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Structural Learning in Autistic and Non-Autistic Children: A Replication and Extension.

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Title: Structural Learning in Autistic and Non-Autistic Children: A Replication and Extension.
Authors: Oestreicher, Svenja (AUTHOR), Bowler, Dermot M. (AUTHOR), Derwent, Claire T. (AUTHOR), Gaigg, Sebastian B. (AUTHOR), Roessner, Veit (AUTHOR), Vetter, Nora (AUTHOR), Volk, Theresia (AUTHOR), Beyer, Nicole (AUTHOR), Ring, Melanie (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders. Jan2026, Vol. 56 Issue 1, p229-240. 12p.
Subjects: Repeated measures design, Task performance, T-test (Statistics), Autism, Replication (Experimental design), Executive function, Fisher exact test, Learning, Descriptive statistics, Chi-squared test, Mann Whitney U Test, Statistics, Analysis of variance, Asperger's syndrome, Hippocampus (Brain), Discrimination (Sociology), Data analysis software, Regression analysis, Learning disabilities, Children
Abstract: The hippocampus is involved in many cognitive domains which are difficult for autistic individuals. Our previous study using a Structural Learning task that has been shown to depend on hippocampal functioning found that structural learning is diminished in autistic adults (Ring et al., 2017). The aim of the present study was to examine whether those results can be replicated in and extended to a sample of autistic and non-autistic children. We tested 43 autistic children and 38 non-autistic children with a subsample of 25 autistic and 28 non-autistic children who were well-matched on IQ. The children took part in a Simple Discrimination task which a simpler form of compound learning, and a Structural Learning task. We expected both groups to perform similarly in Simple Discrimination but reduced performance by the autism group on the Structural Learning task, which is what we found in both the well-matched and the non-matched sample. However, contrary to our prediction and the findings from autistic adults in our previous study, autistic children demonstrated a capacity for Structural Learning and showed an overall better performance in the tasks than was seen in earlier studies. We discuss developmental differences in autism as well as the role of executive functions that may have contributed to better than predicted task performance in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Structural Learning in Autistic and Non-Autistic Children: A Replication and Extension.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Oestreicher%2C+Svenja%22">Oestreicher, Svenja</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Bowler%2C+Dermot+M%2E%22">Bowler, Dermot M.</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Derwent%2C+Claire+T%2E%22">Derwent, Claire T.</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gaigg%2C+Sebastian+B%2E%22">Gaigg, Sebastian B.</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Roessner%2C+Veit%22">Roessner, Veit</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Vetter%2C+Nora%22">Vetter, Nora</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Volk%2C+Theresia%22">Volk, Theresia</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Beyer%2C+Nicole%22">Beyer, Nicole</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ring%2C+Melanie%22">Ring, Melanie</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Autism+%26+Developmental+Disorders%22">Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders</searchLink>. Jan2026, Vol. 56 Issue 1, p229-240. 12p.
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  Data: The hippocampus is involved in many cognitive domains which are difficult for autistic individuals. Our previous study using a Structural Learning task that has been shown to depend on hippocampal functioning found that structural learning is diminished in autistic adults (Ring et al., 2017). The aim of the present study was to examine whether those results can be replicated in and extended to a sample of autistic and non-autistic children. We tested 43 autistic children and 38 non-autistic children with a subsample of 25 autistic and 28 non-autistic children who were well-matched on IQ. The children took part in a Simple Discrimination task which a simpler form of compound learning, and a Structural Learning task. We expected both groups to perform similarly in Simple Discrimination but reduced performance by the autism group on the Structural Learning task, which is what we found in both the well-matched and the non-matched sample. However, contrary to our prediction and the findings from autistic adults in our previous study, autistic children demonstrated a capacity for Structural Learning and showed an overall better performance in the tasks than was seen in earlier studies. We discuss developmental differences in autism as well as the role of executive functions that may have contributed to better than predicted task performance in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1007/s10803-024-06486-0
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        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Repeated measures design
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Task performance
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: T-test (Statistics)
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      – SubjectFull: Autism
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      – SubjectFull: Executive function
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      – SubjectFull: Children
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