Autistic Traits and Executive Functioning

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a term used to encompass all of the varying degrees of the developmental disorder known as Autism. Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder struggle with areas of executive functioning such as cognitive flexibility, planning, visual/visuo-spatial working memory, and verbal fluency compared to typically-developing individuals. This research project seeks to measure the amount of Autistic-like traits/tendencies of individuals who are not diagnosed with Autism Spectrum disorder and compare their level of Autistic tendencies to their ability to perform various cognitive tasks. Participants will first take the Autism Quotient--a questionnaire determining their level of autistic-like traits. Following this, participants will perform a number of cognitive tasks including fluency, Tower of Hanoi, working memory tasks, and the Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF). These tasks measure various aspects of an individuals executive functioning capabilities including working memory, planning, organization and complex problem solving. It is hypothesized that individuals with higher scores on the Autism Quotient will have a greater number of errors on the executive function tasks than individuals with lower Autism Quotient scores