Abstract
Twenty-three children with autism and two control groups completed an attention battery comprising three versions of the continuous performance test (CPT), a digit cancellation task, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and two novel, computerized tests of shifting attention (i.e., the Same–Different Computerized Task and the Computerized Matching Task). Children with autism could focus on a particular stimulus and sustain this focus as indicated by their performance on the digit cancellation task and the CPT. Their performance on the WCST suggested problems in some aspects of shifting attention (i.e., disengaging attention). The autism group performed as well as controls on the Same–Different Computerized Task, however, that required successive comparisons between stimuli. This implies that they could, in fact, shift their attention continuously. In addition, they did not differ from controls on the Computerized Matching Task, an analog of the WCST, suggesting that they do not have a general deficit in shifting attention.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., Rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
Battig, K., Rosvold, H. E., & Mishkin, M. (1960). Comparison of the effects of frontal and caudate lesions on delayed response and alternation in monkeys. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 53, 400-404.
Bellack, A. S., Mueser, K. T., Morrison, R. L., Tierney, A., & Podell, K. (1990). Remediation of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 1650-1655.
Braverman, M., Fein, D., Lucci, D., & Waterhouse, L. (1989). Affect comprehension in children with pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19, 301-316.
Burack, J. A. (1994). Selective attention deficits in persons with autism: Preliminary evidence of an inefficient attentional lens. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 535-543.
Casey, B. J., Gordon, C. T., Mannheim, G. B., & Rumsey, J. M. (1993). Dysfunctional attention in autistic savants. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 15, 933-946.
Courchesne, E. (1995). Infantile autism. Part 1: MR imaging abnormalities and their neurobehavioral correlates. International Pediatrics, 10, 141-154.
Courchesne, E., Akshoomoff, N. A., Townsend, J., & Saitoh, O. (1995). A model system for the study of attention and the cerebellum: Infantile autism. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology Supplement, 44, 315-325.
Courchesne, E., Townsend, J., Akshoomoff, N. A., Saitoh, O., Yeung-Courchesne, R., Lincoln, A. J., James, H. E., Haas, R. H., Schreibman, L., & Lau, L. (1994a). Impairment in shifting attention in autistic and cerebellar patients. Behavioral Neuroscience, 108, 848-65.
Courchesne, E., Townsend, J., Akshoomoff, N. A., Yeung-Courchesne, R., Press, G. A., Murakami, J. W., Lincoln, A. J., James, H. E., Saitoh, O., Eggas, B., Haas, R. H., & Schreibman, L. (1994b). A new finding: impairment in shifting attention in autistic and cerebellar patients. In S. H. Broman & J. Grafinan (Eds.), Atypical cognitive deficits in developmental disorders: Implications for brain function (pp. 101-137). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Davies, S., Bishop, D., Manstead, A. S., & Tantam, D. (1994). Face perception in children with autism and Asperger's syndrome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 35, 1033-1057.
Dawson, G., & Lewy, A. (1989). Arousal, attention, and the socioemotional impairments of individuals with autism. In G. Dawson (Ed.), Autism: Nature, diagnosis, and treatment (pp. 49-74). New York: Guilford.
Fein, D., Lucci, D., Braverman, M., & Waterhouse, L. (1992). Comprehension of affect in context in children with pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 33, 1157-1167.
Garretson, H. B., Fein, D., & Waterhouse, L. (1990). Sustained attention in children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 20, 101-114.
Green, M. F., Ganzell, S., Satz, P., & Vaclav, J. F. (1990). Teaching the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test to schizophrenic patients (letter). Archives of General Psychiatry, 47, 91-92.
Green, M. F., Satz, P., Ganzell, S., & Vaclav, J. F. (1992). Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance in schizophrenia: Remediation of a stubborn deficit. American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 62-67.
Halperin, J. M., Wolf, L. E., Pascualvaca, D. M., Newcorn, J. H., Healey, J. M., O'Brien, J. D., Morganstein, A., & Young, J. G. (1988). Differential assessment of attention and impulsivity in children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 326-329.
Halperin, J. M., Sharma, V., Greenblatt, E., & Schwartz, S. T. (1991). Assessment of the continuous performance test: Reliability and validity in a nonreferred sample. Psychological Assessment 3, 603-608.
Heaton, R. K. (1981). The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Hutt, S. J., Hutt, C., Lee, D., & Ounsted, C. (1964). Arousal and childhood autism. Nature, 204, 908-909.
Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child, 2, 217-250.
Kanner, L. (1944). Early infantile autism. Journal of Pediatrics, 25, 211-217.
Lifshitz, M., Kugelmass, S., & Karov, M. (1985). Perceptual-motor and memory performance of high-risk children. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 11, 74-84.
Lincoln, A. J., Dickstein, P., Courchesne, E., Elmasian, R., & Tallal, P. (1992). Auditory processing abilities in non-retarded adolescents and young adults with developmental receptive language disorder and autism. Brain and Language, 43, 613-622.
Lovaas, O. (1977). The autistic child: Language development through behavior modification. New York: Irvington.
Lovaas, O. (1993). The development of a treatment-research project for developmentally disabled and autistic children. Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis, 26, 617-630.
Lovaas, O., Koegel, R., & Schreibman, L. (1979). Stimulus overselectivity in autism: A review of research. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 1236-1254.
Mirsky, A. F. (1987). Behavioral and psychophysiological markers of disordered attention. Environmental Health Perspectives, 74, 191-199.
Mirsky, A. F., Anthony, B. J., Duncan, C. C., Ahearn, M. B., & Kellam, S. G. (1991). Analysis of the elements of attention: A neuropsychological approach. Neuropsychology Review, 2, 109-145.
Mirsky, A. F., Fantie, B. D., & Tatman, J. E. (1995). Assessment of attention across the lifespan. In R. L. Mapou & J. Spector (Eds.), Clinical neuropsychological assessment: A cognitive approach (pp. 17-48). New York: Plenum Press.
Ozonoff, S. (1995). Reliability and validity of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in studies of autism. Neuropsychology, 9, 491-500.
Ozonoff, S., & McEvoy, R. E. (1994). A longitudinal study of executive function and theory of mind development in autism. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 415-431.
Ozonoff, S., Pennington, B. F., & Rogers, S. J. (1991). Executive function deficits in high-functioning autistic individuals: Relationship to theory of mind. Journal of Child Psychology, Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 32, 1081-1105.
Prior, M., & Hoffmann, W. (1990). Brief report: Neuropsychological testing of autistic children through an exploration with frontal lobe tests. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 20, 581-590.
Rimland, B. (1964). Infantile autism. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Rosvold, H., Mirsky, A. F., Saranson, I., Bransome, E. D., & Beck, L. H. (1956). A continuous performance test of brain damage. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 20, 343-350.
Rumsey, J. M. (1985). Conceptual problem-solving in highly verbal, nonretarded autistic men. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 15, 23-36.
Rumsey, J. M., & Hamburger, S. D. (1990). Neuropsychological divergence of high-level autism and severe dyslexia. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 20, 159-186.
Schopler, E., Reichler, R. J., & Rochen-Renner, B. R. (1988). The Childhood Autism Rating Scale. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.
Wechsler, D. (1991). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (3rd ed.). New York: Psychological Corp.
Woodcock, R. W., & Johnson, M. B. (1990). Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery—Revised. Texas: DLM Teaching Resources.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pascualvaca, D.M., Fantie, B.D., Papageorgiou, M. et al. Attentional Capacities in Children with Autism: Is There a General Deficit in Shifting Focus?. J Autism Dev Disord 28, 467–478 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026091809650
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026091809650