Abstract
The multiple object tracking (MOT) paradigm has proven its value in targeting a number of aspects of visual cognition. This study used MOT to investigate the effect of object-based grouping, both in children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A modified MOT task was administered to both groups, who had to track and distinguish four targets that moved randomly amongst four distracters, irrespective of the grouping condition. No group difference was revealed between children with and without ASD: both showed adequate MOT abilities and a similar amount of grouping interference. Implications of the current result are considered for previous MOT studies, the developmental trajectory of perceptual grouping, and the idea of heightened sensitivity to task characteristics in ASD.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
One could argue that all types of grouping used by Scholl et al. (2001) are forms of object-based grouping, even those where target and distractor were grouped by as little as a dotted line, and that merely the precise strength by which a perceptual object (or proto-object) is generated, varies. However, for clarity reasons, we will use the term object-based grouping only to refer to those types of grouping that actually generate the percept of a single 3D object.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington: Author.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. Washington: American Psychiatric Association.
Dakin, S., & Frith, U. (2005). Vagaries of visual perception in autism. Neuron, 48(3), 497–507. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2005.10.018.
De Bildt, A., Sytema, S., van Lang, N. D. J., Minderaa, R. B., van Engeland, H., & de Jonge, M. V. (2009). Evaluation of the ADOS revised algorithm: The applicability in 558 Dutch children and adolescents. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(9), 1350–1358. doi:10.1007/s10803-009-0749-9.
Eriksen, C. W., & James, J. D. S. (1986). Visual attention within and around the field of focal attention: A zoom lens model. Perception and Psychophysics, 40(4), 225–240. doi:10.3758/BF03211502.
Evers, K., de-Wit, L., Van der Hallen, R., Haesen, B., Steyaert, J., Noens, I., & Wagemans, J. (2014). Brief report: Reduced grouping interference in children with ASD: Evidence from a multiple object tracking task. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44(7), 1779–1787. doi:10.1007/s10803-013-2031-4.
Frith, U. (1989). Autism: Explaining the enigma. Oxford, Cambridge: Basil Blackwell.
Frith, U., & Happé, F. (1994). Autism: Beyond “theory of mind”. Cognition, 50(1–3), 115–132.
Gotham, K., Risi, S., Pickles, A., & Lord, C. (2006). The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule: Revised algorithms for improved diagnostic validity. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(4), 613–627. doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0280-1.
Happé, F., & Booth, R. (2008). The power of the positive: Revisiting weak coherence in autism spectrum disorders. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 61(1), 50–63. doi:10.1080/17470210701508731.
Happé, F., & Frith, U. (2006). The weak coherence account: Detail-focused cognitive style in autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36(1), 5–25. doi:10.1007/s10803-005-0039-0.
Koldewyn, K., Jiang, Y. V., Weigelt, S., & Kanwisher, N. (2013a). Global/local processing in autism: Not a disability, but a disinclination. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,. doi:10.1007/s10803-013-1777-z.
Koldewyn, K., Weigelt, S., Kanwisher, N., & Jiang, Y. (2013b). Multiple object tracking in autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(6), 1394–1405. doi:10.1007/s10803-012-1694-6.
Mottron, L., Bouvet, L., Bonnel, A., Samson, F., Burack, J. A., Dawson, M., & Heaton, P. (2013). Veridical mapping in the development of exceptional autistic abilities. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 37(2), 209–228. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.11.016.
Mottron, L., & Burack, J. A. (2001). Enhanced perceptual functioning in the development of autism. In J. A. Burack, T. Charman, N. Yirmiya, & P. R. Zelazo (Eds.), The development of autism: Perspectives from theory and research (pp. 131–148). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Mottron, L., Dawson, M., Soulieres, I., Hubert, B., & Burack, J. (2006). Enhanced perceptual functioning in autism: An update, and eight principles of autistic perception. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36(1), 27–43. doi:10.1007/s10803-005-0040-7.
Nakahachi, T., Iwase, M., Takahashi, H., Honaga, E., Sekiyama, R., Ukai, S., & Takeda, M. (2006). Discrepancy of performance among working memory-related tasks in autism spectrum disorders was caused by task characteristics, apart from working memory, which could interfere with task execution. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 60(3), 312–318. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1819.2006.01507.x.
O’Hearn, K., Franconeri, S., Wright, C., Minshew, N., & Luna, B. (2013). The development of individuation in autism. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 39(2), 494–509. doi:10.1037/a0029400.
Posner, M. I., Snyder, C. R., & Davidson, B. J. (1980). Attention and the detection of signals. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 109(2), 160–174.
Pylyshyn, Z. W., & Storm, R. W. (1988). Tracking multiple independent targets: Evidence for a parallel tracking mechanism. Spatial Vision, 3(3), 179–197.
Roeyers, H., Thys, M., Druart, C., De Schryver, M., & Schittekatte, M. (2011). SRS Screeningslijst voor autismespectrumstoornissen. Amsterdam, Nederland: Hogrefe.
Sattler, J. M. (2001). Assessment of children: Cognitive applications (4th ed.). San Diego: Jerome M Sattler.
Scherf, K. S., Behrmann, M., Kimchi, R., & Luna, B. (2009). Emergence of global shape processing continues through adolescence. Child Development, 80(1), 162–177. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01252.x.
Scholl, B. J. (2009). What have we learned about attention from multiple object tracking (and vice versa)? In D. Dedrick, & L. Trick (Eds.), Computation, Cognition, and Pylyshyn (pp. 49–78). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Scholl, B. J., Pylyshyn, Z. W., & Feldman, J. (2001). What is a visual object? Evidence from target merging in multiple object tracking. Cognition, 80, 159–177.
Simmons, D., Robertson, A., McKay, L., Toal, E., McAleer, P., & Pollick, F. (2009). Vision in autism spectrum disorders. Vision Research, 49(22), 2705–2739. doi:10.1016/j.visres.2009.08.005.
Van der Hallen, R., Evers, K., Brewaeys, K., Van den Noortgate, W., & Wagemans, J. (2015). Global processing takes time: A meta-analysis on local–global visual processing in ASD. Psychological Bulletin, 141(3), 549–573. doi:10.1037/bul0000004.
Wechsler, D. (1992). WISC-III-NL: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III. New York: Psychological Corporation.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank all participants and their families for their time and contribution to this research, as well as the participating schools for allowing us into their classrooms. In addition, we would like to thank our master students, Sophie Duchesne, Helen Goovaerts, Nele Soors and Astrid Van Der Most, who have collaborated on this project and have helped with the data collection. This research was funded by a Methusalem grant awarded to Johan Wagemans by the Flemish Government (METH/08/02).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Van der Hallen, R., Evers, K., de-Wit, L. et al. Multiple Object Tracking Reveals Object-Based Grouping Interference in Children with ASD. J Autism Dev Disord 48, 1341–1349 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2463-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2463-0