Abstract
Episodic and semantic autobiographical memories were examined in a group of adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a control group matched for age, gender and IQ. Results demonstrated a personal episodic memory deficit in the ASD group in the absence of a personal semantic memory deficit, suggesting a deficit dissociation between these two components of memory in ASD. Further analysis of memories across different lifetime periods revealed the adolescent and early adult lifetime periods to facilitate memory recall in the control group, but not in the ASD group. These findings suggest a distinctive pattern of remembering in ASD.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barnett, M. P., Newman, H. W., Richardson, J. T. E., Thompson, P., & Upton, D. (2000). The constituent structure of autobiographical memory: Autobiographical fluency in people with chronic epilepsy. Memory, 8(6), 413–424.
Baron-Cohen, S., & Wheelwright, S. (2003). The friendship questionnaire: An investigation of adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism, and normal sex differences. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33(5), 509–517.
Bauminger, N., Shulman, C., & Agam, G. (2003). Peer interaction and loneliness in high-functioning children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33(5), 489–507.
Bekerian, D., Dhillon, D., & O’Neill, M. H. (2001). The children’s autobiographical memory inventory, poster presentation. Valencia: Third International Conference on Memory.
Ben Shalom, D. (2003). Memory in autism: review and synthesis. Cortex, 39(4–5), 1129–1138.
Bennetto, L., Pennington, B. F., & Rogers, S. J. (1996). Intact and Impaired Memory Functions in Autism. Child Development, 67(4), 1816–1835.
Beversdorf, D. Q., Anderson, J. M., Manning, S. E., Anderson, S. L., Nordgren, R. E., Felopulos, G. J., Nadeau, S. E., Heilman, K. H., & Bauman, M. L. (1998). The effect of semantic and emotional context on written recall for verbal language in high functioning adults with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 65, 685–692.
Bogdashina, O. (2003). Sensory perceptual issues in autism and Asperger syndrome: different sensory experiences, different perceptual worlds. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Bowler, D. M., Gardiner, J. M., & Grice, S. J. (2000). Episodic memory and remembering in adults with Asperger syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30(4), 295–304.
Bruck, M., London, K., Landa, B., & Goodman, J. (2007). Autobiographical memory and suggestibility in children with autism. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 73–95.
Cohen, G. (1989). Memory in the real world. Hove, UK: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Ltd.
Conway, M. A., & Pleydell-Pearce, C. W. (2000). The construction of autobiographical memories in the self-memory system. Psychological Review, 107(2), 261–288.
Conway, M., & Rubin, D. C. (1993). The structure of autobiographical memory. In A. F. Collins, S. E. Gathercole, M. Conway, & P. E. Morris (Eds.), Theories of memory. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Crovitz, H. F., & Schiffman. H. (1974). Frequency of episodic memories as a function of their age. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 4(NB5), 517–518.
Dalgleish, T., Williams, J. M. G., Golden, A. M., Perkins, N., Barrett L. F., Barnard, P. J., Yeung, C. A., Murphy, V., Elward, R., Tchanturia, K., & Watkins, E. (2007). Reduced specificity of autobiographical memory and depression: The role of executive control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 136(1), 23–42.
Dritschel, B. H., Williams, J. M. G., Baddeley, A. D., & Nimmo-Smith, I. (1992). Autobiographical fluency—a method for the study of personal memory. Memory & Cognition, 20(2), 133–140.
Erikson, E. H. (1980). Identity and the life cycle. New York: W.W. Norton.
Goddard, L., Dritschel, B., & Burton, A. (1996). Role of autobiographical memory in social problem solving and depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105(4), 609–616.
Goddard, L., Howlin, P., Dritschel, B., & Patel, T. (2007). Autobiographical memory and social problem solving in Asperger syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(2), 291–300.
Han, J. J., Leichtman, M. D., & Wang, Q. (1998). Autobiographical memory in Korean, Chinese, and American children. Developmental Psychology, 34(4), 701–713.
Hill, E., Berthoz, S., & Frith, U. (2004). Brief report: Cognitive processing of own emotions in individuals with autistic spectrum disorder and in their relatives. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34(2), 229–235.
Klein, S. B., Chan, R. L., & Loftus, J. (1999). Independence of episodic and semantic self-knowledge: The case from autism. Social Cognition, 17(4), 413–436.
Kopelman, M. D., Wilson, B. A., & Baddeley, A. D. (1989). The Autobiographical memory interview—a new assessment of autobiographical and personal semantic memory in amnesic patients. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 11(5), 724–744.
Lee, A., & Hobson, R. P. (1998). On developing self-concepts: A controlled study of children and adolescents with autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 39(8), 1131–1141.
Mannheim, K. (1952). The problem of generations. In K. Mannheim (Ed.), Essays on the sociology of knowledge (pp. 276–321). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
McCrory, E., Henry, L. A., & Happe, F. (2007). Eyewitness memory and suggestibility in children with Asperger Syndrome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48(5), 482–489.
Millward, C., Powell, S., Messer, D., & Jordan, R. (2000). Recall for self and other in autism: Childrens memory for events experienced by themselves and their peers. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 15–28.
Nelson, K. (1993). The psychological and social origins of autobiographical memory. Psychological Science, 4(1), 7–14.
O’Connor, N., & Hermelin, B. (1988). Low intelligence and special abilities. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 29(4), 391–396.
Perner, J., & Ruffman, T. (1995). Episodic memory and autonoetic consciousness: developmental evidence and a theory of childhood amnesia. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 59(3), 516–548.
Pillemer, D. B. (1992). Remembering personal circumstances: A functional analysis. In E. Winograd, & U. Neisser (Eds.), Affect and accuracy in recall: Studies of “flashbulb” memories (pp. 236–264). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Rabbitt, P., & Winthorpe, C. (1988). What do old people remember? The Galton paradigm reconsidered. In M. M. Gruneberg, P.E. Morris, & R. N. Sykes (Eds.), Practical aspects of memory. (pp. 301–307). London: Wiley.
Russell, J. (1999). Memory for actions in children with autism: Self versus other. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 4(4), 303–331.
Stone, P. J., Dunphy, D. C., Smith, M., & Ogilvie, D. M. (1966). The General Inquirer: A Computer Approach to Content Analysis. The MIT Press.
Toichi, M., Kamio, Y., Okada, T., Sakihama, M., Youngstrom, E. A., Findling, R. L., et al. (2002). A lack of self-consciousness in autism. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159(8), 1422–1424.
Wechsler, D. (1999). Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence. Harcourt Assessment.
Wilson, A. E., & Ross, M. (2003). The identity function of autobiographical memory: Time is on our side. Memory, 11(2), 137–149.
Acknowledgments
The research presented in this article was conducted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of a master’s degree by the first author, with support of a 1 + 3 PhD studentship from the Economic and Social Research Council (UK), ref. PTA-030-2005-00091. We would like to thank Dr Sally Robinson for her assistance in coding the episodic memory data and also thank all who participated in this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix
Appendix
Episodic memory narrative task questions.
-
1.
Can you tell me about all the things that you did before you went to bed last night? Tell me everything that you did after you ate dinner until right before you went to bed.
-
2.
Now, can you tell me everything you did when you woke up this morning?
-
3.
Now, can you tell me just one thing you did recently that was enjoyable?
-
4.
What did you do for your last birthday?
-
5.
Now, can you tell me about a time, when you were younger, when your parents punished you for something?
-
6.
Can you tell me the first thing that you can remember in your life, your very first memory? How old were you when you think this event occurred?
-
7.
What’s the very first (i.e. earliest) birthday that you can remember? What did you do for that birthday?
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Crane, L., Goddard, L. Episodic and Semantic Autobiographical Memory in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 38, 498–506 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0420-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0420-2