The structure of savant calendrical knowledge.

Running head: SAVANT CALENDRICAL KNOWLEDGE 1 The structure of savant calendrical knowledge

A date to remember: the nature of memory in savant calendrical calculators.

BACKGROUND Savant calendar calculators can supply with speed the day of the week of a given date. Although memory is suggested to be an important component of this unusual ability, memory function has never been systematically investigated in these skilled yet learning impaired individuals. METHODS Eight savant calendrical calculators, most of whom had autism, were compared with eight verbal ...

Savant syndrome – theories and empirical findings 1 Running head: SAVANT SYNDROME – THEORIES AND EMPIRICAL FINDINGS Savant syndrome - Theories and Empirical findings

Savant syndrome is a rare condition in which some people have extraordinary talents despite some serious mental or physical disability. It is a syndrome with remarkable features, standing in stark contrast to a person’s overall character. The term savant, or idiot savant, describes a person who, in spite of low intelligence, has a skill in some specific narrow area. Savants can have a specific ...

The idiot savant: flawed genius or clever Hans?

Binet & Simon (1909), although the originators of the concept of intelligence in its modern sense, nonetheless regarded it as a less unified function than did some of their Anglo-Saxon successors, such as Spearman (1927). Binet emphasized, for instance, the difference between perceptual intelligence and verbal ability, and also entertained a similar difference between sensory and scholastic abi...

Savant skills in autism: psychometric approaches and parental reports.

Most investigations of savant skills in autism are based on individual case reports. The present study investigated rates and types of savant skills in 137 individuals with autism (mean age 24 years). Intellectual ability ranged from severe intellectual impairment to superior functioning. Savant skills were judged from parental reports and specified as 'an outstanding skill/knowledge clearly ab...