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Spatial transformations of bodies and objects in adults with autism spectrum disorder

Pearson, Amy; Marsh, Lauren; Hamilton, Antonia; Ropar, Danielle

Authors

Amy Pearson

Antonia Hamilton



Abstract

Previous research into autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has shown people with autism to be impaired at visual perspective taking. However it is still unclear to what extent the spatial mechanisms underlying this ability contribute to these difficulties. In the current experiment we examine spatial transformations in adults with ASD and typical adults. Participants performed egocentric transformations and mental rotation of bodies and cars. Results indicated that participants with ASD had general perceptual differences impacting on response times across tasks. However, they also showed more specific differences in the egocentric task suggesting particular difficulty with using the self as a reference frame. These findings suggest that impaired perspective taking could be grounded in difficulty with the spatial transformation used to imagine the self in someone else’s place.

Citation

Pearson, A., Marsh, L., Hamilton, A., & Ropar, D. (2014). Spatial transformations of bodies and objects in adults with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44(9), 2277-2289. doi:10.1007/s10803-014-2098-6

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 22, 2014
Publication Date Sep 1, 2014
Deposit Date Jun 20, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Print ISSN 0162-3257
Electronic ISSN 1573-3432
Publisher BMC
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 44
Issue 9
Pages 2277-2289
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2098-6
Keywords Spatial transformations; Bodies; Objects; Mental rotation; Egocentric; Autism
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1103854
Publisher URL https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10803-014-2098-6
PMID 00034054