Autism and Memory

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I've been reading a fair share of journal articles on autism and memory. The general consenus in literature suggests that people with autism have poor working memory and poor face recognition memory. Do you objectively think this is accurate?

I have problems, sometimes still, watching movies and recognizing the characters. If a dark haired guy does something and there's another darked haired character, I will totally confuse them. It's really strange and hard to explain. I've gotten a bit better at figuring it out, though. Must have something to do with facial recognition, although I do alright recognizing people I meet at a later time.

I have always been terrible at facial recognition. I have had the same problem of watching a movie with similar looking characters and getting them confused. I have worked with people who would see me years later, and call me by name, as if we were friends, but I would not be able to place their face to a name.

Another thing I do is walk into a room and forget why I went there. Or I'll do something like get up for the sole purpose of getting something to drink, and leave the drink sitting on the counter when I leave the kitchen. Not sure if these are AS traits or simple forgetfulness.

I do have poor working memory. Walking in a room and forgetting why I went there is familiar

But I am not bad at face recognition at all, according to online tests. But when I meet people in a different context I might not recognize them. For instance people I know because we walk our dogs together are strangers when I see them without dogs.

My memory is amazing, for the past of my life, and the past of music and media. I would say "ask me any question about classic rock, rock, metal or pop music pre-1990's" but then I wouldn't be able to prove it over this site, what with Wikipedia and all.

This is working memory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_memory

I have poor working memory, but it's also associated with ADHD. One example is when something comes to mind and you have to say it right away or forget it, or when interruptions cause you to lose track of everything you're doing and it takes too long to get back to work.

I compensate a lot online by having what I was doing visible on the screen, but in real life I've managed to get lost walking from my bedroom to the kitchen or vice versa. Not literally lost as in I don't know where the rooms are, but lost in the sense that something gets my attention and I completely forget what I was doing.

Oh, faces: I occasionally confuse people's faces and may see two or more people as similar in appearance when they are not really, but I seem to be able to recognize most people. I occasionally also have a problem when I see someone of not realizing who they are at all. I usually end up pretending I remember who they are while trying to get them to tell me something that'll trigger my memory. Of course, this has also happened online with no faces involved.

[quote="Verdandi"] I occasionally also have a problem when I see someone of not realizing who they are at all. I usually end up pretending I remember who they are while trying to get them to tell me something that'll trigger my memory.quote]

This happens to me alot. I have gone through entire conversations with a person, and walked away without ever knowing who it was I was just talking to.

Facial recognition/facial memory is something I have never had. I mix up people with similar hair (you both have long, brown hair? no other characteristic matters, I'm going to confuse you forever!), I don't recognize actors from one movie or television show to another, and I'm never sure when people wave in the corridors whether they mean me or someone else, because I'm never sure whether or not I actually know those people.
Working memory isn't great - I'll walk from one part of the laboratory to another and have to stop and ask myself - literally, sometimes aloud - "what am I doing?" Then I have to walk through the steps of what I've just done to realize what it is I was about to do. I've always been under the impression that it was an executive function sort of thing.
Ordinary memory, though, is fantastic - I never forget numbers, facts, trivia, words, anything like that. I remember bitstrings flawlessly. So while my working and facial memories may have issues, it's more than balanced by the other aspects of memory that are so much above average.
(I think this is similar for a subset of people with Asperger's, but I could be wrong.)

Working memory is part of executive function.

Bad on recognizing faces, bad working memory. But very god memory on stuff that interest me.

My memory is exceptionally good for sequence of events. I can remember a lengthy conversation I had months ago almost word for word. The same goes for lists of items and historical events. However, I am terrible at remembering the names of people and places.

So, I can tell you every detail of what someone told me about him or herself, but I won't remember the name of the person who said it!

As for faces, I might be in the minority of Aspergians that way. I recognize people when I see them... but again, I may not know what their names are.

I do often have trouble recognizing people out of their usual environment. For example, if I see a coworker in the supermarket, often I will know that I know that person, but I will have no idea who it is, because they are out of the office setting.