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Bottle, Tulip and Wineglass: Semantic and Structural Picture Processing by Savant Artists
Author(s) -
Pring Linda,
Hermelin Beate
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1993.tb02096.x
Subject(s) - psychology , cognitive psychology , cognition , semantic memory , developmental psychology , cognitive science , neuroscience
— Semantic and structural aspects of picture processing were investigated with graphically gifted mentally handicapped subjects and intellectually normal children. The results suggest that savants as well as controls rely primarily on semantically organised memory schemata when reproducing pictures. A semantically determined strategy also determines picture sorting. The findings indicate that within the domain of expertise there appears to be no difference between savants and normals regarding the nature of the mental structures underlying specific talents. The mental structures on which such talents: are based, should therefore be regarded as being relatively independent of the level of general cognitive functioning.