The weak central coherence theory of visual processing in ASD In other words, the identity of larger letters affected perception of smaller letters only. Navon reported interference introduced only by larger (global), not smaller (local) letters. The smaller and larger letters might be the same (congruent trials) or different (incongruent trials). In the classic Navon task, participants are briefly presented with a large letter that is composed of smaller letters. Experimentally, this holistic processing is evident when features cannot be processed without interference from other parts of the image or when global information is processed faster than local information.

Ī hallmark of human visual processing is the tendency to see a meaningful whole when viewing a visual scene. Global perception is best in a group on the autism spectrum when stimulus presentation times are long, but best in control groups when stimulus presentation times are short The current experiment tested whether a tendency of people on the autism spectrum to see features instead of a coherent whole is related to social perception, as originally predicted by Weak Central Coherence theory. the letter S) must be located while it is displayed in an array of other letters. For example, group-wise comparisons have shown that people on the autism spectrum have superior performance in the visual perception of hidden forms such as finding a target triangle in a line-drawing of a baby’s stroller and show superior performance on visual search tasks in which a small target stimulus (e.g. There is a consensus that there are group differences in perception when those with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are compared, including a stronger tendency on the part of neurotypical observers to integrate a visual scene into a meaningful whole (global processing), or a stronger tendency on the part of those on the autism spectrum to perceive features and individual parts (local processing for reviews, see. Successful visual perception relies on perceiving both local and global order. Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorders, Central Coherence Theory, Navon Task, Social Perception This association that global processing may underpin performance on both tasks. Across both groups as well as within the autism group, there was a correlation between global processing in the Navon task and the social task. Fourteen adults with autism and 14 matched controls completed a Navon task and an emotion perception task with a point light-walker display. To test whether central coherence theory is relevant to social perception in autism, we tested whether global processing on a non-social task was associated with global processing on a social task.

The weak central coherence theory of autism originally suggested that people on the autism spectrum focus on features rather than perceiving a global gestalt.

Weak central coherence