The Assessment of Cognitive Trait and Thinking Process in ASD Using Ambiguous Figure: (1)the Comparison with Schizophrenia

Background: It has been big problem that the difference between Autistic Spectrum Disorder(ASD) and schizophrenia. That is, some of patients with ASD are look like schizophrenia patients, disturbance of interpersonal relationship, delusion and so on. Objectives: The authors have explored the difference of cognitive traits or thinking process between ASD and schizophrenia. Methods: The investigation are administered to 34(28mail and 6 femail;17.03±3.38years)adolescents and adults with ASD diagnosed by child psychiatrist, and 39 Schizophrenia patients(22mail and 17femail; 22.46±3.87years).Most of the ASD subjects are members of "Asperger Society Japan". The authors used Rorschach’s inkblot-test as the ambiguous figure in Assessment. Results: The both group fail in the combination of response. The authors classify failure of combination in two stages. First stage is only “loss of distance(fabulized combination)”; Second stage is not only “loss of distance” but also “Increase of distance”(Confabulation). As a result, schizophrenia group shows Confabulation, But ASD group don’t come to the stage of Confabulation. Conclusions: The differences of cognitive traits or thinking process between ASD and schizophrenia are as follows. The ASD’s cognitive traits are the weak drive for central coherence because their cognition is gravitated toward detail parts. On the hand, The Schizopherenia’s cognitive traits aren’t only weak drive for central coherence but also thinking disturbance that too little regard for the reality, and carry too much associative elaboration.