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Superior perceptual capacity in autism: investigating universality, specificity and practical applications for learning.

自闭症的卓越感知能力：调查学习的普遍性、特异性和实际应用。

基本信息

批准号：
ES/T005785/1
负责人：
Anna Remington
金额：
$ 103.86万
依托单位：
University College London
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2021
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2021 至无数据
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FT005785%2F1
关键词：
Superior perceptual capacity autism investigating

项目摘要

Over 1% of the UK population are on the autistic spectrum. These individuals experience atypical social communication and interaction, the presence of repetitive, rigid behaviours and altered sensory experiences. In addition, the cognitive profile of autistic people differs to that of individuals without the condition. For example, it has been suggested that autistic people show a greater tendency to process the details within a visual scene, rather than the overall gist. Cognitive ability also varies hugely within the autistic community: from minimally-verbal individuals with profound intellectual impairment, to those who are verbally fluent with above average IQ. These cognitive differences impact greatly on all aspects of life for autistic people, yet there is currently no consensus on the mechanisms underpinning cognitive strengths and how these might be harnessed to promote learning. The current proposal centres on one such cognitive difference: the propensity for cognitively able autistic people to take in more perceptual information at any one time, compared to non-autistic individuals. This increased perceptual capacity can confer both practical advantages (enhanced information processing) and disadvantages (susceptibility to distraction) depending on the specific situation. It therefore offers an explanation for many aspects of autistic cognition seen within the research literature, as well as the sensory atypicalities that autistic people report experiencing. We hypothesise that this superior perceptual capacity is a central aspect of autism - and can offer a target for intervention, and guide the search for the neurobiological mechanisms associated with autism. Further, the reframing of cognitive differences in terms of this ability rather than more traditional disability focused theoretical approaches has profound practical implications for the way we intervene to promote learning, employment and wellbeing for autistic individuals. The proposed research will establish whether increased perceptual capacity extends to individuals across the entire autism spectrum, i.e. beyond those who are cognitively and verbally able. This will involve developing novel research tasks that are accessible to those who have intellectual impairment, a population that is often excluded from research. Second, it will determine whether this perceptual superiority is unique to autism, or is seen in those with other developmental conditions associated with altered sensory or attentional behaviour (e.g. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Williams Syndrome). Third, the project will look at how individual differences in perceptual capacity can inform personalised educational strategies and promote optimal learning in the classroom. This research will be the first investigation of the universality and specificity of increased perceptual capacity in autism. The results will inform a new theoretical approach to the condition (or subgroups within it), and an accompanying shift in best practice for intervention. Currently, many support strategies involve the simplification of learning tasks or environments to help reduce distraction. However, if this distraction arises due to increased perceptual capacity, then modification strategies should seek to fill excess capacity rather than reduce the available information. The findings from the current research will be used to develop novel learning tools to help autistic individuals harness the potential benefits (in particular with respect to education, and subsequently employment) while minimising the more challenging aspects associated with increased capacity. Further, the research takes a participatory approach: with autistic and non-autistic researchers working together to ensure the findings have a meaningful impact on the lives of autistic people and their families.

超过1%的英国人口属于自闭症谱系。这些人经历非典型的社会沟通和互动，存在重复，僵化的行为和改变的感官体验。此外，自闭症患者的认知特征与没有自闭症的人不同。例如，有人认为自闭症患者更倾向于处理视觉场景中的细节，而不是整体要点。认知能力在自闭症群体中也有很大的差异：从智力严重受损的语言能力极低的人，到智商高于平均水平的语言流利的人。这些认知差异对自闭症患者生活的各个方面都有很大影响，但目前对认知优势的基础机制以及如何利用这些机制促进学习还没有达成共识。目前的建议集中在一个这样的认知差异：与非自闭症个体相比，具有认知能力的自闭症患者倾向于在任何时候接受更多的感知信息。这种增加的感知能力可以根据具体情况赋予实际的优势（增强信息处理）和劣势（易分心）。因此，它为研究文献中所见的自闭症认知的许多方面提供了解释，以及自闭症患者报告经历的感觉相似性。我们假设这种上级感知能力是自闭症的一个核心方面--可以提供一个干预的目标，并指导对与自闭症相关的神经生物学机制的研究。此外，根据这种能力而不是更传统的以残疾为重点的理论方法来重新构建认知差异，对我们干预自闭症患者以促进学习，就业和福祉的方式具有深远的实际意义。拟议的研究将确定增加的感知能力是否扩展到整个自闭症谱系的个体，即超越那些认知和言语能力的人。这将涉及开发新的研究任务，使那些有智力障碍的人能够参与，而这一人群往往被排除在研究之外。其次，它将确定这种知觉优势是否是自闭症所独有的，或者在那些与改变的感觉或注意力行为相关的其他发育条件（例如注意力缺陷多动障碍和威廉姆斯综合征）中可见。第三，该项目将研究感知能力的个体差异如何为个性化的教育策略提供信息，并促进课堂上的最佳学习。这项研究将是第一次调查自闭症感知能力增加的普遍性和特异性。研究结果将为这种疾病（或其中的亚组）提供新的理论方法，以及随之而来的干预最佳实践的转变。目前，许多支持策略涉及简化学习任务或环境，以帮助减少分心。然而，如果这种分心是由于感知能力的增加而产生的，那么修改策略应该寻求填补多余的容量，而不是减少可用的信息。当前研究的结果将用于开发新型学习工具，以帮助自闭症患者利用潜在的好处（特别是在教育和随后的就业方面），同时最大限度地减少与能力增强相关的更具挑战性的方面。此外，这项研究采取了参与式的方法：自闭症和非自闭症研究人员共同努力，以确保研究结果对自闭症患者及其家庭的生活产生有意义的影响。