SELECTIVE ATTENTION AND THE VISUOSPATIAL SKETCHPAD IN CHILDREN WITH ASPERGER SYNDROME: A CLINICAL FIELD STUDY

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the level of selective attention and visuospatial sketchpad functioning in children diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, and to examine the nature of the cognitive performance associated with these two cognitive functions in this population. The study was guided by a general hypothesis positing the existence of deficits in selective attention and visuospatial sketchpad capacity in children with Asperger syndrome compared to typically developing peers. To test this hypothesis, a clinical methodology based on case study design was employed, drawing on a set of instruments comprising direct clinical observation, semi-structured clinical interview, the Stroop Test for selective attention, and the Baddeley Test for the visuospatial sketchpad. The study was conducted at the Autism Unit of the Psychiatric Hospital of Ténès, in the wilaya of Chlef, Algeria, for the purpose of selecting appropriate cases for the main study. The main study comprised four children diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, ranging in age from 6 to 9 years, over the period from 15 March 2025 to 22 March 2025.

The findings revealed that children with Asperger syndrome demonstrated relatively high levels of performance in both selective attention and visuospatial sketchpad tasks. The majority of cases achieved good results on the Stroop and Baddeley tests, suggesting the absence of severe impairment in either of these cognitive functions among the cases studied.