Katie Maras

The Cognitive Interview for Eyewitnesses with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The cognitive interview (CI) is one of the most widely accepted forms of interviewing techniques for eliciting the most detailed, yet accurate reports from witnesses. No research, however, has examined its effectiveness with witnesses with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Twenty-six adults with ASD and 26 matched typical adults viewed a video of an enacted crime, and were then interviewed with either a CI, or a structured interview (SI) without the CI mnemonics. Groups did not differ on the quantity or quality of their reports when interviewed with a SI, however, when interviewed with a CI the ASD group was significantly less accurate. Findings indicate that investigative professionals should be cautious in relying on the CI to interview witnesses with ASD.

Eyewitness Testimony in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is estimated to affect around 1% of the population, and is characterised by impairments in social interaction, communication, and behavioural flexibility. A number of risk factors indicate that individuals with ASD may become victims or witnesses of crimes. In addition to their social and communication deficits, people with ASD also have very specific memory problems, which impacts on their abilities to recall eyewitnessed events. We begin this review with an overview of the memory difficulties that are experienced by individuals with ASD, before discussing the studies that have specifically examined eyewitness testimony in this group and the implications for investigative practice. Finally, we outline related areas that would be particularly fruitful for future research to explore.

Context reinstatement effects on eyewitness memory in autism spectrum disorder

The Cognitive Interview is among the most widely accepted forms of police interviewing techniques; however, it is ineffective for witnesses with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One of its main components involves mentally reinstating the internal and external context that was experienced at encoding. We report evidence showing that it is the mental reinstatement instructions in the absence of any physical cues that individuals with ASD find difficult. In more supported conditions where they physically return to the same environment in which they learnt the material, they recall as much as their typical counterparts. Our findings indicate that recall in ASD is aided by context, but only when supported by the physical environment. These findings have important implications for investigative interviewing procedures for witnesses with ASD.

Brief Report: Schema Consistent Misinformation Effects in Eyewitnesses with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

A number of studies have demonstrated schema-related misinformation effects in typical individuals, but no research to date has examined this with witnesses with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), despite their impaired ability to generate core elements that define everyday events. After witnessing slides depicting a bank robbery, 16 adults with ASD and 16 matched comparison individuals were exposed to post-event misinformation that was either schema typical or atypical. Consistent with previous work, the comparison group went onto report more schema typical misinformation than atypical misinformation. However, so too did the ASD group, suggesting that individuals with ASD do have understanding of the causal links between events, persons and actions, an important finding from both theoretical and applied perspectives.

Recall of a live and personally experienced eyewitness event by adults with autism spectrum disorder.

The aim of the present study was to (a) extend previous eyewitness research in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using a live and personally experienced event; (b) examine whether witnesses with ASD demonstrate a facilitative effect in memory for self- over other-performed actions; (c) explore source monitoring abilities by witnesses with ASD in discriminating who performed which actions within the event. Eighteen high-functioning adults with ASD and 18 age- and IQ-matched typical counterparts participated in a live first aid scenario in which they and the experimenter each performed a number of actions. Participants were subsequently interviewed for their memory of the event using a standard interview procedure with free recall followed by questioning. The ASD group recalled just as many correct details as the comparison group from the event overall, however they made more errors. This was the case across both free recall and questioning phases. Both groups showed a self-enactment effect across both interview phases, recalling more actions that they had performed themselves than actions that the experimenter had performed. However, the ASD group were more likely than their typical comparisons to confuse the source of self-performed actions in free recall, but not in questioning, which may indicate executive functioning difficulties with unsupported test procedures. Findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.

Memory for Emotionally Arousing Events Over Time in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Emotionally arousing events are typically better remembered and more resistant to forgetting than neutral events. Findings from word list paradigms suggest that this may not hold for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), who also tend to be less accurate as eyewitnesses under some circumstances. To test whether attenuated effects of arousal on memory may be responsible for poorer eyewitness testimonies in ASD, we asked adults with and without the disorder to view either arousing or neutral versions of a narrated slide sequence (Experiment 1) or video clip (Experiment 2) before assessing their memory for the material. Both groups exhibited increases in psychophysiological arousal during the arousing compared with the neutral version of the narratives, and both groups also demonstrated a memory advantage for the arousing events. Contrary to predictions, these observations indicate that stimulus induced arousal modulates memory for naturalistic events relatively typically in ASD.

Is autism linked to criminality

Press reports often link autism to criminality with attention grabbing headlines such as ‘Recipe for a serial killer? Childhood abuse, autism and head injuries are more common in murderers’ (taken from the UK’s Daily Mail following research by Allely et al., 2014). Gary McKinnon, who was diagnosed with autism during the investigation into his alleged extensive damage to US defence system, was described as perpetrating ‘the biggest military hack of all time’, and the press widely emphasised that the gunman in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in the United States, Adam Lanza, reportedly had a diagnosis of autism. Such portrayals are particularly disturbing given the power of the media and its influence on public perceptions. Media reports can directly shape the public’s beliefs about an association between mental illness and violence (Philo et al., 1994). In recent years, the public has been exposed to very rare allegations of serious criminal offences involving individuals who may have autism; it is not surprising that public beliefs are being unduly influenced into (wrongly) believing that autism causes criminal behaviour. In reality, neither research nor the entire accumulation of sensational media reports supports such beliefs. The journal, Autism, enjoys a wide readership that extends far beyond academia. We set out here, for the benefit of the whole readership, to debunk the myth that autism causes criminal behaviour. We review the little research on this topic and describe how easily negative stereotypes can be reinforced by press reports. King and Murphy (2014) conducted a thorough review of the research in this area. They found that on the whole, there is no evidence that people with autism are more likely to engage in criminal activity than people without autism. The studies they reviewed presented conflicting information, however. Some studies have found that people with autism are less likely to commit offences such as probation violations and property offences (Cheely et al., 2012; Kumagami and Matsuura, 2009), and another study reported that people with autism are no more likely to commit violent crime than the general population (WoodburySmith et al., 2006). On the other hand, some people with autism may be more likely than the general population to commit certain types of offences such as arson (Hare et al., 1999; Mouridsen et al., 2008), sex offences (Cheely et al., 2012; Kumagami and Matsuura, 2009) and assault and robbery (Cheely et al., 2012). Research on autism and offending needs to be interpreted with caution, however. Most studies rely on information from small samples that do not represent the general population. These studies also rarely include people without autism for comparison. This makes it inappropriate to attempt to generalise these studies to the autism population at large. For example, two studies found a disproportionately high prevalence of autism in high security hospitals (e.g. Hare et al., 1999; Scragg & Shah, 1994), but this does not mean that the autism population as a whole includes a disproportionate percentage of people who present a danger to society. There are also several case reports of people with autism engaging in criminal behaviour (e.g. Baron-Cohen, 1988; Mawson et al., 1985). However, generalisations cannot be made on the basis of individual cases regardless of whether these reports originate in the research literature or in the press, not least because it is often the unusual characteristics in such cases (e.g. the bizarre and random acts of violence noted by Mawson et al., 1985) that initially draw attention for analysis. Especially concerning is the potential for misinterpretation of press reports purportedly based on research. For example, a recent study asserted that ‘a significant proportion of mass or serial killers may have had neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism’ (Allely et al., 2014). As the authors clearly note, their study was filled with problems that make it difficult to interpret their results. They had almost no rigorous studies on which to base their review; they relied heavily on online resources (e.g. http:// www.murderpedia.org), rather than peer-reviewed literature; and they drew their cases from very unusual settings (e.g. secure hospitals) that did not reflect the general population. Of particular importance, the majority of mass/ serial killers with autism who were included within this review also had experienced other psychosocial risk factors for criminal behaviour, such as physical or sexual abuse. This led Allely and colleagues to conclude that it is a complex combination of neurodevelopmental and environmental factors that cause someone to commit an act of extreme violence, and not autism alone. Nonetheless, the headline in the press, ‘Recipe for a serial killer? Childhood Is autism linked to criminality? 583411 AUT0010.1177/1362361315583411AutismEditorial research-article2015

How Visuo-Spatial Mental Imagery Develops: Image Generation and Maintenance

Two experiments examined the nature of visuo-spatial mental imagery generation and maintenance in 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-year old children and adults (N = 211). The key questions were how image generation and maintenance develop (Experiment 1) and how accurately children and adults coordinate mental and visually perceived images (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 indicated that basic image generation and maintenance abilities are present at 4 years of age but the precision with which images are generated and maintained improves particularly between 4 and 8 years. In addition to increased precision, Experiment 2 demonstrated that generated and maintained mental images become increasingly similar to visually perceived objects. Altogether, findings suggest that for simple tasks demanding image generation and maintenance, children attain adult-like precision younger than previously reported. This research also sheds new light on the ability to coordinate mental images with visual images in children and adults.

Brief Report: Autism in the Courtroom: Experiences of Legal Professionals and the Autism Community

Online surveys were used to sample the views of judges, barristers and solicitors (n = 33) about their engagement with autistic individuals in criminal courts in England and Wales. Despite an understanding of some of the difficulties experienced by individuals with autism, and the adjustments suitable for supporting them, legal professionals reported constraints arising from a lack of understanding by others within the criminal justice system. These results are considered alongside the views and perspectives of autistic adults (n = 9) and parents of children on the autism spectrum (n = 19), who had encountered the criminal courts as witnesses or defendants and were largely dissatisfied with their experiences. Training, understanding and the provision of appropriate adjustments were identified as key issues by all respondent groups.

Supporting metacognitive monitoring in mathematics learning for young people with autism spectrum disorder: A classroom-based study:

Previous research suggests impaired metacognitive monitoring and mathematics under-achievement in autism spectrum disorder. Within educational settings, metacognitive monitoring is supported through the provision of feedback (e.g. with goal reminders and by explicitly correcting errors). Given the strength of the relationship between metacognition, learning and educational attainment, this research tested new computer-based metacognitive support (the ‘Maths Challenge’) for mathematics learners with autism spectrum disorder within the context of their classroom. The Maths Challenge required learners to engage in metacognitive monitoring before and after answering each question (e.g. intentions and judgements of accuracy) and negotiate with the system the level of difficulty. Forty secondary school children with autism spectrum disorder and 95 typically developing learners completed the Maths Challenge in either a Feedback condition, with metacognitive monitoring support regarding the accuracy of their answers, goal reminders and strategy support, or with No Feedback. Contrary to previous findings, learners with autism showed an undiminished ability to detect errors. They did, however, demonstrate reduced cohesion between their pre- and post-test intentions. Crucially, support from the Feedback condition significantly improved task performance for both groups. Findings highlight important implications for educational interventions regarding the provision of metacognitive support for learners with autism to ameliorate under-performance in mathematics within the classroom.