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Cited by 90Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchSocial Representations and IdentityMemory Processes and Influences

Inner speech is used to mediate short-term memory, but not planning, among intellectually high-functioning adults with autism spectrum disorder

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Williams, David M., Bowler, Dermot M., Jarrold, Christopher·2012·Development and Psychopathology
DOI 10.1017/s0954579411000794
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Abstract

Evidence regarding the use of inner speech by individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is equivocal. To clarify this issue, the current study employed multiple techniques and tasks used across several previous studies. In Experiment 1, participants with and without ASD showed highly similar patterns and levels of serial recall for visually presented stimuli. Both groups were significantly affected by the phonological similarity of items to be recalled, indicating that visual material was spontaneously recoded into a verbal form. Confirming that short-term memory is typically verbally mediated among the majority of people with ASD, recall performance among both groups declined substantially when inner speech use was prevented by the imposition of articulatory suppression during the presentation of stimuli. In Experiment 2, planning performance on a tower of London task was substantially detrimentally affected by articulatory suppression among comparison participants, but not among participants with ASD. This suggests that planning is not verbally mediated in ASD. It is important that the extent to which articulatory suppression affected planning among participants with ASD was uniquely associated with the degree of their observed and self-reported communication impairments. This confirms a link between interpersonal communication with others and intrapersonal communication with self as a means of higher order problem solving.

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  • Inconsistencies in planning literature imply children may deploy private/inner speech during planning tasks, but adults rely less on these strategies.

    “Inconsistencies in the planning literature imply that, while children may deploy private and inner speech during common planning tasks, adults appear to rely less on these strategies.”

    From Inner Speech: Development, Cognitive Functions, Phenomenology, and Neurobiology (2015) · cites this paper as Williams et al., 2012

    The Typical Development of Verbal Mediation section reports that children use verbal mediation in planning tasks, supporting the first part of the claim. But the Discussion says that adults with ASD relied less on inner speech than adult comparison participants, whose planning was substantially affected when inner speech was blocked. The claim omits that diagnostic qualifier and generalizes the finding to adults as a whole. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • Williams et al. reported an increase in moves under articulatory suppression, while Phillips et al. found no effect.

    “While Williams et al. (2012) reported an increase in the number of moves used by adults attempting a tower task under articulatory suppression, Phillips, Wynn, Gilhooly, Della Sala, and Logie (1999) previously found no effect of interfering with inner speech on planning skills.”

    From Inner Speech: Development, Cognitive Functions, Phenomenology, and Neurobiology (2015) · cites this paper as Williams et al., 2012

    The Results report that comparison-group adults used more moves on the Tower puzzles under articulatory suppression than in silence. Adults with ASD did not show that increase, so the claim omits an important group qualification. The statement about Phillips et al. is attributed to Phillips et al., not to Williams et al. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Articulatory suppression is a commonly used secondary task that is thought to interfere with inner speech use.

    “Following this, participants also attempted a novel version of the inner-speech task that included articulatory suppression, a commonly used secondary task that is thought to interfere with inner speech use (e.g. Baddeley et al., 1984; Williams et al., 2012).”

    From The brain's conversation with itself: neural substrates of dialogic inner speech (2016) · cites this paper as Williams et al., 2012

  • If inner speech is shaped by communicative experience, then qualitative differences in the inner speech of people on the autistic spectrum may also be expected.

    “If inner speech is shaped by communicative experience—as a Vygotskian approach would suggest—then qualitative differences in the inner speech of people on the autistic spectrum may also be expected (Fernyhough, 1996; Williams et al., 2012).”

    From The brain's conversation with itself: neural substrates of dialogic inner speech (2016) · cites this paper as Williams et al., 2012

  • Vygotsky's ideas about the role of such mediation in self-regulation have begun to be integrated into modern research into the executive functions.

    “Vygotsky’s ideas about the role of such mediation in self-regulation have begun to be integrated into modern research into the executive functions, the heterogeneous set of cognitive capacities responsible for the planning, inhibition, and control of behavior (e.g., Cragg & Nation, 2010; Williams, Bowler, & Jarrold, 2012).”

    From Inner Speech: Development, Cognitive Functions, Phenomenology, and Neurobiology (2015) · cites this paper as Williams, Bowler, & Jarrold, 2012

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 9

  1. Harris, 1990, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: Computer version
  2. Wechsler, 2000, Wechsler Adult Scale of Intelligence
  3. 10.2307/1129345 · DOI
  4. 10.2307/1128878 · DOI
  5. 1992, ICD-10: The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders—Clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines
  6. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: Text revision
  7. 10.2307/1128362 · DOI
  8. Thorndike, 1944, Tire teacher's word book of 30,000 words
  9. 10.1017/s0021963098002601 · DOI

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Authors
Williams, D. M., Bowler, D. M., & Jarrold, C.
Affiliations
  • Durham University (GB)
  • City, University of London (GB)
  • University of Bristol (GB)
Corresponding author
Williams, David M.
ORCID
Venue
Development and Psychopathology
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2012-01-31
Volume
24
Issue
1
Pages
225-239
ISSN
  • 0954-5794 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-2198
DOI
10.1017/s0954579411000794
OpenAlex
W2070417861
Cited by
89
References
78
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 5
FWCI
3.27
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified)
Locations
  • Development and Psychopathology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) (acceptedVersion)
  • City Research Online (City University London) (acceptedVersion)
  • Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Representations and Identity
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
Keywords
inner speech, autism spectrum disorder, short-term memory, planning, articulatory suppression, verbal mediation, serial recall, phonological similarity, Tower of London, communication disorders, problem solving
MeSH terms
Adult, Autistic Disorder, Female, Humans, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Mental Recall, Thinking, Asperger Syndrome

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