Time perception and autistic spectrum condition: A systematic review.
Martin Casassus, Ellen Poliakoff, Emma Gowen and 2 others
PMID 31336032WHAT IT FOUND
Basic time perception studies in autism were inconsistent, but all studies of remembering to act at a set time found poorer performance.
The paper says this may be tied to executive function, not a pure clock problem.
Key findings
01In children, 11 studies showed reduced time sensitivity, three showed mixed results, and three showed no differences.
02In adults, three studies showed enhanced time sensitivity, two showed no differences, and two showed reduced time sensitivity.
03All studies of time-based prospective memory showed differences between groups, but the tasks also required executive function and allowed clock checking.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Many studies used small samples, so results may not be reliable. The included studies used very different tasks, sensory modalities, and threshold procedures. Direct comparison is hard. Tasks that required memory, attention, executive function, or motor responses may not measure time perception alone. The search omitted the broad term timing, so some relevant studies may have been missed. There were more than twice as many studies in children as in adults, so developmental conclusions are uncertain.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Funding was named as the Economic and Social Research Council and the University of Manchester.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that autism is caused by a time perception deficit. Basic timing results were mixed, and the review says higher-level time tasks may depend on executive function, memory, and attention.