Brief Report: An Exploration of Cognitive Flexibility of Autistic Adolescents with Low Intelligence Using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task.

Researchers tested the thinking flexibility of teenagers with lower IQ scores, comparing autistic and non-autistic teens. They used a card-sorting task to measure how well teens could switch between different rules. The study found that autistic and non-autistic teens performed similarly overall. However, for autistic teens specifically, their non-verbal thinking skills were more important for flexible thinking than for non-autistic teens.

This study examined cognitive flexibility in 36 adolescents with IQ scores between 50-85, comparing 14 autistic adolescents with 22 non-autistic peers using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task. Cognitive flexibility refers to the ability to shift between different concepts or rules, and difficulties in this area are associated with repetitive behaviors in autism. The research found no statistically significant differences in cognitive flexibility performance between autistic and non-autistic adolescents with low intelligence. However, an autism-specific pattern emerged where performance IQ significantly predicted cognitive flexibility only in the autistic group, suggesting non-verbal cognitive abilities play a unique role in cognitive flexibility for autistic individuals.

Assessment and intervention approaches for cognitive flexibility in autistic adolescents with intellectual disabilities should consider the specific role of non-verbal cognitive abilities. Standard assumptions about cognitive flexibility differences may not apply to this population, suggesting need for individualized assessment approaches that account for the relationship between performance IQ and cognitive flexibility in autism.

Small sample size (n=36) with only 14 autistic participants limits generalizability. The study focused solely on adolescents with low intelligence (IQ 50-85), so findings may not apply to autistic individuals with average or above-average intelligence. Single cognitive flexibility measure may not capture full range of flexibility abilities.

Cognitive flexibility (CF) is the ability to shift between concepts or rules. Difficulty with CF is associated with autism (i.e., ASD) as it contributes to repetitive behaviours. However, little is known about CF skills of autistic adolescents with low intelligence. This study uses the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) to assess the CF of 36 adolescents, all with a Weschler full-scale IQ between 50 and 85, 14 of whom had an ASD diagnosis.

The results indicated no statistically significant differences in WCST performance between those with and without ASD. It was also found that performance IQ significantly contributed to the WCST performance in the ASD group only, suggesting an autism-specific role of non-verbal cognitive functioning in CF.