ASD and the Problems with Anaphoric Reference.

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2015-06-15
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en
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Abstract
Previous research on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Pronominal Reference (Binding Theory) has focused on early language development of ASD children. However, not much is known about the ability to interpret binding structures in adolescent years. This research looks at the ability of ASD teenagers to correctly identify an antecedent in a binding construction. It was expected that ASD teenagers have not yet outgrown their difficulties with this construction and would make more errors than their Typically Developing (TD) peers. Several theories have been suggested as an explanation for these difficulties, of which three were selected for this thesis: Reinhart’s processing load theory, Bidirectional Optimality Theory and a theory based on pragmatics, or World Knowledge. These predictions are in line with the latest insights of a malfunctioning Theory of Mind (ToM) in ASD patients, as well as theories on working m! emory def icits in ASD brains. ASD participants scored similarly to their TD peers on all conditions. The results demonstrate that ASD children have found ways to cope with the problems regarding binding principles that manifest with ASD children of a younger age. Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Theory of Mind (ToM), Working memory (WM), Binding Theory (BT), anaphoric reference.
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