Cognitive flexibility in adults with high functioning autism.

The goal of the current study was to evaluate presetting, response inhibition, set shifting, and a priori planning in autism: abilities that can be lumped together under the term cognitive flexibility. Cognitive flexibility is an aspect of executive functioning, which in turn is mediated by the prefrontal cortical lobes. A group of adults with high-functioning autism (HFA; n = 23) were compared with a normal control group (n = 32), by using a computerized variant of the Sternberg response bias paradigm. Contrary to the results of earlier studies, no deficit was found in presetting, response inhibition, set shifting, and a priori planning in participants with autism, even when the medication factor was taken into account. Methodological issues that could be explanatory for this difference are discussed. An additional finding was, that individuals with HFA (especially those on medication) were slow in reacting. Possible origins and consequences of this slowness, also for cognitive flexibility, are discussed.