Development of the Addenbrooke's MSK screening tool (AMST) for children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis.

Background: Musculoskeletal (MSK) issues are common in the paediatric population and in people with CF. There is currently no MSK screening tool for children and adolescents with CF. Methods: The protocol to develop the pGALS (paediatric Gait, Arms, Legs, Spine) was followed to create this screening tool. Paediatric respiratory and MSK physiotherapists, and paediatric respiratory doctors at a large teaching hospital were involved in the creation of this tool. This was then reviewed by paediatric respiratory doctors and physiotherapists at a second large teaching hospital with amendments added. One year data of this screening tool used on children over 7 was collected and analysed as a secondary outcome of this project. Results: There were 81.8 % more positive screens for MSK issues in the newly developed screening tool compared to the year using Manchester MSK screening tool; there were also 6 more referrals all deemed as appropriate by the services referred to. Almost half of the population screened using the developed tool were positive for an MSK issue, this was commonly related to poor posture or correctable kyphosis. Kyphosis, as measured by plumb line, appeared to be associated with negative health outcomes in this population; pectoralis major length was also associated with kyphosis and these negative health outcomes. Conclusion: The development of this tool has followed the protocol set out by the PGALs and has shown some promise with interesting initial results. This tool will need further validation before it is used in the wider paediatric CF population.

[Formula: see text] Beyond the rubicon: a continuum approach to investigating the impact of ADHD like characteristics on everyday executive function in children with Tourette Syndrome.

Across a range of neurodevelopmental conditions, a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been shown to be associated with executive function impairment. However, the DSM-V emphasis upon viewing psychological characteristics as existing on a continuous distributed quantitative dimension has enabled the opportunity to consider the influence of sub-diagnostic or sub-referral levels of these psychological characteristics upon cognitive function. This study adopted a continuum approach to the consideration of this ADHD influence and examined the extent to which the difference in parental reported executive functions between children with Tourette syndrome (TS) or typically developing children could be mediated by a concurrent group difference in the possession of sub-referral levels of ADHD-like characteristics. A total of 146 children, 58 with reported TS diagnosis, participated. Parental report measures of ecological executive functioning, the Child Executive Functioning Inventory, and the Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Parent Rating Scale were employed. The analyses with a full sample and a sub-referral sample revealed significant group differences in most of the key measures. In addition, these measures were highly correlated even when controlling for age and gender. A series of mediation analyses indicated that in all models, the ADHD-like measures significantly mediated the group difference in executive function. These results suggest that sub-referrals levels of ADHD-like characteristics continue to contribute to executive challenges in TS. Future intervention research targeting these executive functions should consider the presence of ADHD-like characteristics at sub-referral levels of possession.

Heated Behaviour in the Classroom for Children with FASD: The Relationship between Characteristics Associated with ADHD, ODD and ASD, Hot Executive Function and Classroom Based Reward Systems.

Possession of characteristics related to Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, and Autism Spectrum Disorder in children prenatally exposed to alcohol contributes to challenges within the diagnostic pathway for Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). The presentation of these characteristics, though problematic for the children affected, may not result in referral for diagnosis; focusing on diagnostic thresholds masks the dimensional nature of these characteristics. Children with traits which are undiagnosed may not receive effective support and are often identified as exhibiting challenging behaviour. In the UK, children with undiagnosed Special Educational Needs (SEN) are more likely to experience school exclusion. Common across each condition are challenges to executive function associated with emotional regulation (hot-executive function). This study explored the relationship between characteristics of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, Autistic-Like Traits, and hot executive functions on the helpfulness of reward-based interventions for children with suspected or diagnosed FASD. Data were collected online using caregiver referral questionnaire screeners for each measure (Child Autism Quotient Questionnaire, Vanderbilt ADHD Parental Rating Scale and The Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory) for children aged 6-12 years with suspected or diagnosed FASD (n = 121). Between-group comparisons showed no significant difference in the reporting of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder characteristics, Oppositional Defiance Disorder characteristics, Autistic-Like Traits, and executive function, regardless of diagnostic state. Multiple regression analyses indicated that these personality characteristics and executive functions were associated with the perception of the reward system helpfulness. However, this pattern was qualified by both the type of hot executive function challenged (significant for Regulation not Inhibition) and whether the child had an FASD diagnosis. Thus, a dimensional approach may strengthen our understanding of the child's classroom experience and help overcome barriers to effective intervention and support.

Self-reported memory and executive function in adult non-clinical hoarders.

Hoarding is the excessive acquisition of, and failure to discard of, large numbers of items, leading to personal distress. Impairments on memory and executive functions have been systematically associated with hoarding behavior, predominantly focusing upon clinical (mainly middle-aged-elderly) patients with hoarding and/or PTSD. We were interested in hoarding-related memory and executive problems in younger non-clinical hoarders or non-hoarders, based on their Saving Inventory-Revised scores. In total, 113 young adults (aged 18-35 years) were assigned to either a hoarder group (N = 40) or non-hoarder group (N = 73) determined by their scores on the Saving Inventory-Revised (SI-R). Working memory (WM) and inhibition control (IC) were measured using the Adult Executive Functioning Inventory (ADEXI) and the Dysexecutive Questionnaire Revised (DEX-R) measured general executive function (EF). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale measured anxiety and depression. After controlling for gender and anxiety, the analysis revealed that the hoarders reported significantly more problems than the non-hoarders on both the IC and general EF. There was no significant between-group difference on the WM sub-scale ADEXI. Self-reported deficits in IC and EF are associated with hoarding behavior. The IC deficits cold explain hoarders' inability to resist urges to buy, and general EF deficits suggest other domains are involved.

Untangling the tingle: Investigating the association between the Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR), neuroticism, and trait & state anxiety.

The Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is an intensely pleasant tingling sensation originating in the scalp and neck and is elicited by a range of online video-induced triggers. Many individuals now regularly watch ASMR videos to relax, and alleviate symptoms of stress and insomnia, all which are indicative of elevated levels of anxiety. Emerging literature suggests that ASMR-capable individuals are characterised by high trait neuroticism, which is associated with a tendency to experience negative emotional states such as anxiety. To date however no literature has empirically linked these personality constructs and watching ASMR videos on the effect of reducing anxiety. In the current study, 36 ASMR-experiencers and 28 non-experiencers watched an ASMR video, and completed assessments of neuroticism, trait anxiety, and pre- / post-video state anxiety. MANCOVA with Group as the independent measures factor showed that ASMR-experiencers had significantly greater scores for neuroticism, trait anxiety, and video engagement than non-experiencers. Pre-video state anxiety was also significantly greater in the ASMR-experiencers and was significantly attenuated on exposure to the ASMR video, whereas non-experiencers reported no difference in state anxiety pre- and post-video. Thus, watching ASMR alleviated state anxiety but only in those who experienced ASMR. Subsequent mediation analyses identified the importance of pre-existing group differences in neuroticism, trait and (pre-video) state anxiety in accounting for the group difference in the reduction of state anxiety. The mediation analysis further lends support for watching ASMR videos as an intervention for the reduction of acute state anxiety. Future areas for research are discussed.

Demonstration of functional rehabilitation treatment effects in children and young people after severe acquired brain injury.

PURPOSE: To examine relationships between functional outcomes after pediatric acquired brain injury (ABI) and measures of rehabilitation dose. METHODS: An observational study of children receiving residential neurorehabilitation after severe ABI. RESULTS: Basic total rehabilitation dose shows a paradoxical inverse relationship to global outcome. This is due to confounding by both initial injury severity and length of stay, and variation in treatment content for a given total rehabilitation dose. Content-aware rehabilitation dose measures show robust positive correlations between fractions of rehabilitation treatment received and plausibly related aspects of outcome: specifically, between rates of recovery of gross motor function and the fraction of rehabilitation effort directed to active practice and motor learning. This relationship was robust to adjustment for therapists' expectations of recovery. CONCLUSION: Content-aware measures of rehabilitation dose are robustly causally related to pertinent aspects of outcome. These findings are step toward a goal of comparative effectiveness research in pediatric neurorehabilitation.

Compulsive shopping behaviour and executive dysfunction in young adults.

"Compulsive Shopping" is characterized by poorly controlled preoccupations/urges/behaviors focused on shopping and spending, causing significant distress/impairment. This study looked at what roles executive and related memory problems might exist in compulsive shopping. 205 adults completed on-line questionnaires measuring compulsive shopping, mood, as well as working memory and inhibition components of executive function. The Bergen Shopping Addiction Scale was used to assign participants to either a High Compulsive Shopping (HCS) group or Low Compulsive Shopping (LCS) group. Working memory (WM) and inhibition control (IC) were measured as two components of executive function (EF) using the Adult Executive Functioning Inventory (ADEXI), the Dysexecutive Questionnaire Revised (DEX-R) measured general EF. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale measured anxiety and depression. MANCOVA and mediation analyses were carried out controlling for age, gender, anxiety, depression. The HCS group scored significantly higher on all three EF measures, indicating greater executive difficulties. Subsequent mediation analyses with the ADEXI-IC as the mediator removed the significance of the relationship between Group and both the DEX-R and ADEXI-WM outcome variables. Thus, observed Group difference in DEX-R and ADEXI-WM could be fully accounted for by group differences in inhibitory control. The results highlight the role inhibitory control plays in compulsive shopping.

An EEG investigation of alpha and beta activity during resting states in adults with Williams syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Williams syndrome (WS) is neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by executive deficits of attention and inhibitory processing. The current study examined the neural mechanisms during resting states in adults with WS in order to investigate how this subserves the attention and inhibitory deficits associated with the syndrome. METHOD: Adopting electroencephalography (EEG) methodology, cortical electrical activity was recorded from eleven adults with WS aged 35 + years during Eyes Closed (EC) and Eyes Open (EO) resting states, and compared to that of thirteen typically developing adults matched for chronological age (CA) and ten typically developing children matched for verbal mental ability (MA). Using mixed-design analyses of variance (ANOVA), analyses focused on the full alpha (8-12.5 Hz), low-alpha (8-10 Hz), upper-alpha (10-12.5 Hz), and beta (13-29.5 Hz) bands, as these are thought to have functional significance with attentional and inhibitory processes. RESULTS: No significant difference in alpha power were found between the WS and CA groups across all analyses, however a trend for numerically lower alpha power was observed in the WS group, consistent with other developmental disorders characterised by attentional/inhibitory deficits such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In contrast, comparable beta power between the WS and CA groups during both EC/EO conditions suggests that their baseline EEG signature is commensurate with successful attentional processing, though this needs to be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size. Analyses also revealed an unusual trend for low variability in the EEG signature of the WS group, which contradicts the heterogeneity typically observed behaviourally. CONCLUSIONS: This novel finding of low variability in the EEG spectra in the WS group has been previously associated with poor behavioural performance in ADHD and is highly informative, highlighting future research needs to also consider how the role of low variability in the EEG profile of WS manifests in relation to their behavioural and cognitive profiles.

Alcohol Hangover Has Detrimental Impact Upon Both Executive Function and Prospective Memory.

The alcohol hangover (AH) is a state of general malaise following an evening of heavy episodic drinking when the blood alcohol concentration of the person reaches/approaches zero. The aim of the current study was to investigate what impact the AH has upon both executive function (EF) and prospective memory (PM). Previous research has shown that the AH has a detrimental effect upon cognitive abilities, including attention, working memory, and PM. The current study focused upon what impact AH might have upon both EF and related PM in the same cohort, both of which underpin everyday remembering. The current study compared an AH group (AHG) with a non-hangover group (NHG) on both EF and PM measures. Forty-one participants aged 18-29 years were tested; 19 comprised the AHG and 22 of whom made up the NHG (individuals who reported no heavy drinking the day before and did not report any significant hangover symptoms). A Verbal Fluency task measured EF and the Prospective Remembering Video Procedure measured PM. The Acute Hangover Rating Scale measured AH symptoms and severity, and a Digital Breath Analyzer Test measured their blood alcohol concentration (BAC). A Recreational Drug Use Questionnaire measured alcohol and other drug use. Anyone reporting having used an illicit substance across their lifetime (e.g., cannabis, ecstasy) or who smoked heavily were omitted from the study. Two univariate analyses of covariance compared the AHG and NHG groups on Verbal Fluency and Prospective Remembering Video Task scores (controlling for age, total alcohol units consumed per week, and the number of years spent drinking). The AHG recalled significantly fewer items on the Verbal Fluency task [F (1, 36) = 7.42, p < 0.01] and on the Prospective Remembering Video Task NHG [F (1, 36) = 14.9, p < 0.001] when compared with the NHG. Overall, it appeared that a state of AH significantly impaired both EF and PM. Given the importance of EF and PM to everyday remembering, these findings may have farther-reaching implications.

The disentanglement of the neural and experiential complexity of self-generated thoughts: A users guide to combining experience sampling with neuroimaging data.

Human cognition is not limited to the processing of events in the external environment, and the covert nature of certain aspects of the stream of consciousness (e.g. experiences such as mind-wandering) provides a methodological challenge. Although research has shown that we spend a substantial amount of time focused on thoughts and feelings that are intrinsically generated, evaluating such internal states, purely on psychological grounds can be restrictive. In this review of the different methods used to examine patterns of ongoing thought, we emphasise how the process of triangulation between neuroimaging techniques, with self-reported information, is important for the development of a more empirically grounded account of ongoing thought. Specifically, we show how imaging techniques have provided critical information regarding the presence of covert states and can help in the attempt to identify different aspects of experience.

Frogs' Legs Versus Roast Beef: How Culture Can Influence Mind-Wandering Episodes Across the Lifespan.

Numerous studies have captured the nature of mind-wandering and how it changes across the lifespan; however, the influence of culture has been neglected. This study investigated the joint effects of culture and age in a large scale online questionnaire-based survey of 308 adults over 18 years of age, both in France and the United Kingdom. To capture a profile of thinking style, self-report measures of mind-wandering frequency, mindfulness, mood, rumination, self-reflection, future thinking, depressive symptoms, and cognitive failures were gathered. Findings revealed an earlier decrease in mind-wandering frequency for French speaking participants. Cultural effects were demonstrated on rumination and reflection rates across the life span, with in general more rumination and less reflection for English speakers. Overall, negatively toned thoughts were dominant for English compared to more expressive thoughts in general for French speakers. Confirmatory factor analyses featured different theoretical models to explain mind-wandering frequency in the French and British populations. This study provides the basis for further investigations of sociocultural influences on the eclectic phenomenon of mind-wandering.

Autistic-like traits in children are associated with enhanced performance in a qualitative visual working memory task.

Prior research has suggested that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) demonstrate heterogeneity in cognitive efficacy, challenged executive resources but efficient visual processing. These contrasts lead to opposing predictions about visuospatial working memory competency in both ASD and the broader autism phenotype (BAP); compromised by constrained executive processes, but potentially scaffolded by effective visual representation. It is surprising therefore, that there is a paucity of visual working memory (VWM) research in both the ASD and BAP populations, which have focused upon the visual features of the to-be-remembered stimulus. We assessed whether individual differences in VWM were associated with autistic-like traits (ALTs) in the BAP. About 76 children carried out the Visual Just Noticeable Difference task, designed to measure high fidelity feature representation within VWM. ALTs were measured with the Children's Empathy Quotient and Systemizing Quotient. Analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between Systemizing and VWM performance. This complements ASD studies in visual processing and highlights the need for further research on the working memory-long-term memory interface in ASD and BAP populations. Autism Research 2018, 11: 1494-1499. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: This study was interested in how well children with high levels of autistic-like traits (ALTs) carry out a task which involved memorizing, for brief time, the precise size of colored shapes. The results suggested that children with high levels of ALTs performed the task relatively well. This finding is in contrast to many previous studies suggest that ALTs are associated with poor memory, and suggests that future research needs to look more finely at how individuals carry out these tasks.

An event related potential study of ihibitory and attentional control in Williams syndrome adults.

The primary aim of the current study was to employ event-related potentials (ERPs) methodology to disentangle the mechanisms related to inhibitory control in older adults with Williams syndrome (WS). Eleven older adults with WS (mean age 42), 16 typically developing adults (mean age 42) and 13 typically developing children (mean age 12) participated in the study. ERPs were recorded during a three-stimulus visual oddball task, during which participants were required to make a response to a rare target stimulus embedded in a train of frequent non-target stimuli. A task-irrelevant infrequent stimulus was also present at randomised intervals during the session. The P3a latency data response related to task-irrelevant stimulus processing was delayed in WS. In addition, the early perceptual N2 amplitude was attenuated. These data are indicative of compromised early monitoring of perceptual input, accompanied by appropriate orientation of responses to task-irrelevant stimuli. However, the P3a delay suggests inefficient evaluation of the task-irrelevant stimuli. These data are discussed in terms of deficits in the disengagement of attentional processes, and the regulation of monitoring processes required for successful inhibition.

The role of visual and spatial working memory in forming mental models derived from survey and route descriptions.

This study examines the involvement of spatial and visual working memory (WM) in the construction of flexible spatial models derived from survey and route descriptions. Sixty young adults listened to environment descriptions, 30 from a survey perspective and the other 30 from a route perspective, while they performed spatial (spatial tapping [ST]) and visual (dynamic visual noise [DVN]) secondary tasks - believed to overload the spatial and visual working memory (WM) components, respectively - or no secondary task (control, C). Their mental representations of the environment were tested by free recall and a verification test with both route and survey statements. Results showed that, for both recall tasks, accuracy was worse in the ST than in the C or DVN conditions. In the verification test, the effect of both ST and DVN was a decreasing accuracy for sentences testing spatial relations from the opposite perspective to the one learnt than if the perspective was the same; only ST had a stronger interference effect than the C condition for sentences from the opposite perspective from the one learnt. Overall, these findings indicate that both visual and spatial WM, and especially the latter, are involved in the construction of perspective-flexible spatial models.

Older Adults Benefit from Symmetry, but Not Semantic Availability, in Visual Working Memory.

Visual working memory exhibits age effects that are amongst the largest observed in the cognitive aging literature. In this research we investigated whether or not older adults can benefit from visual symmetry and semantic availability, as young adults typically do. Visual matrix pattern tasks varied in terms of the perceptual factor of symmetry (Experiment 1), as well as the availability of visual semantics, or long-term memory (LTM; Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, within a visual memory span protocol, four matrix pattern sets were employed with discrete symmetry characteristics; random, vertical, horizontal, and diagonal symmetry. Encoding time was 3 s with a 2 s maintenance interval. The findings indicated a significant difference in span level across age groups for all of the symmetry variants. More importantly, both younger and older adults could take advantage of symmetry in the matrix array in order to significantly improve task performance. In Experiment 2, two visual matrix task sets were used, with visual arrays of either low or high semantic availability (i.e., they contained stimuli with recognizable shapes that allow for LTM support). Encoding duration was 3 s with a 1 s retention interval. Here, the older adult sample was significantly impaired in span performance with both variants of the task. However, only the younger adult participants could take advantage of visual semantics. These findings show that, in the context of overall impairment in individual task performance, older adults remain capable of employing the perceptual cue of symmetry in order to improve visual working memory task performance. However, they appear less able, within this protocol, to recruit visual semantics in order to scaffold performance.

How does intentionality of encoding affect memory for episodic information?

Episodic memory enables the detailed and vivid recall of past events, including target and wider contextual information. In this paper, we investigated whether/how encoding intentionality affects the retention of target and contextual episodic information from a novel experience. Healthy adults performed (1) a What-Where-When (WWW) episodic memory task involving the hiding and delayed recall of a number of items (what) in different locations (where) in temporally distinct sessions (when) and (2) unexpected tests probing memory for wider contextual information from the WWW task. Critically, some participants were informed that memory for WWW information would be subsequently probed (intentional group), while this came as a surprise for others (incidental group). The probing of contextual information came as a surprise for all participants. Participants also performed several measures of episodic and nonepisodic cognition from which common episodic and nonepisodic factors were extracted. Memory for target (WWW) and contextual information was superior in the intentional group compared with the incidental group. Memory for target and contextual information was unrelated to factors of nonepisodic cognition, irrespective of encoding intentionality. In addition, memory for target information was unrelated to factors of episodic cognition. However, memory for wider contextual information was related to some factors of episodic cognition, and these relationships differed between the intentional and incidental groups. Our results lead us to propose the hypothesis that intentional encoding of episodic information increases the coherence of the representation of the context in which the episode took place. This hypothesis remains to be tested.

Simulator Teaching of Cardiopulmonary Bypass Complications: A Prospective, Randomized Study.

OBJECTIVE: Complications of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) are rare, but life-threatening events that need prompt and rehearsed actions involving a team. This is not adequately taught to cardiothoracic surgical trainees. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge of cardiothoracic trainees required to manage these events after simulation-based vs. lecture-based teaching. PARTICIPANTS AND DESIGN: Totally, 17 cardiac surgical trainees with no formal teaching in intraoperative complications of CPB management were randomly assigned by computer to either a study group receiving simulation-based complications of CPB teaching via the Orpheus simulator (n = 9) or a control group receiving complications of CPB teaching via a lecture (n = 8). Each subject undertook a written test comprising 20 multiple choice questions on complications of CPB before and after teaching. Trainees were then asked to rate their satisfaction with each session from 1 to 5, with 5 being most satisfied. SETTING: St George Simulation and Clinical Skills Laboratory, St George's Hospital, London. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the pretest scores between the 2 groups (p = 0.29). After teaching, both groups showed a statistically significant improvement in their knowledge (p < 0.05). The trainees in the simulation group performed better than the lecture-based group; however, this was not statistically significant (p = 0.21). Satisfaction levels in both the lecture session and the simulation session were very high with means of 4.4/5 and 4.8/5, respectively. CONCLUSION: Despite the familiarity with CPB during surgery, the simulation group performed at least as well as the lecture group. Cardiothoracic trainees would benefit from formal teaching of complications of CPB management via either learning modality being incorporated into their training.

The Synergistic Impact of Excessive Alcohol Drinking and Cigarette Smoking upon Prospective Memory.

The independent use of excessive amounts of alcohol or persistent cigarette smoking have been found to have a deleterious impact upon Prospective Memory (PM: remembering future intentions and activities), although to date, the effect of their concurrent use upon PM is yet to be explored. The present study investigated the impact of the concurrent use of drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and smoking cigarettes (a "Polydrug" group) in comparison to the combined effect of the single use of these substances upon PM. The study adopted a single factorial independent groups design. The Cambridge Prospective Memory Test (CAMPROMPT) is a test of both time-based and event-based PM and was used here to measure PM. The CAMPROMPT was administered to 125 adults; an excessive alcohol user group (n = 40), a group of smokers who drink very little alcohol (n = 20), a combined user group (the "Polydrug" group) who drink excessively and smoke cigarettes (n = 40) and a non-drinker/low alcohol consumption control group (n = 25). The main findings revealed that the Polydrug users recalled significantly fewer time-based PM tasks than both excessive alcohol users p < 0.001 and smokers p = 0.013. Polydrug users (mean = 11.47) also remembered significantly fewer event-based PM tasks than excessive alcohol users p < 0.001 and smokers p = 0.013. With regards to the main aim of the study, the polydrug users exhibited significantly greater impaired time-based PM than the combined effect of single excessive alcohol users and cigarette smokers p = 0.033. However, no difference was observed between polydrug users and the combined effect of single excessive alcohol users and cigarette smokers in event-based PM p = 0.757. These results provide evidence that concurrent (polydrug) use of these two substances has a synergistic effect in terms of deficits upon time-based PM. The observation that combined excessive drinking and cigarette smoking leads to a greater impairment in time-based PM may be of paramount importance, given the key role PM plays in everyday independent living.

Visuospatial working memory in children with autism: the effect of a semantic global organization.

It has been reported that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) perceive visual scenes as a sparse set of details rather than as a congruent and meaningful unit, failing in the extraction of the global configuration of the scene. In the present study, children with ASD were compared with typically developing (TD) children, in a visuospatial working memory task, the Visual Patterns Test (VPT). The VPT array was manipulated to vary the semantic affordance of the pattern, high semantic (global) vs. low semantic; temporal parameters were also manipulated within the change detection protocol. Overall, there was no main effect associated with Group, however there was a significant effect associated with Semantics, which was further qualified by an interaction between the Group and Semantic factors; there was only a significant effect of semantics in the TD group. The findings are discussed in light of the weak central coherence theory where the ASD group are unable to make use of long term memory semantics in order to construct global representations of the array.

Spatial demonstratives and perceptual space: describing and remembering object location.

Spatial demonstratives - terms including this and that - are among the most common words across all languages. Yet, there are considerable differences between languages in how demonstratives carve up space and the object characteristics they can refer to, challenging the idea that the mapping between spatial demonstratives and the vision and action systems is universal. In seven experiments we show direct parallels between spatial demonstrative usage in English and (non-linguistic) memory for object location, indicating close connections between the language of space and non-linguistic spatial representation. Spatial demonstrative choice in English and immediate memory for object location are affected by a range of parameters - distance, ownership, visibility and familiarity - that are lexicalized in the demonstrative systems of some other languages. The results support a common set of constraints on language used to talk about space and on (non-linguistic) spatial representation itself. Differences in demonstrative systems across languages may emerge from basic distinctions in the representation and memory for object location. In turn, these distinctions offer a building block from which non-spatial uses of demonstratives can develop.