Local bias and local-to-global interference without global deficit: A robust finding in autism under various conditions of attention, exposure time, and visual angle

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Wang, L., Mottron, L., Peng, D., Berthiaume, C., & Dawson, M. (2007). Local bias and local-to-global interference without global deficit: A robust finding in autism under various conditions of attention, exposure time, and visual angle. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 24(5), 550-574. https://doi.org/10.1080/13546800701417096

Journal or book title
Cognitive Neuropsychology
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Volume
24
Issue
5
Pages
550-574
Publication date: 1 Jul 2007 Added to AutiHub: 3 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
5
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 5 (20.0%)
  1. Lixin Wang
  2. Laurent Mottron
  3. Danling Peng
  4. Claude Berthiaume
  5. Michelle Dawson *

Abstract

A wide variety of paradigms have shown that autistic individuals present with superior performance on visual tasks. Here, the impact of task constraints on visual hierarchical processing in autism was investigated. By employing free- and forced-choice procedures, global and local processing of Navon-type hierarchical numerals was examined in 15 autistic persons (13 males, 2 females) and a comparison group. In the free-choice condition, autistics chose global and local targets randomly, though they were faster responding to local than to global targets, regardless of visual angle and exposure duration. In contrast, the comparison group exhibited a global advantage in naming time, which was evident only for shorter exposures, as well as effects of visual angle. In the forced-choice condition, autistics presented with a more important local-to-global interference than global-to-local interference, whereas the comparison group exhibited global advantage and bidirectional interference. Overall, the autistic participants presented with atypical local-to-global interference and local advantage in incongruent conditions (where global and local targets differ), in naming time as well as accuracy. The relative insensitivity of local bias to task constraints in autistics, in comparison to nonautistic participants, indicates that local bias, with local-to-global interference, is a key and characteristic feature of autistic visual cognition and a strong candidate for the "endophenotype" of autism.

Bibliography cited by this reference

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 17:07.

Cited references
59
With a DOI
47
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
11
2 / 59 (3.4%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
5 / 59 (8.5%)
References with detected author names
57 / 59 (96.6%)
Without detected author names
2
Without a structured title
4
Without a stable identifier
10
References with raw author names still to review
1
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
171
From DOI or external metadata
171
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
1
59 / 171 (34.5%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 112 / 171 (65.5%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
2 / 171 (1.2%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 2 / 59 (3.4%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 1 / 132 (0.8%).
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