Premium
Studying Weak Central Coherence at Low Levels: Children with Autism do not Succumb to Visual Illusions. A Research Note
Author(s) -
Happé Francesca G.E.
Publication year - 1996
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.1469-7610.1996.tb01483.x
Subject(s) - autism , illusion , psychology , perception , visual perception , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , optical illusion , coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) , neuroscience , physics , quantum mechanics
While anecdotal reports of abnormal perceptual experiences in autism abound, there have been to date no experimental studies showing fundamental perceptual peculiarities. The present paper reports results from a first study of low‐level visual integration in autism. Twenty‐five subjects with autism, 21 normal 7‐ and 8‐year‐olds, and 26 children with learning difficulties were asked to make simple judgements about six well‐known visual illusions. Two conditions were used, in an attempt to explore group differences; standard two‐dimensional black and white line drawings, and the same figures augmented with raised coloured lines. The subjects with autism were less likely to succumb to the two‐dimensional illusions than were the other groups, and were less aided by the three‐dimensional disembedded’ condition. These striking results are discussed with reference to the ‘central coherence’ account of autism.