The Test of Nonverbal Intelligence—3rd Edition (TONI-3) and the Analogic Reasoning (AR) subscale of the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT) Were administered to 35 individuals With autism to determine Whether real-World-knoWledge deficits affected intelligence scores. The 2 tests are similar in format; hoWever, the TONI-3 includes only abstract reasoning items, While the AR subscale includes both abstract reasoning and real-World-knoWledge items. The results indicated that although there Were no significant differences in overall scores across the 2 measures, the number of items pertaining to real-World knoWledge completed on the AR subscale did differentiate test scores. Participants completing a greater percentage of real-World-knoWledge items on the AR subscale scored more than 8 points better on the TONI-3; no differences Were found betWeen the tWo tests for those completing feWer real-World-knoWledge items. When age Was controlled for, it Was found that participants completing a greater percentage of real-World-knoWledge items on the AR subscale scored more than 13 points higher on the TONI-3. The implications of these results for the assessment of individuals With autism are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text revision). Washington, DC: Author.
2.
Anderson, M. (2001). Annotation: Conceptions of intelligence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42, 287—298.
3.
Attwood, T. (1998). Asperger's syndrome: A guide for parents and professionals . London: Jessica Kingsley.
4.
Barnhill, G., Hagiwara, T., Smith Myles, B., & Simpson, R. (2000). Asperger syndrome: A study of the cognitive profiles of 37 children and adolescents. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 15, 146—153.
Brown, L., Sherbenou, R.J., & Johnsen, S.K. (1997). Manual for the Test of Nonverbal Intelligence —Third Edition. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
7.
Burack, J.A., Enns, J.T., Stauder, J.E.A., Mottron, L., & Randolph, B. (1997). Attention and autism: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence. In D. J. Cohen & F. R. Volkmar (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders (2nd ed., pp. 226—247). New York: Wiley.
8.
Carr, J. (1976). The severely retarded autistic child. In L. Wing (Ed.), Early childhood autism (pp. 247—270). Oxford: Pergamon Press.
9.
Courchesne, E., Townsend, J.P., & Akshoomoff, N.A. (1994). A new finding: Impairment in shifting attention in autistic and cerebellar patients. In S. H. Borman & J. Grafman (Eds.), Atypical cognitive deficits in developmental disorders: Implications for brain function (pp. 101—138). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
10.
Edelson, M.G. (2004). Are the majority of children with autism mentally retarded? A systematic evaluation of the claims regarding the high prevalence rates of mental retardation in children with autism. Manuscript in preparation.
11.
Edelson, M.G., Edelson, S.M., & Jung, S. (1998). Assessing the intelligence of individuals with autism: A cross-cultural replication of the usefulness of the TONI. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 13, 221—227.
12.
Edelson, M.G., Schubert, D.T., & Edelson, S.M. (1998). Factors predicting intelligence scores on the TONI in individuals with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 13, 17—26.
13.
Garretson, H.B., Fein, D., & Waterhouse, L. (1990). Sustained attention in children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 20, 101—114.
14.
Goldstein, G.I., & Lancy, D.F. (1985). Cognitive development in autistic children. In L. S. Siegel & F. J. Morrison (Eds.), Cognitive development in atypical children (pp. 83—112). New York: Springer-Verlag .
15.
Hallahan, D.P., & Kauffman, J.M. (1997). Exceptional learners: Introduction to special education (7th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
16.
Happé, F.G.E. (1995). The role of age and verbal ability in the theory of mind task performance of subjects with autism. Child Development , 66, 843—855.
17.
Helms, J.E. (1995). Why is there no study of cultural equivalence in standardized cognitive ability testing? In N. R. Goldberger & J. B. Veroff (Eds.), The culture and psychology reader (pp. 674—719). New York: New York University Press.
18.
Koegel, L.K., Koegel, R.L., & Smith, A. (1997). Variables related to differences in standardized test outcomes for children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 27, 233— 244.
19.
Leekam S., Baron-Cohen, S., Perret, D., Milders, M., & Brown, S. (1997). Eye-direction: A dissociation between geometric and joint attention skills in autism. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 15, 77—95.
20.
Lincoln, A.J., Courchesne, E., Kilman, B.A., Elmasian, R., & Allen, M. (1988). A study of intellectual abilities in high functioning people with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 18, 505—523.
21.
Lord, C., & Paul, R. (1997). Language and communication in autism. In D. J. Cohen & F. R. Volkmar (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders (2nd ed., pp. 195—225). New York: Wiley.
22.
Lord, C., & Schopler, E. (1988). Intellectual and developmental assessment of autistic children from preschool to schoolage: Clinical implications of two follow-up studies. In E. Schopler & G. B. Mesibov (Eds.), Diagnosis and assessment in autism (pp. 167—181). New York: Plenum Press.
23.
Mash, E., & Wolfe, D. (2002). Abnormal child psychology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
24.
Mittler, P. (1966). The psychological assessment of autistic children . In L. Wing (Ed.), Early childhood autism: Clinical, educational and social aspects (pp. 145—158). Oxford: Pergamon Press.
25.
Mundy, P., & Neal, R. (2001). Neural plasticity, joint attention, and a transactional social-orienting model of autism. In L. M. Glidden (Ed.), International review of research in mental retardation: Autism (Vol. 23, pp. 139—168). San Diego: Academic Press.
26.
Mundy, P., & Stella, J. (2000). Joint attention, social orienting, and communication in autism. In A. M. Wetherby & B. M. Prizant (Eds.), Autism spectrum disorders: A transactional developmental perspective (pp. 55—77). Baltimore : Brookes.
27.
Perry, A., & Factor, D.C. (1989). Psychometric validity and clinical usefulness of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales and the AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale for an autistic sample. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19, 41—55.
28.
Rogers, S.J. (2001). Diagnosis of autism before the age of 3. In L. M. Glidden (Ed.), International review of research in mental retardation: Autism (Vol. 23, pp. 1—31). San Diego: Academic Press.
29.
Rutter, M. (1978). Language disorder and infantile autism. In M. Rutter & E. Schopler (Eds.), Autism: A reappraisal of concepts and treatment (pp. 85—104). New York: Plenum Press.
Smith, T. (2001). Discrete trial training in the treatment of autism . Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 16, 86—92.
32.
Tager-Flusberg, H. (2001). Understanding the language and communicative impairments in autism. In L. M. Glidden (Ed.), International review of research in mental retardation: Autism (Vol. 23, pp. 158—205). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
33.
Turner, S.M., DeMers, S.T., Roberts Fox, H., & Reed, G.M. (2001). APA's guidelines for test user qualifications: An executive summary. American Psychologist, 56, 1099—1113.
34.
Volden, J., & Johnston, J. (1999). Cognitive scripts in autistic children and adolescents . Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 203—211.
35.
Wainwright, J.A., & Bryson, S.E. (1996). Visual-spatial orienting in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 423—438.
36.
Wetherby, A.M., Prizant, B.M., & Schuler, A.L. (2000). Understanding the nature of communication and language impairments. In A. M. Wetherby & B. M. Prizant (Eds.), Autism spectrum disorders: A transactional developmental perspective (pp. 109—141). Baltimore: Brookes.
