Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevalence has risen to one out of every 36 children born in the United States being diagnosed. Many individuals diagnosed experience sensory processing difficulties that make life challenging for them and their caregivers. However, there is no clear consensus on why sensory processing issues occur. Previous research has linked attention function to atypical sensory processing. Our study aimed to understand potential underlying mechanisms and correlates of this relationship. We theorized that prediction is a key contributing factor to how attention and sensory processing interact. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between sensory processing, attention, and prediction in school age children. To accomplish this, we asked parents of 70 children aged 8-11 years old to complete a series of behavioral questionnaires addressing sensory processing, attention, prediction, and autistic traits. A subset of this sample (n = 40) participated in an eye tracking task which addressed the physiologic relationship between sensory processing, attention, and prediction. Partial correlations of the behavioral measures revealed that sensory processing, prediction, some measures of attention, and autistic traits correlated across the combined sample. Mediation analysis showed that prediction played a mediating role on how attention impacts sensory processing. Results from the eye tracking data revealed that prediction, attention, sensory processing, and autistic traits were significantly related to each other. Particularly, between group comparisons showed that the autistic children demonstrated significant difficulty with attention management as trials became more unpredictable, suggesting that autistic individuals struggle to manage their attention and sensory processing abilities as situations become more unpredictable. These novel results indicate the complex relationship that is present between prediction, attention, and sensory processing across the combined sample. These findings could provide insight to the origin of sensory processing difficulties found in ASD, improve diagnostic procedures, yield targets for services, and improve their quality of life for individuals affected by atypical sensory processing, regardless of a diagnosis.

Degree

MS

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Communication Disorders

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2023-06-07

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd12785

Keywords

Autism, sensory processing, attention, prediction, eye tracking

Language

english

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