Judgment of Learning Accuracy in High-functioning Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Citation

Grainger C, Williams D & Lind S (2016) Judgment of Learning Accuracy in High-functioning Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46 (11), pp. 3570-3582. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2895-1

Abstract
This study explored whether adults and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate difficulties making metacognitive judgments, specifically judgments of learning. Across two experiments, the study examined whether individuals with ASD could accurately judge whether they had learnt a piece of information (in this case word pairs). In Experiment 1, adults with ASD demonstrated typical accuracy on a standard ‘cue-alone’ judgment of learning (JOL) task, compared to age- and IQ-matched neurotypical adults. Additionally, in Experiment 2, adolescents with ASD demonstrated typical accuracy on both a standard ‘cue-alone’ JOL task, and a ‘cue-target’ JOL task. These results suggest that JOL accuracy is unimpaired in ASD. These results have important implications for both theories of metacognition in ASD and educational practise.

Keywords
Autism; Memory; Metacognition; Metamemory; Judgment of learning; Theory of mind; Mindreading

Journal
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders: Volume 46, Issue 11

• JOL Paper (2016).pdf