Eye-Tracking Measures of Executive Functioning Correlate with Academic Achievement in Adolescents with ASD

Background:   Executive functioning (EF) is a set of higher order cognitive processes that involve inhibition, cognitive shifting, and working memory. A connection between executive functioning and academic achievement has been identified in typically developing (TD) adolescents.  The relationship of EF with academic achievement is relevant to clinical populations that have difficulties in these areas, such as individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Objectives:   The current study aims to extend our understanding of cognitive and academic difficulties among adolescents with ASD by investigating the correlations between an eye-tracking measure of executive functioning ability and academic achievement. Findings will help clarify the nature of the relationship between cognitive and functional deficits in adolescents with ASD.

Methods:   Data collection was conducted on 40 adolescents (20 ASD and 20 TD), 11-18 years of age.  The ASD and TD groups were matched on cognitive age. The Eyelink 1000 eye tracking system was used to collect data on saccadic eye-movements during a memory-guided eye-tracking task. This task is reflective of working memory and shifting abilities. Academic achievement was assessed using the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Academic Achievement. Specifically five subtests were selected from this battery: Story Recall, Understanding Directions, Writing Fluency, Math Calculations, and Math Fluency.

Results:  Partial correlations were conducted to assess whether the percent of saccadic eye-movement errors during the memory-guided task was correlated with the five subtests of academic achievement for both the ASD and TD groups while controlling for the effect of full-scale IQ.  For the ASD group, percent of saccadic errors significantly negatively correlated with Math Calculations scores (r = -.54, p = .03) and Math Fluency scores (r = -.69, p = .002), and also negatively correlated with Writing Fluency scores (r = -.47, p = .06) with marginal significance. For the TD group, percent of saccadic errors was only significantly negatively correlated with Math Calculations scores (r = -.51, p = .04).

Conclusions:  Working memory and shifting ability, as assessed using eye-tracking technology, is significantly related to academic achievement across a number of domains in adolescents with ASD. Specifically, for adolescents with ASD, an increase in errors on the delayed-memory eye-tracking task corresponded with a decrease in math- and fluency-based academic achievement. These findings, along with further investigation regarding this relationship, may help to clarify the nature of the development of academic abilities in ASD.