This study examined the effectiveness of using "subject-performed tasks" to improve memory efficiency of eight autistic children. The procedure involved instructing children to carry out and later remember a series of actions. The procedure's effectiveness was attributed to autistic subjects' lack of verbal encoding strategies and…

This study examined conceptual relationships in semantic memory using an indirect priming technique in high-functioning autistic adolescents and controls. The autistic subjects and controls showed similar semantic priming effects. However, correlations with nonverbal cognitive measures for the autistic subjects suggests that semantic processing in…

The follow-up study of 16 nonretarded autistic children as adults found that, though most were functioning poorly in terms of occupational-social outcome and psychiatric symptoms, four had essentially recovered. Severity of early autistic behavior was a poor predictor of outcome, but neuropsychologic measures of nonverbal problem solving were…

A six-year-old nonvocal girl with autism who had acquired a variety of signs and imitative responses consistently failed to acquire a tact (labeling) repertoire. When procedures to transfer stimulus control from verbal to nonverbal stimuli were implemented, the subject quickly learned to tact all 18 target stimuli. (Author/DB)