Recognition Memory of Emotional Words in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Preliminary Comparative Study

Abstract

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with difficulties in social communication and emotional processing, which may affect recognition memory for emotional stimuli. Objectives: This study investigated recognition memory for emotional words in children and adolescents with ASD, compared with typically developing peers. Methods: Thirty boys aged 9 - 15 years, including 15 with ASD, participated in this study. Final analyses were conducted on 29 participants. Measures included the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV), the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), the Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition (SRS-2), and a recognition memory task involving emotional and neutral words. Data were analyzed using independent-samples t-tests, repeated-measures analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficients. Results: Recognition accuracy differed across stimulus types (P < 0.001), with pleasant and neutral words recognized more accurately than unpleasant words. A significant group effect was observed (P < 0.001), indicating lower overall recognition accuracy in the ASD group. The stimulus type × group interaction was not significant. No significant group differences were observed for reaction time or error rates. Better recognition memory was associated with fewer social-communication difficulties. Conclusions: Children and adolescents with ASD showed reduced overall recognition accuracy, although the groups did not differ in their response patterns by emotional word type. These findings also provide preliminary evidence linking recognition memory performance to social-communication functioning in ASD.