Table 3.
Clinical results of all samples across executive functioning domains and tests of significance among the three groups.
| EF domain | Test | ASD (Median min-max) | PKU (Median min-max) | CG (Median min-max) | Median test sig. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verbal working memory | Working memory indexa | 94 (61–151) |
94 (79–130) |
103 (79–136) |
0.249 |
| Inhibition | Inhibition combinedb | 7 (2–14) |
7 (3−11) |
10 (6–14) |
0.085 |
| Inhibition total errorc | 4 [11th - 25th perc.] (1–7) |
4 [11th - 25th perc.] (1–7) |
5.50 [26th–50th −51 th-75th perc.] (3–7) |
0.041⁎ | |
| Inhibition total completion timeb | 10 (1−13) |
7 (1–13) |
11.50 (6–15) |
0.384 | |
| Cognitive flexibility | Design fluencyb | 7 (4–15) |
8 (4–12) |
11 (8–15) |
0.002⁎⁎ |
| Switching combinedb | 7 (2–15) |
7 (1−10) |
10 (6–15) |
0.005⁎⁎ | |
| Switching total errorc | 4 [11th - 25th perc.] (1–7) |
4 [11th - 25th perc.] (1–7) |
6 [51 th-75th perc.] (3–7) |
0.014⁎ | |
| Switching total completion timeb | 10 (2–16) |
9 (1–13) |
11 (2–14) |
0.054 | |
| Response setc | 3 [6th - 10th perc.] (1–7) |
4 [11th - 25th perc.] (1–6) |
6 [51 th-75th perc.] (3–7) |
0.005⁎⁎ | |
| Animal sortingb | 9 (5–19) |
10 (5–19) |
10 (7–14) |
0.465 | |
| Planning | Clocksc | 5 [26th–50th perc.] (2–7) |
5 [26th–50th perc.] (3–7) |
6 [51 th-75th perc.] (2–7) |
0.503 |
| Attention | Visual attentionb | 9 (1−12) |
10 (2–14) |
10.50 (3–14) |
0.563 |
| Auditory attentionc | 5 [26th–50th perc.] (1–6) |
5 [26th–50th perc.] (1–6) |
5 [26th–50th perc.] (3–6) |
0.157 |
Abbreviations: EF = executive functions; ASD = autism spectrum disorder; PKU = phenylketonuria; CG = control group; perc. = percentile.
a
Composite scores: mean = 100, standard deviation = 15.
b
Scaled scores: mean = 10, standard deviation = 3.
c
Ordinal ranks from percentile groups (rank 7: above 75th percentile; rank 6: 51th - 75th percentile; rank 5: 26th - 50th percentile; rank 4: 11th - 25th percentile; rank 3: 6th - 10th percentile; rank 2: 2nd - 5th percentile; rank 1: below 2nd percentile): above average = rank 7; average scores = ranks 5 and 6; borderline scores = rank 4; below average = ranks 1,2,3.
⁎
= p < .05
⁎⁎
= p < .01