Bibliometric Analysis of Executive Function Studies in Gifted Individuals with Autism


DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15778415Keywords:
Bibliometric analysis, high-functioning autism, executive functionAbstract
This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of research on executive functions in gifted individuals with autism (high-functioning autism). A descriptive survey method was used in the study. Bibliometric analysis techniques were used to analyze the data. A search was conducted in the Web of Science database using the keywords “high-functioning autism” and “executive function” within research themes. A total of 304 academic studies published between 1991 and 2025 were included in the bibliometric analysis. As a result of the analysis, the distribution of studies by year, citation counts, leading researchers in the field, influential journals, countries and institutions with the highest number of publications, researcher and international collaborations, and frequently used keywords were examined. According to the findings obtained through the VOSviewer software, the United States was identified as the country with the highest number of studies, the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders as the most frequently publishing journal, and H. M. Geurts as the most prolific author. Trends and developments in this area were discussed, and suggestions were offered for researchers planning to conduct studies on this topic.
References
American Psychiatric Association (APA). (2013). DSM-V: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Association.
Arffa, S. (2007). The relationship of intelligence to executive function and non-executive function measures in a sample of average, above average, and gifted youth. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 22(8), 969–978. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acn.2007.08.001
Assouline, S. G., Nicpon, M. F., & Doobay, A. (2009). Profoundly gifted girls and autism spectrum disorder: A psychometric case study comparison. Gifted Child Quarterly, 53(2), 89–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986208330565
Bogdashina, O. (2003). Sensory Perceptual Issues in Autism and Asperger Syndrome. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers Ltd.
Brown, S. M., & Bebko, J. M. (2012). Generalization, overselectivity, and discrimination in the autism phenotype: A review. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 6(2), 733–740. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2011.10.012
Buttelmann, F., & Karbach, J. (2017). Development and plasticity of cognitive flexibility in early and middle childhood. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, Article 1040. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01040
Cheng, L., Xie, X., Yang, S., Xiao, L., Chen, X., Nan, Y., ... & Georgiou, G. K. (2025). Do Intellectually Gifted Children Have Better Planning Skills?. Journal of Intelligence, 13(5), 54. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence13050054
Cowan, N., Naveh-Benjamin, M., Kilb, A., & Saults, J. S. (2006). Life-span development of visual working memory: When is feature binding difficult? Developmental Psychology, 42(6), 1089–1102. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.42.6.1089
Dai, X., Müller, H.G., Wang, J.L., & Deoni, S. C. L. (2018). Age-dynamic networks and functional correlation for early white matter myelination. Brain Structure and Function, 224(2), 535-551. https://doi:10.1007/s00429-018-1785-z.
Demetriou, E. A., Lampit, A., Quintana, D. S., Naismith, S. L., Song, Y. J. C., Pye, J. E., Hickie, I. B., & Guastella, A. J. (2018). Autism spectrum disorders: A meta-analysis of executive function. Molecular Psychiatry, 23(5), 1198–1204. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2017.75
Dunst, B., Benedek, M., Jauk, E., Bergner, S., Koschutnig, K., Sommer, M., ... Neubauer A. C. (2014). Neural efficiency as a function of task demands. Intelligence, 42, 22-30. https://doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2013.09.005
Edmonds, G., & Worton, D. (2006). The Asperger Personal Guide: Raising Self-Esteem and Making the Most of Yourself as a Adult with Asperger's Syndrome. New York: Sage Publications.
Fiske, A., & Holmboe, K. (2019). Neural substrates of early executive function development. Developmental Review, 52, 42-62. https://doi: 10.1016/j.dr.2019.100866.
Foley-Nicpon, M., Assouline, S. G., & Stinson, R. D. (2012). Cognitive and academic distinctions between gifted students with autism and Asperger syndrome. Gifted Child Quarterly, 56(2), 77–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986211433199
Fombonne, E. (2003). Epidemiological surveys of autism and other pervasive developmental disorders: An update. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33(4), 365-382. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025054610557
Fombonne, E. (2005). Epidemiological studies of pervasive developmental disorders. In R. Volkmar, R. Paul, A. Klin ve D. Cohen (Eds.), Autism and pervasive developmental disorders: Diagnosis, development, neurobiology, and behavior (s. 42-69). New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Gabriels, R. L., & Hill, D. E. (2007). Understanding behavioral and emotional issues in autism. New York, USA: Guilford Press.
Gelbar, N. W., Smith, I., & Reichow, B. (2014). Systematic review of articles describing experience and supports of individuals with autism enrolled in college and university programs. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44, 2593–2601. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2135-5
Geurts, H. M., Verté, S., Oosterlaan, J., Roeyers, H., & Sergeant, J. A. (2004). How specific are executive functioning deficits in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(4), 836–854. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00276.x
Habib, L., Harris, J., Pollick, F., & Melville, C. (2019). A meta-analysis of working memory in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. PLoS ONE, 14(4), e0216198. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216198
Hagland, C. (2009). Getting to grips with asperger syndrome: understanding adults on the autism spectrum. Avusturalya: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Hill, E. L. (2004). Executive dysfunction in autism. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8(1), 26–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2003.11.003
Korkmaz, B. (2003). Asperger Sendromu. İstanbul: Adam Yayıncılık.
Köseoğlu, M. A., Rahimi, R., Okumus, F., & Liu, J. (2016). Bibliometric studies in
tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 61, 180-198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2016.10.006
Kyllonen, P. C., & Christal, R. E. (1990). Reasoning ability is (little more than) working-memory capacity?! Intelligence, 14(4), 389–433. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-2896(05)80012-1
Leitner, Y. (2014). The co-occurrence of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children–What do we know? Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, Article 268. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00268
Minshew, N. J., Goldstein, G., & Siegel, D. J. (1997). Neuropsychologic functioning in autism: Profile of a complex information processing disorder. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 3(4), 303-316. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617797003032
Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49–100. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
Neihart, M. (2002). Delinquency and gifted children. In M. Neihart, S. M. Reis, N. M. Robinson, & S. M. Moon (Eds.), The social and emotional development of gifted children: What do we know? (s. 103–112). Texas: Prufrock Press Inc.
Oberauer, K., Süß, H. M., Wilhelm, O., & Wittman, W. W. (2003). The multiple faces of working memory: Storage, processing, supervision, and coordination. Intelligence, 31(2), 167-193. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-2896(02)00115-0
Ozonoff, S., Pennington, B. F., & Rogers, S. J. (1991). Executive function deficits in high-functioning autistic individuals: Relationship to theory of mind. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32(7), 1081–1105. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1991.tb00351.x
Ömür, N. (2019). Üstün zekâlı otizm spektrum bozukluğu (OSB) olan çocukların özellikleri, davranışları ve eğitim gereksinimlerinin temellendirilmiş teoriyle belirlenmesi (Yüksek lisans tezi). Anadolu Üniversitesi, Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Eskişehir.
Pennington, B. F., Rogers, S. J., Bennetto, L., Griffith, E. M., Reed, D. T., & Shyu, V. (1997). Validity tests of the executive dysfunction hypothesis of autism. In J. Russell (Eds.), Autism as an executive disorder (s.143–178). Oxford University Press.
Rimm, S. B. (2008). Why bright kids get poor grades and what you can do about it. Great Potential Press.
Rodriguez-Naveiras, E., Borges, Á., García, R., & Fumero, A. (2019). Executive functioning and giftedness: A review. Anales de Psicología, 35(2), 311–319. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.35.2.336531
Roemer, R. C., & Borchardt, R. (2015). Meaningful metrics: A 21st century librarian's guide to bibliometrics, altmetrics, and research impact. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries.
Russell, J. (1997). How executive disorders can bring about an inadequate "theory of mind." In J. Russell (Eds.), Autism as an executive disorder. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sastre-Riba, S., & Viana-Sáenz, L. (2016). Executive functions and high intellectual capacity. Revista de Neurología, 62(Suppl. 1), S65–S71. https://doi.org/10.33588/rn.62S01.2015506
Schnack, H. G., Haren, N. E. M., Brouwer, R. M., Evans, A., Durston, S., Boomsma, D. I., ... Pol, H. (2015) Changes in thickness and surface area of the human cortex and their relationship with intelligence. Cerebral Cortex, 25(6), 1608-1617. https://doi.: 10.1093/cercor/bht357
Sinzig, J., Morsch, D., Bruning, N., Schmidt, M. H., & Lehmkuhl, G. (2008). Inhibition, flexibility, working memory and planning in autism spectrum disorders with and without comorbid ADHD symptoms. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 2(1), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.1186/1753-2000-2-4
Tsai, L. (1992). Diagnostic ıssues in high-functioning autism. In E. Schopler and G.B. Mesibov (Eds.), High functioning individuals with autism (s. 11-40). New York: Springer Science and Business Media.
Tsatsanis, K. D. (2004). Heterogeneity in learning style in Asperger syndrome and high- functioning autism. Topics in Language Disorders, 24(4), 260-270. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/topicsinlanguagedisorders/fulltext/2004/10000/heterogeneity_in_learning_style_in_asperger.4.aspx
Turner, M. (1999). Repetitive behaviour in autism: A review of psychological research. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40(6), 839–849. https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-7610.00411
Vaivre-Douret, L. (2011). Developmental and cognitive characteristics of “high‐level potentialities”(highly gifted) children. International Journal of Pediatrics, 2011(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/420297
Vuran, S. (2018). Otizm spektrum bozukluğu olan öğrenciler. A. Cavkaytar ve D. Tekin. Ersan (Editörler) Kuramdan uygulamaya sınıf öğretmenleri seti özel eğitim ve kaynaştırma içinde (s. 25-47). Ankara: Eğiten Kitap Yayıncılık.
Waterhouse, L., Fein, D., & Modahl, C. (1996). Neurofunctional mechanisms in autism. Psychological review, 103(3), 457. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-2896(02)00115-0
Weintraub, S. (2000). Neuropsychological Assessment of Mental State. In Mesulam, M. M. (Eds.) Principles of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology (s. 121-164) New York. Oxford, University Press.

Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 International Journal of Progressive Studies in Education (ijopse)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.