Brief Report: Inhibitory Control of Socially Relevant Stimuli in Children with High Functioning Autism

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 39; no. 11; pp. 1603 - 1607
• Main Authors: Geurts, Hilde M., Begeer, Sander, Stockmann, Lex
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.11.2009; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Antisocial Behavior; Arousal; Arousal Patterns; Asperger Syndrome; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Autistic children; Autistic Disorder - psychology; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Brief Report; Child; Child and School Psychology; Child Behavior; Child clinical studies; Children; Comparative Analysis; Control Groups; Developmental disorders; Emotional Intelligence; Emotional Response; Emotions; Executive Function; Female; High functioning; Humans; Infantile autism; Inhibition; Inhibitory processes; Male; Medical sciences; Neurosciences; Pediatrics; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Public Health; Reaction Time; Responses; Self Control; Social Behavior; Social Perception; Stimuli; Autism; Executive functions; Inhibitory control; Emotion; Arousal; Human; Affect affectivity; Executive function; Cognition; Emotion emotionality; Developmental disorder; Experimental study; School age; Go/NoGo task; Adolescent; Inhibition; Child; High functioning autism; Cognitive control
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-009-0786-4

The current study explored whether inhibitory control deficits in high functioning autism (HFA) emerged when socially relevant stimuli were used and whether arousal level affected the performance. A Go/NoGo paradigm, with socially relevant stimuli and varying presentation rates, was applied in 18 children with HFA (including children with autism or Asperger syndrome) and 22 typically developing children (aged 8–13 years). Children with HFA did not show inhibitory control deficits compared to the control group, but their performance deteriorated in the slow presentation rate condition. Findings were unrelated to children’s abilities to recognize emotions. Hence, rather than a core deficit in inhibitory control, low arousal level in response to social stimuli might influence the responses given by children with HFA.