Memory in ASD: Spared or Impaired? Insights from Behavioral and Neuroimaging Studies

SIG Leader: Marjorie Solomon SIG Co-Leader: Melanie Ring Individuals with ASD have intact, or even savant-like, learning of associations, facts and details (particularly in their area of interest), juxtaposed against impaired goal-directed learning and generalization of learning. This has created an ongoing debate about whether memory deficits are a prominent feature of ASD, an epiphenomenon of other cognitive or social processing deficits, or an area of relative strength that may be used to compensate for other ASD-related deficits. This debate remains unsettled, and there have been few efforts to apply current cognitive neuroscience methods to this clinically significant and intervention-relevant question. This SIG aims to bring together an international group of ASD memory researchers to shed light on the areas in which memory in ASD is spared and impaired with the ultimate goal of generating novel insights for psychosocial and educational interventions.