Abstract
BackgroundAlthough autistic people have shown impairments in various learning and memory tasks, recent studies have reported mixed findings concerning implicit learning in ASD. Implicit skill learning, with its unconscious and statistical properties, underlies not only motor but also cognitive and social skills, and it therefore plays an important role from infancy to old age.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe investigated probabilistic implicit sequence learning and its consolidation in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Three groups of children participated: thirteen with high-functioning ASD, 14 age-matched controls, and 13 IQ-matched controls. All were tested on the Alternating Serial Reaction Time Task (ASRT), making it possible to separate general skill learning from sequence-specific learning. The ASRT task was repeated after 16 hours. We found that control and ASD children showed similar sequence-specific and general skill learning in the learning phase. Consolidation of skill learning and sequence-specific learning were also intact in the ASD compared to the control groups.Conclusions/SignificanceThese results suggest that autistic children can use the effects/results of implicit learning not only for a short period, but also for a longer stretch of time. Using these findings, therapists can design more effective educational and rehabilitation programs.
Highlights
Implicit learning is defined as the acquisition of information or motor skill without conscious access to what was learned or even to the fact that learning occurred [1,2]
The present study goes beyond previous studies [17,20,26,27] in two ways: 1) we used a more difficult 4-element Alternating Serial Reaction Time (ASRT) task with 4 possible locations and 4 corresponding responses, instead of the 3-element version used by Barnes et al [27], and 2) we investigated the consolidation of implicit learning over a 16-hour period
There was general motor skill learning (shown by the significant main effect of EPOCH: F(3,111) = 14.27, MSE = 15368.84, p,0.000001, gp2 = 0.28), such that reaction times (RT) decreased across epochs
Summary
Implicit learning is defined as the acquisition of information or motor skill without conscious access to what was learned or even to the fact that learning occurred [1,2]. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by social, communicative and motor impairments [3]. We examined implicit motor skill learning in ASD to probe the functional integrity of this type of fundamental learning mechanism. Neuropsychological studies have shown that sequence learning is impaired in people with Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases [12], demonstrating the impact of striatal dysfunction on this type of perceptual-motor learning. Functional brain imaging studies show the involvement of the cerebellum, striatum and motor cortices in implicit sequence learning tasks including the Serial Reaction Time (SRT) and the Alternating Serial Reaction Time (ASRT) tasks [13,14,15]. Autistic people have shown impairments in various learning and memory tasks, recent studies have reported mixed findings concerning implicit learning in ASD. With its unconscious and statistical properties, underlies motor and cognitive and social skills, and it plays an important role from infancy to old age
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
