Motor demands impact speed of information processing in autism spectrum disorders
Open accessAbstract
The apparent contradiction between preserved or even enhanced perceptual processing speed on inspection time tasks in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and impaired performance on complex processing speed tasks that require motor output (e.g., Wechsler Processing Speed Index) has not yet been systematically investigated. This study investigates whether adding motor output demands to an inspection time task impairs ASD performance compared to that of typically developing control (TDC) children. The performance of children with ASD (n = 28; mean Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) = 115) and TDC (n = 25; mean FSIQ = 122) children was compared on processing speed tasks with increasing motor demand. Correlations were run between ASD task performance and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) Communication scores. Performance by the ASD and TDC groups on a simple perceptual processing speed task with minimal motor demand was equivalent, though it diverged (ASD worse than TDC) on 2 tasks with the same stimuli but increased motor output demands. ASD performance on the moderate but not the high speeded motor output demand task was negatively correlated with ADOS communication symptoms. These data address the apparent contradiction between preserved inspection time in the context of slowed "processing speed" in ASD. They show that processing speed is preserved when motor demands are minimized, but that increased motor output demands interfere with the ability to act on perceptual processing of simple stimuli. Reducing motor demands (e.g., through the use of computers) may increase the capacity of people with ASD to demonstrate good perceptual processing in a variety of educational, vocational, and social settings.
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It is critical to include motor control in studies related to processing speed due to their common overlapping deficit.
“It is critical to include motor control in studies related to processing speed due to their common overlapping deficit30,31,47,55,61,81.”
From Diagnostic Associations of Processing Speed in a Transdiagnostic, Pediatric Sample (2020) · cites this paper as [55]
The Discussion says that, in ASD, movement demands significantly limit performance on processing-speed tasks and should be considered separately. The study supports accounting for motor demands when studying processing speed in children with ASD, but it does not establish a common overlapping deficit across populations or processing-speed studies generally. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe motor demand in tasks may partly explain differences between autistic and nonautistic groups in PSI, as increasing motor requirement increases group differences on speeded tasks and pure inspection time may be a relative strength for autistic people.
“The motor demand in tasks may partly explain the differences between autistic and nonautistic groups in PSI, as increasing the motor requirement increases group differences on speeded tasks (Kenworthy et al., 2013) and pure inspection time (without a motor requirement) may represent a relative strength for autistic people (Barbeau et al., 2013).”
From Cognitive Profile in Autism and ADHD: A Meta-Analysis of Performance on the WAIS-IV and WISC-V (2024) · cites this paper as Kenworthy et al., 2013
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- Authors
- Kenworthy, L., Yerys, B. E., Weinblatt, R., Abrams, D. N., & Wallace, G. L.
- Affiliations
- Children's National (US)
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (US)
- Center for Autism and Related Disorders (US)
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Venue
- Neuropsychology
- Published
- 2013
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 529-536
- ISSN
- 0894-4105 (ISSN-L)
- 1931-1559
- PMC
- PMC4603390
- OpenAlex
- W1988414782
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 3
- FWCI
- 1.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Neuropsychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (K23MH086111)
- The Singer Family Foundation
- The Isadore and Bertha Gudelsky Family Foundation
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, processing speed, motor demands, inspection time, motor output, perceptual processing, children, computer-based testing
- MeSH terms
- Child, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Processes, Psychomotor Performance
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