Executive Dysfunction Hypothesis of Autism

Definition “The ability to maintain an appropriate problem-solving set for the attainment of a future goal; it includes behaviours such as planning, impulse control, inhibition of prepotent but irrelevant responses, set maintenance, organized search, and flexibility of search and action.” Ozonoff et al (1991)

Tower of Hanoi

Wisconsin Card Sort

Wisconsin Card Sort Ozonoff et al found that poor performance on tests of executive dysfunction was a more accurate basis for discriminating between who was an was not autistic, compared with first- and second-order tests of false belief. Specificity Universality

The windows task Russell et al (1991) Hughes & Russell (1993) devised a version that did not involve an opponent. They got the same results

Is executive dysfunction and autism one and the same thing? No: Adults who acquire executive dysfunction as not autistic. Maybe there has to be a special cocktail of executive dysfunction and development? No: Welsh et al (1990) studied children with PKU raised on a diet free of phenylalanine. They had measured intelligence in the normal range but showed impairments on tests of EF. Despite that, few were diagnosed autistic. Studies that match executive demands but contrast theory of mind content.

False photo test Leslie & Thaiss (1992)

Message-desire task Mitchell et al (1997)

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Comorbidity and other disorders where executive dysfunction might be implicated Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Pragmatic Language Impairment Specific Language Impairment Tourette Syndrome

Does executive dysfunction explain lack of common sense and naivety in conversation Rajendran et al (2004)