Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Psychiatry 1735-4587 7 3 2012 09 15 104 8 Maryam Salmanian Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Psychiatry and Psychology Research Center; Tehran, Iran ; Institute for Cognitive Science Studies; Tehran, Iran. Mehdi Tehrani-Doost , M.D. Associate Professor in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Department of Psychiatry Roozbeh Psychiatry Hospital Maria Ghanbari-Motlagh Zahra Shahrivar 2015 10 14 Objective: Visual memory is an important cognitive ability, which has been studied in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). In such studies meaningful shapes were used more frequently. Since meaningless shapes provide a better assessment of short term visual memory, in this study we used them to evaluate visual memory in children and adolescents with ASDs compared to the normal group . Methods: Four visual memory tests of Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) including Paired Associates Learning (PAL), Pattern Recognition Memory (PRM), Spatial Recognition Memory (SRM) and Delayed Matching to Sample (DMS) were administered to 15 children and adolescents with ASDs (high functioning autism and Asperger syndrome) and to 15 normal participants aged 8 to 17,with IQ of above 70. Results: Individuals with ASDs performed worse than the normal group on visual memory tasks. After eliminating IQ as a covariate, no significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of visual memory performance .  Conclusion: It seems that deficits on visual memory tasks in youths with ASDs could be related to their general intellectual abilities https://ijps.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijps/article/view/242 https://ijps.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijps/article/download/242/238