Cognitive flexibility deficits are a hallmark feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but few evidence-based behavioral interventions have successfully addressed this treatment target. Outcome measurement selection may help account for previous findings. The probabilistic reversal learning task (PRL) is a measure of cognitive flexibility…

This study evaluates the feasibility of the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIH-TCB) for use in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). 116 autistic children and adolescents and 80 typically developing (TD) controls, ages 3-17 years, completed four NIH-TCB tasks related to inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, processing speed, and episodic memory.…

This manuscript aimed to advance our understanding of inhibitory control (IC) in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), adopting a meta-analytic multilevel approach. The first meta-analysis, on 164 studies adopting direct measures, indicated a significant small-to-medium (g = 0.484) deficit in the group with ASD (n = 5140) compared with controls (n =…

Reports of co-morbid symptoms of ADHD in children with ASD have increased. This research sought to identify ADHD-related behaviours in a sample of children with ASD, and their relationship with the ASD triad of impairments and related cognitive impairments. Children with ASD (n = 55) completed a comprehensive cognitive assessment whilst a…

Impairments in executive abilities such as cognitive flexibility have been identified in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It remains unclear, however, whether such individuals also experience impairments in another executive ability: inhibitory control. In the present study, we administered three inhibitory tasks to 18 children…