High “intelligence,” low “IQ”? Speed of processing and measured IQ in children with autism
Open accessAbstract
The uneven profile of performance on standard assessments of intelligence and the high incidence of savant skills have prompted interest in the nature of intelligence in autism. The present paper reports the first group study of speed of processing in children with autism (IQ 1 SD below average) using an inspection time task. The children with autism showed inspection times as fast as an age-matched group of young normally developing children (IQ 1 SD above average). They were also significantly faster than mentally handicapped children without autism of the same age, even when these groups were pairwise matched on Wechsler IQ. To the extent that IT tasks tap individual differences in basic processing efficiency, children with autism in this study appear to have preserved information processing capacity despite poor measured IQ. These findings have implications for the role of general and specific cognitive systems in knowledge and skill acquisition: far from showing that children with autism are unimpaired, we suggest that our data may demonstrate the vital role of social insight in the development of manifest “intelligence.”
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Scheuffgen, Happé, Anderson, and Frith (2000) found that children with ASD and below average IQ demonstrated surprisingly fast processing speed compared with children with intellectual disabilities on a perceptual discrimination task.
“Scheuffgen, Happé, Anderson, and Frith (2000) found that children with ASD and below average IQ (mean = 82) demonstrated surprisingly fast processing speed, when asked to complete a perceptual discrimination in which the stimuli appeared on the computer screen for a variable amount of time, compared to children with intellectual disabilities.”
From WISC-IV profile in high-functioning autism spectrum disorders: Impaired processing speed is associated with increased autism communication symptoms and decreased adaptive communication abilities (2012) · cites this paper as Scheuffgen, Happé, Anderson, and Frith (2000)
Recent studies using the inspection time task suggest intact or better processing speed among individuals with ASD.
“Several recent studies using the inspection time task, a processing speed measure free from motor demands, suggest intact or better processing speed among individuals with ASD.”
From WISC-IV profile in high-functioning autism spectrum disorders: Impaired processing speed is associated with increased autism communication symptoms and decreased adaptive communication abilities (2012) · cites this paper as Scheuffgen, Happé, Anderson, and Frith (2000)
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- Authors
- SCHEUFFGEN, K., HAPPEÉ, F., ANDERSON, M., & FRITH, U.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- Venue
- Development and Psychopathology
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2000-03
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 83-90
- ISSN
- 0954-5794 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-2198
- OpenAlex
- W2147070764
- Cited by
- 126
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 1.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- discovery.ucl.ac.uk
- Locations
- Development and Psychopathology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Murdoch University Research Portal (submittedVersion)
- UWA Profiles and Research Repository (University of Western Australia) (submittedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, processing speed, intelligence, IQ, savant skills, processing efficiency, children, social insight, cognitive development, intellectual disability
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Autistic Disorder, Child, Female, Humans, Intelligence, Intelligence Tests, Male, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
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