Central Coherence and Cognitive Shifting in Relation to Social Improvement in High-Functioning Young Adults with Autism
Abstract
The objective of this prospective study was to evaluate the possible role of two cognitive styles--weak central coherence and poor cognitive shifting--in predicting social improvement in patients with autistic disorder. Thirty patients, largely similar in age (young adults), intelligence (high-functioning) and living conditions (residential treatment in the same unit) were assessed at two separate time points with a 3-year interval between pretest and posttest. At pretest central coherence, cognitive shifting and several aspects of social functioning--symptom severity, social intelligence and social competence--were measured. At posttest social functioning was reassessed. Unlike central coherence, cognitive shifting was identified as a significant prognostic marker. This differential outcome might be an indication that patients with poor cognitive shifting and patients with weak central coherence have different prognoses with the current, highly structured treatment milieu; it is unknown whether patients with poor cognitive flexibility might benefit more from treatments specifically designed to address this problem.
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Executive function, particularly cognitive flexibility, is a significant prognostic marker for everyday adaptive behavior in adulthood, as measured by the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, over 3 years and longer periods, including up to 27 years after intake.
“Similarly, EF, particularly cognitive flexibility, has been shown to be Ba significant prognostic marker^for everyday adaptive behavior in adulthood, as measured by the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (Sparrow et al. 1984)over 3-years (Berger et al. 2003) and much longer periods (Pugliese et al. 2016), including up to 27 years after intake (Szatmari et al. 1989).”
From Childhood Executive Function Predicts Later Autistic Features and Adaptive Behavior in Young Autistic People: a 12-Year Prospective Study (2019) · cites this paper as Berger et al. 2003
The current findings support and extend existing longitudinal work demonstrating significant links between early executive function skills and later behavior in cognitively able autistic people.
“The current findings support and extend existing longitudinal work demonstrating significant links between early EF skills and later behavior in cognitively-able autistic people (Berger et al. 2003;Pellicano 2013;Pugliese et al. 2016;Szatmari et al. 1989)”
From Childhood Executive Function Predicts Later Autistic Features and Adaptive Behavior in Young Autistic People: a 12-Year Prospective Study (2019) · cites this paper as Berger et al. 2003
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- Authors
- Berger, H. J. C., Aerts, F. H. T. M., Spaendonck, K. P. M. V., Cools, A. R., & Teunisse, J.-P.
- Affiliations
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- ORCID
- Teunisse, Jan-Pieter
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2003-06
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 502-511
- ISSN
- 0165-0475 (ISSN-L)
- 1380-3395
- 1744-411X
- OpenAlex
- W1996670753
- Cited by
- 83
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 5 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 2.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, high-functioning autism, young adults, weak central coherence, cognitive flexibility, cognitive shifting, social functioning, social competence, social intelligence, prognostic factors, residential treatment
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Attention, Autistic Disorder, Cognition Disorders, Concept Formation, Discrimination Learning, Environment, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Intelligence, Internal-External Control, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Perception, Prospective Studies, Social Adjustment, Wechsler Scales, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
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