on the demands of the task in hand, the visuospatial domain involved and their cognitive visuospatial functioning.
Study II (Chapter 3) aimed to investigate global and local visuospatial processing in children with symptoms of NLD comparing them with children with symptoms of dyslexia and with TD controls. The results showed that children with symptoms of NLD were less accurate in visuo-constructive tasks, while children with symptoms of dyslexia were only slightly impaired in a visuo-constructive task, but clearly slower in the perceptual task. Children with symptoms of NLD were less able to benefit from different levels of coherence of the stimuli, probably as a consequence of their less flexible and efficient visuospatial processes (Mammarella, & Cornoldi, 2005). In particular, the global dominance mechanism (Navon, 1977) made it more complicated for the group with symptoms of NLD to switch from a global to a local processing, which was needed to complete the visuo-constructive task correctly.
After investigating the issue of global and local visuospatial processing separately for ASD without ID and NLD, the aim of Study III (Chapter 4) was to draw a cross-disorders comparison, highlighting similarities and differences across three clinical profiles - ASD without ID, NLD and ADHD - as compared with TD controls. Our results revealed different visuospatial profiles for the groups considered, and suggested the utility of manipulating the coherence of stimuli to investigate visuospatial skills. Marked deficit in all the visuospatial domains emerged for the group with NLD, confirming that impairments in the visuospatial domain are core and distinctive symptoms of this disorder (Cornoldi, Mammarella, & Fine, 2016; Semrud-Clikeman, Walkowiak, Wilkinson, & Christopher, 2010). In addition, difficulty in integrating local configurations in a coherent whole emerged for the visuo-perceptual domain. A heterogeneous profile emerged for children with ADHD, which showed, consistently with previous studies, impairment in the visuospatial processing speed domain and in VSWM (Martinussen, Hayden, Hogg-Johnson, & Tannock, 2005; Weigard & Huang-Pollock, 2017). Moreover, these participants presented some difficulties in visuo-constructive abilities when they had to deal with global configurations, while they performed normally in visuo-perceptual task. Differently, participants with ASD performed normally in all the examined domains, using effectively both global and local visuospatial processes, with the sole exception of the visuo-constructive task in which this group showed slower response times and a diminished sensitivity to perceptual coherence (Caron et al., 2006; Shah & Frith, 1993).
Finally, since individuals with NLD and those with High Functioning Autism or Asperger Syndrome (DSM-IV TR, American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000) are often confused, Study IV (Chapter 5) included a further comparison between ASD and NLD. Visuo-constructive abilities and VSWM were investigated in a subgroup of participants with ASD without ID and without a visuospatial peak (ASD-NP) and in a group with NLD. Thus, Study IV aimed to analyze whether ASD-NP – though not representative of the ASD without ID population as a whole– shared any characteristics with the NLD group. Once again, our results differentiate the visuospatial profile of children with NLD from that of children with ASD. The former group showed an impaired performance in all the domains examined affecting both global and local levels of processing. The ASD group had a more heterogeneous profile, with normal performance in VSWM and in the drawing of a complex figure, slower response times in the segmented condition of visuoconstructive BDT and a more local and fragmented drawing style in the recall of a complex figure. Here again, local bias affected the performance of participants with ASD in tasks demanding visuoconstructive skills that specifically involved combining parts to form a single whole (Simic, Khan, & Rovet, 2013).
General conclusions derived from the main findings of the four studies, and both clinical and educational implications will be thus highlighted in the final chapter of this dissertation.
To conclude, investigating visuospatial abilities and global-local processing in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders offer crucial insight for the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the clinical profiles examined and for their differential diagnosis. There is still space for further research on the domains of visuospatial abilities, and on the general neuropsychological functioning of children with different neurodevelopmental disorders. This dissertation was an effort to raise and clarify some points, however other questions remain open and will require further studies
L'utilità della NEPSY-II per la valutazione neuropsicologica nella psicopatologia dello sviluppo
No full textLa memoria di lavoro nei disturbi del neurosviluppo. Dalle evidenze scientifiche alle applicazioni cliniche ed educative
No full textSocial Functioning in Children and Adolescents with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Cross-Disorder Comparison
No full textObjectiveSocial functioning can be defined according to three main components: social perception, social performance, and social knowledge. Although they are important in daily life relationships and in children's adaptation, these components have never been tested together in children and adolescents with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using lab-based tasks. The present study used a cross-disorder approach to compare the performance of children with ADHD and ASD and non-diagnosed (ND) peers utilizing a task that involves these three fundamental social functioning components.MethodsTwo hundred and twenty-five Italian children (86% boys) aged between 8 and 16 (66 with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD; 51 with a clinical diagnosis of ASD, level 1; 108 ND children) were enrolled. The three groups were matched for age, gender, and IQ. Social functioning was assessed using a lab-based task, including videos of problematic interactions among peers, created ad hoc for the study, and a semi-structured interview based on the Social Information Processing model.ResultsData were analyzed using one-way ANOVAs and multinomial mixed effects models. Our findings suggested that both groups with ADHD and ASD presented social functioning difficulties in comparison to ND children. However, a different pattern of performance emerged. Children with ADHD showed higher difficulties in social performance than those with ASD, whereas autistic children revealed more difficulties in social perception and in some aspects of social knowledge.ConclusionsOur findings have important clinical implications for assessment, intervention, and differential diagnosis, and should encourage clinicians to investigate different aspects of social functioning and identify specific strengths and weaknesses in each social profile
Compiti spaziali e fattori emotivi: Una ricerca condotta con l'adattamento italiano del Child Spatial Anxiety Questionnaire (CSAQ)
No full textObiettivo del presente lavoro è quello di indagare le relazioni esistenti tra l’ansia spaziale, provata dai bambini quando devono immaginarsi di svolgere compiti spaziali, indici di ragionamento verbale e spaziale e aspetti attentivi e comportamentali. L’ansia spaziale è stata misurata adattando alla lingua italiana il Child Spatial Anxiety Questionnaire (CSAQ; Ramirez, Gunderson, Levine e Beilock, 2012), raccogliendo in questo modo anche dati normativi su 409 bambini (206 M e 203 F), frequentanti classi terze e quarte di scuola primaria (età media = 105.6 mesi, DS = 8.07) e evidenziando una buona affidabilità del questionario e differenze di genere ed età nella manifestazione dell’ansia spaziale. Emergono inoltre correlazioni negative tra l’ansia spaziale e indici di ragionamento verbale e spaziale e positive con indici di disattenzione e ADHD che evidenziano la complessità dei fattori che incidono sull’ansia per compiti spaziali
Differences in visuospatial processing in individuals with nonverbal learning disability or autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability
No full textObjective: Although previous reports produced converging empirical evidence of a core deficit on visuospatial processing in children with a nonverbal learning disability (NLD), few studies compared the visuospatial profile of individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or NLD in visuoconstructive and visuospatial working memory tasks. Nor did any of these studies investigate the role of the local bias, typically observed in ASD, when comparing these clinical groups. The present study aimed to analyze whether NLD and ASD share any characteristics. Method: A group of participants with NLD (n 17) was compared with another group who had ASD (n 17) without intellectual disability (ID), and without a peak in visuospatial intelligence, and with a control group (n 17). Participants aged from 8 to 18 years performed a visuoconstructive and a visuospatial working memory task in which global–local processing styles were manipulated. Results: The analysis of their visuospatial processing clearly distinguished between the neuropsychological profiles of the group with ASD without ID and the group with NLD: the latter performed less well than the former in all domains. The participants with ASD without ID had a more heterogeneous visuospatial profile, showing a diminished sensitivity to perceptual cohesiveness only in the visuoconstructive task. Conclusions: Examining different visuospatial domains and manipulating the cohesiveness of the stimuli might be useful for better discriminating between NLD and ASD without ID
L’importanza di approfondire deficit visuo-spaziali e di coordinazione motoria per l’identificazione di distinti disturbi del neurosviluppo.
No full textAnxiety in youth with and without specific learning disorders: exploring the relationships with inhibitory control, perfectionism, and self-conscious emotions
No full textIntroduction: Since early research on Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), their relationship with emotional issues have been recognized, although emotional factors have received less attention compared to the cognitive processes related with academic achievement. Methods: This study aimed to investigate mechanisms that may increase vulnerability to generalized and social anxiety in youth with SLD, compared to their non-diagnosed peers. We examined cognitive factors (inhibitory control), personality traits (self-oriented, socially prescribed perfectionism), and self-conscious emotions (shame, guilt). The sample included 134 individuals aged 10 to 16, divided into two groups: 67 with SLD and 67 without diagnoses, matched by age, sex, and IQ. Participants completed questionnaires on anxiety, perfectionism, and selfconscious emotions, alongside an inhibitory control task. Results: Findings revealed that those with SLD reported higher generalized and social anxiety, poorer inhibitory control, greater socially prescribed perfectionism, and more shame than nondiagnosed peers. Socially prescribed perfectionism was found to increase the risk of generalized anxiety in participants with SLD, while both socially prescribed perfectionism and shame were predictors of social anxiety across both groups. Finally, self-oriented perfectionism seemed to be associated with lower social anxiety in the SLD group. Discussion: These findings suggest that interventions should address risk and protective factors, focusing on reducing anxiety and fostering adaptive self-regulation strategies
Un training sulle abilità di rotazione mentale in bambini della scuola primaria
No full textNel presente lavoro ci si è proposti di potenziare le abilità visuo-spaziali e
geometriche, attraverso l’applicazione di un training sperimentale sulle abilità di rotazione mentale. L’obiettivo è stato quello di valutare gli effetti specifici di un training di rotazione mentale (Animal Rotation Training) sulle prestazioni di 45 bambini di età compresa tra gli 8 e i 10 anni, frequentanti la quarta classe della scuola primaria. In secondo luogo, si è analizzata la generalizzazione dell’effetto del training sull’apprendimento della geometria, sulle abilità cognitive di carattere più generale, come le abilità
di ragionamento visuo-spaziale, di riconoscimento di relazioni spaziali e su una prova di controllo di ragionamento verbale. I risultati hanno evidenziato un miglioramento delle prestazioni che non si limita alle prove specifiche di rotazione mentale, ma generalizza il suo effetto anche alle prove relative all’ambito della geometria
Motor and visuospatial processing profile in a cross-conditions study: A comparison between developmental coordination disorder and nonverbal learning disability
Get PDFBackground: Neurodevelopmental conditions often exhibit overlapping symptoms, posing challenges
for differential diagnosis. Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) manifests as
fundamental motor impairments, often along with co-occurring visuospatial difficulties.
Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD) features visuospatial core challenges, with a less consistent
characterization of its motor profile. Strikingly, to date no study has directly compared DCD and
NLD profiles.
Aims: The present study aimed to analyze whether DCD and NLD share any characteristics by
contrasting their motor and visuospatial performances, comparing them with non-diagnosed (ND)
peers.
Methods and Procedures: A total of 102 participants (8–16 years; DCD N = 29, NLD N = 29, ND
N = 44) completed motor and visuospatial tasks. The groups’ performance was compared, and the
discriminatory power of the measures administered was analyzed.
Outcomes and Results: Our findings support the substantial motor and visuospatial impairments in
DCD and NLD, respectively. Regarding diagnostic efficacy, motor and visuospatial tasks effectively
differentiated DCD or NLD from ND, with specificities related to each condition. Balance,
and to a lesser extent, Spatial Processing revealed significant predictive power in distinguishing
between DCD and NLD.
Conclusions and Implications: Our results revealed cross-disorder similarities and highlighted
specific hallmarks, corroborating the need of a comprehensive motor and visuospatial assessment
for distinguishing between DCD and NLD
- …
