Verbal creativity in autism: Comprehension and generation of metaphoric language in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and typical development

Studies on creativity in participants with autism generally show impoverished performance as well as deficient comprehension of metaphoric language. However, very little is known about the ability to generate metaphors in this population. The present study examines verbal creativity in adults with a...

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Main Authors: Anat eKasirer, Nira eMashal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-08-01
Series:Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00615/full
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author Anat eKasirer
Nira eMashal
author_facet Anat eKasirer
Nira eMashal
author_sort Anat eKasirer
collection DOAJ
description Studies on creativity in participants with autism generally show impoverished performance as well as deficient comprehension of metaphoric language. However, very little is known about the ability to generate metaphors in this population. The present study examines verbal creativity in adults with autism-spectrum disorder (ASD) through tasks that rely on novel metaphoric language. Seventeen adults with ASD (mean age = 21.06) and 17 typically developing peers (mean age = 22.71) participated in the study. A multiple-choice questionnaire consisting of conventional and novel metaphors was used to test comprehension, and a sentence completion questionnaire was used to test generation of creative language. Results show similar performance in comprehension of conventional and novel metaphors in both groups, whereas adults with ASD generated more creative metaphors relative to the control group. Scores on tests of vocabulary and naming contributed to the prediction of conventional metaphor comprehension, while scores on tests of mental flexibility contributed to the prediction of novel metaphor comprehension. In addition, scores on a test of non-verbal intelligence contributed to the prediction of metaphor generation. The study points to unique verbal creativity in ASD.
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spelling doaj.art-745f47d07e7841eb8f23740b0c8e9ac52022-12-22T01:27:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612014-08-01810.3389/fnhum.2014.00615105470Verbal creativity in autism: Comprehension and generation of metaphoric language in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and typical developmentAnat eKasirer0Nira eMashal1Bar-Ilan UniversityBar-Ilan UniversityStudies on creativity in participants with autism generally show impoverished performance as well as deficient comprehension of metaphoric language. However, very little is known about the ability to generate metaphors in this population. The present study examines verbal creativity in adults with autism-spectrum disorder (ASD) through tasks that rely on novel metaphoric language. Seventeen adults with ASD (mean age = 21.06) and 17 typically developing peers (mean age = 22.71) participated in the study. A multiple-choice questionnaire consisting of conventional and novel metaphors was used to test comprehension, and a sentence completion questionnaire was used to test generation of creative language. Results show similar performance in comprehension of conventional and novel metaphors in both groups, whereas adults with ASD generated more creative metaphors relative to the control group. Scores on tests of vocabulary and naming contributed to the prediction of conventional metaphor comprehension, while scores on tests of mental flexibility contributed to the prediction of novel metaphor comprehension. In addition, scores on a test of non-verbal intelligence contributed to the prediction of metaphor generation. The study points to unique verbal creativity in ASD.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00615/fullautismexecutive functioningmetaphorgenerationVerbal Creativity
spellingShingle Anat eKasirer
Nira eMashal
Verbal creativity in autism: Comprehension and generation of metaphoric language in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and typical development
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
autism
executive functioning
metaphor
generation
Verbal Creativity
title Verbal creativity in autism: Comprehension and generation of metaphoric language in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and typical development
title_full Verbal creativity in autism: Comprehension and generation of metaphoric language in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and typical development
title_fullStr Verbal creativity in autism: Comprehension and generation of metaphoric language in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and typical development
title_full_unstemmed Verbal creativity in autism: Comprehension and generation of metaphoric language in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and typical development
title_short Verbal creativity in autism: Comprehension and generation of metaphoric language in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and typical development
title_sort verbal creativity in autism comprehension and generation of metaphoric language in high functioning autism spectrum disorder and typical development
topic autism
executive functioning
metaphor
generation
Verbal Creativity
url http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00615/full
work_keys_str_mv AT anatekasirer verbalcreativityinautismcomprehensionandgenerationofmetaphoriclanguageinhighfunctioningautismspectrumdisorderandtypicaldevelopment
AT niraemashal verbalcreativityinautismcomprehensionandgenerationofmetaphoriclanguageinhighfunctioningautismspectrumdisorderandtypicaldevelopment