Self-awareness, episodic and autobiographical memories, and narrative skills in children with high-functioning autistic disorder

Submission note: A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Psychological Science, Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering, La Trobe University, Bundoora.

The current study investigated self-awareness, autonoetic memory and narrative skills of children with high-functioning autism (HFA) in comparison with typical developing (TD) children to further understand differences, if any, in developing personal perspectives for the interpretation and reconstruction of significant experiences. The participants, 20 children with HFA and 21 TD children were administered the Self-Description Questionnaire, the Children’s Memory Scale Family Picture subtest, and the Expression, Reception, and Recall of Narrative Instrument. In addition, the participants were asked to describe themselves, to recount a negative and positive significant event, to recall the details of a card game in an episodic memory task, as well as complete two autobiographical memory tasks. No group differences were found on reported self-perception, but the children with HFA gave fewer self-descriptions compared to the TD group. They also had more difficulty in the memory tasks, recalling less of, and required more time and prompting to recall specific events. Although no differences were found in literal comprehension and the use of evaluative devices, the children with HFA performed more poorly in generating, recalling and organizing core story ideas around a narrative framework and in the comprehension of inferential questions. This group also had more difficulty in using a subjective perspective for recounting personal experiences. An examination of the inter-relationships between self-awareness, episodic and autobiographical memory and narrative skills indicated that the children with HFA showed different patterns amongst these measures including a self-concept that reflected personal interests rather than personal traits, more reliance on semantic rather than personal episodic memory, and an increased tendency to recall memory details in preference to episodes. The lack of predictors for the domains in this group suggested decreased ability to apply these skills in an integrated framework for understanding and interpreting social situations.