| dc.description.abstract | The current study aimed to investigate what underlying mechanisms contribute to prospective memory (PM) dysfunction in adolescents with high-functioning autism (HFA). Mechanisms that are claimed to be generally impaired in individuals with HFA, such as executive functioning (EF) might help to explain difficulties with PM as well. Social skill deficits claimed to be evident in autism, such as diminished Theory of Mind (ToM), might have a part in PM tasks when these are socially motivated. To investigate this, a group of adolescents with HFA was compared to a control group on measures of EF, ToM and PM. The motivation to perform well on the prospective memory task was manipulated to be either neutral, social of personal. It was hypothesized that healthy controls would outperform adolescents with HFA on all three measures. Moreover, it was expected that ToM would moderate the relation between motivation and PM performance. In line with the expectations, it was found that the HFA group performed less on the prospective memory task. However, the origin of these differences remains unclear as the HFA group did not differ from the control group on EF, nor ToM. No relationship was found between PM and EF, social motivation and ToM. It seemed that the presence of comorbid ADHD symptomatology in part of the HFA group did influence PM performance. Current findings underline the importance of maintaining a dimensional approach toward psychopathological diagnoses such as HFA and ADHD. More research is needed to investigate the network of dimensional traits underlying PM. | |
