Picture and Word False Memory in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Developmental Perspective
Megan Borlase & Ewald Neumann
University of Canterbury
AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD)
LANGUAGE
BEHAVIOUR
SOCIAL
AUTISM
Intellectual
Memory
Perception
Executive functions
Central Coherence
Attention
Organization
Empathy
Theory of Mind
Co-ordination
Inhibitory Control
FALSE MEMORY“An apparent recollection of something that
one did not actually experience”E.g., Recovered Memories Can be believed with as much conviction
as a true memoryLaboratory tests:
StoriesShort films Association tasks (e.g. Deese, Roediger &
McDermott (DRM) paradigm)
DRM PARADIGM Developed by Deese (1959), Roediger and
McDermott (1995) Uses lists of words associated to an
unpresented ‘critical lure’ E.g., “sleep” = bed, rest, tired, dream,
slumber, snooze, snore… Found 55% of critical lures falsely recalled Can be used with pictures as well Reliably replicated in False Memory
studies
DRM STUDIES Age differences
False memory increases with age ASD studies
A lot of conflicting studies ASD adults have similar critical lure
recognition and higher studied item recognition than controls
ASD adults have lower critical lure and studied item recognition than controls
Confidence Ratings – ASD vs. controls ASD participants are more confident in their
true and false recognition than controls
EXPERIMENT ONE:-
INDIVIDUALS
HYPOTHESES1) False memories will increase
with age
2) ASD and control participants will have similar false recognition
PARTICIPANTS26 children, adolescents and
adults with ASD compared to 34 age matched controls
Recruited from Nelson, Christchurch, Wellington and Dunedin
WORD STIMULICRITICAL LURES
STUDIED WORDS
NOVEL WORDS(Recognition Task only)
E.g.,
Hammer
E.g.,
Nail, Builder, Saw, Wrench, Screwdriver, Axe, Tape measure, Screw
E.g.,
Throne, Queen
Crown, Castle
PICTURE STIMULICRITICAL LURES
STUDIED WORDS
NOVEL WORDS(recognition task only)
E.g., E.g., E.g.,
RECOGNITION TASK Contained 60 items
30 Studied Items (5 from each list)24 Novel ItemsThe 6 Critical Lures
Followed directly after each presentation Contained 4-point confidence rating:-
No/I don’t think so/I think so/Yes Read out by the researcher
“Did you hear/see…. (hammer)?” Participant paced
Age differences in false critical lure recognition for words and pictures averaged over ASD and control
participants (p<0.05)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Critical Lures Studied Items
% F
alse
cri
tical
lure
s re
cog
nis
ed
Children
Adolescents
Adults
Breakdown of age differences in false word critical lure recognition for ASD and controls (n.s.)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
ASD Control
% F
alse
wor
d cr
itica
l lur
es
reco
gnis
ed
Children
Adolescents
Adults
ASD
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Children Adolescents Adults
% o
f res
pons
es
Control
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Children Adolescents Adults
% o
f res
pons
es
No
Don't think so
Think so
Yes
Differences in confidence ratings of word false critical lure recognition between ASD and control children, adolescents and adults (n.s.)
EXPERIMENT TWO:-
COLLABORATION
COLLABORATION Groups of three children or adolescents working
together to make decisions Clark et al. (2000) compared majority rule to
discussion based decision making in collaborative trios Trios had lower critical lure and higher studied
item recognition than individuals Discussion based decision making resulted in
higher studied item and lower critical lure recognition than majority rule
Age differences in collaboration False memory, in collaborative groups, increases with
age
HYPOTHESISCollaboration will be more
beneficial to ASD participants than controls
Benefits of collaboration will increase with age
METHOD 15 children and adolescents with ASD
compared to 15 age matched controls in collaborative trios
Used the same stimuli and recognition tasks as Experiment 1 except collaborative trios carried out the recognition tasks first individually and then as a collaborative group
Overall nominal vs. collaborative trio results for CL false recognition and
correct recognition of studied words
0
20
40
60
80
100
Critical Lures Studied Items
% a
ffirm
ativ
e re
spon
ses
Nominal
Collaborative
Age differences for false critical lure recognition in ASD and control
collaborative trios (p<0.05)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
ASD Control
% f
als
e r
eco
gn
itio
n
Children
Adolescents
Children
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
Critical Lure Studied Item
Impr
ovem
ent f
rom
wor
king
col
labo
rativ
ely
Improvement in the correct rejection of CLs and recognition of studied words as a result of working collaboratively for ASD and control groups
Adolescents
0
5
10
15
20
25
Critical Lure Studied Item
Impr
ovem
ent f
rom
wor
king
col
labo
rativ
ely
ASD
Control
p<0.05 p<0.05
n.s.
n.s.
SUMMARY ASD participants had similar SI and higher false
CL recognition than controls possibly due to impaired inhibitory control.
SI recognition increased with age as did CL recognition in both individuals and collaborative trios.
Adults had lower CL recognition than younger groups possibly due to the use of categorical lists.
ASD participants generally had higher confidence in their false memories than controls
Collaboration was detrimental to ASD children but beneficial to all other groups most likely resulting from the decision making techniques applied
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Increased discrimination of “false memories” in autism spectrum disorder. PNAS, 97(15), 8734 – 8737.
Bowler, D.M., Gardiner, J.M., Grice, S. & Saavalainen, P. (2000). Memory illusion: false recall and recognition in adults with asperger’s syndrome. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 19(4), 663 – 672.
Carlin, M.T., Toglia, M.P., Wakeford, Y., Jakway, A., Sullivan, K. & Hasel, L. (2008). Verdical and false pictorial memory in individuals with and without mental retardation. American Journal on Mental Retardation,113(3), 201 – 213.
Christ, S.E., Holt, D.D., White, D.A. & Green, L. (2007). Inhibitory control in children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 1155 – 1165.
Clark, S.E., Hori, A., Putnam, A. & Martin, T.P. (2000). Group collaboration in recognition memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 26(6), 1578 – 1588.
Deese, J. (1959). On the prediction of occurrence of particular verbal intrusions in immediate recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 58(1), 17 – 22.Roediger & McDermott
Howe, M.L., Wimmer, M.C. & Blease, K. (2009). The role of associative strength in children’s false memory illusions. Memory, 17(1), 8 – 16.
Loftus, E. (2003). Our changeable memories: legal and practical implications. Nature Review Neuroscience, 4, 231 – 234.
Loftus, E.F. (1997). Creating false memories. Scientific American, 71 – 75. Warne, J. (2010, April). The Asperger’s Epidemic. North & South, p. 38.