The Level and Nature of Autistic Intelligence

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Dawson, M., Soulières, I., Gernsbacher, M. A., & Mottron, L. (2007). The Level and Nature of Autistic Intelligence. Psychological Science, 18(8), 657-662. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01954.x

Publication date: 31 Jul 2007 Added to AutiHub: 3 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 4 (25.0%)
  1. Michelle Dawson *
  2. Isabelle Soulières
  3. Morton Ann Gernsbacher
  4. Laurent Mottron

Abstract

Autistics are presumed to be characterized by cognitive impairment, and their cognitive strengths (e.g., in Block Design performance) are frequently interpreted as low-level by-products of high-level deficits, not as direct manifestations of intelligence. Recent attempts to identify the neuroanatomical and neurofunctional signature of autism have been positioned on this universal, but untested, assumption. We therefore assessed a broad sample of 38 autistic children on the preeminent test of fluid intelligence, Raven's Progressive Matrices. Their scores were, on average, 30 percentile points, and in some cases more than 70 percentile points, higher than their scores on the Wechsler scales of intelligence. Typically developing control children showed no such discrepancy, and a similar contrast was observed when a sample of autistic adults was compared with a sample of nonautistic adults. We conclude that intelligence has been underestimated in autistics.

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These indicators describe the cited bibliography imported for this publication. Cited-reference metrics use the cited-reference total as denominator. Cited-author metrics state whether they use all cited-author occurrences or only occurrences linked to authors already integrated in the AutiHub database. They use cached links between cited authors and authors integrated in the AutiHub database. Last computed: 16 Aug 2026 11:30.

Cited references
41
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
1 / 41 (2.4%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
1 / 71 (1.4%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 1 / 16 (6.2%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 1 / 62 (1.6%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
16 / 71 (22.5%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 12 / 62 (19.4%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
15 / 16 (93.8%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 15 / 71 (21.1%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 11 / 12 (91.7%).
2 cited bibliography entries could not be fully enriched from DOI metadata.
Crossref: not found (1) · DataCite: not found (1)
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