Color Afterimages in Autistic Adults.
John Maule, Kirstie Stanworth, Elizabeth Pellicano and 1 others
PMID 27121352WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults showed no difference in color afterimage strength compared with typical adults.
Scenes with typical colors produced stronger afterimages, but turning images upside down did not change this, so scene knowledge was not confirmed.
Key findings
01Autistic adults did not show weaker color afterimages than typical adults.
02Color-diagnostic scenes (scenes with predictable colors) produced stronger afterimages than non-diagnostic scenes across both groups.
03Turning the adapting image upside down did not reduce afterimages more for color-diagnostic scenes than for non-diagnostic scenes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The final analysed sample was small, with 11 autistic adults and 11 typical adults. The autism group had only 4 male participants, which is unusual for diagnosed autism and may limit generalisability. One participant with a full-scale IQ of 72 was excluded, and the analysed groups were selected to have typical IQ scores, so the result may not apply to autistic people with intellectual disability. The study tested adults only, so it cannot address whether color adaptation differs in autistic children. The task measured color afterimages only, not communication, occupational performance, or everyday sensory problems. The secondary hypothesis about top-down scene knowledge could not be tested because the expected orientation effect was not found in the typical group.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, The Clothworkers’ Foundation, Pears Foundation, and European Research Council. The paper lists no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that autistic adults have no sensory differences. The study found no group difference in color afterimage strength, but it tested only this visual adaptation task in adults.