Understanding Central Coherence in Children

When we think about learning and behavior, executive function skills often come to mind: planning, organizing, shifting between tasks, and controlling impulses. These are the skills that help students manage the process of learning. Central coherence is different, but equally important. It’s the ability to take in many pieces of information, connect them, and see the bigger picture. While executive function helps you manage what you’re doing, central coherence helps you understand why it matters and how the pieces fit together.

Children with deficits in central coherence often get stuck in the details. They may complete each small step but struggle to link them into a meaningful whole. This can make academic tasks harder, but it can also cause confusion in social situations, where understanding context is essential.

What is Central Coherence?

Central coherence is our brain’s ability to integrate individual pieces of information into a bigger, meaningful picture. It’s what allows us to process details in relation to one another, consider the surrounding context, and arrive at a coherent understanding of a situation, story, or problem.

Strong central coherence means you can:

• Notice the important details and understand how they fit together.
• Shift between focusing on the parts and seeing the overall meaning.
• Use context to interpret information quickly and accurately.

Weak central coherence happens when someone processes information in a more detail-focused way, without automatically linking those details into a larger whole. This doesn’t mean the person is wrong — in fact, they may notice details others miss — but they may miss the broader context or fail to connect pieces of information together.

An easy way to picture it is to imagine looking through a paper tube. You can see a detail in perfect clarity, but you don’t see what surrounds it. For example:

• In reading, a student might remember every fact from a passage but not be able to explain the main idea.
• In social settings, a child might notice a classmate’s facial expression but not connect it to the tone of voice or the situation, leading to misunderstandings.
• In problem-solving, a student might work hard on each step of a task but lose track of the ultimate goal.

Central coherence is different from memory or attention, it’s about integration. Two people can notice the same detail, but only one might naturally connect it to other information to form a full picture. This skill influences academic learning, social communication, and the ability to adapt to new situations.

How Weak Central Coherence Affects Learning and Social Skills

When students struggle to connect details into a larger whole, it can show up in ways such as:

• Difficulty understanding jokes, idioms, or figurative language
• Missing the main idea when reading or listening
• Trouble interpreting social situations accurately
• Focusing heavily on details but losing track of the overall goal
• Struggling with transitions or unstructured activities

What Does the Research Say about Central Coherence and Students?

One study compared the central coherence of typically developing children with four groups:

1. Non-Verbal Learning Disorder with ADHD (NVLD+ADHD)
2. ADHD alone
3. Social Communication Disorder (SCD)
4. Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD1)

Key findings from the research were:

• NVLD+ADHD: Significant difficulties in understanding context, making inferences, and processing multiple pieces of information at once.
• SCD: Below-average performance in most areas of central coherence.
• ASD1: Some difficulties, especially in understanding context and making inferences, but average in visual simultaneity tasks.
• ADHD alone: Performed similarly to the control group, attention difficulties did not explain weak central coherence in other groups.

Overall, the researchers found that weak central coherence was present in children with NVLD+ADHD, SCD, and to a lesser extent ASD1, but not in children with ADHD alone.

Why This Matters for Teachers and Therapists

Weak central coherence can:

• Limit comprehension of classroom instructions
• Lead to misunderstandings in peer interactions
• Affect problem-solving in both academic and everyday contexts
• Make transitions, open-ended assignments, and group work more challenging

By identifying these patterns, educators and therapists can design supports that help students connect details to the bigger picture, improving comprehension, adaptability, and social understanding.

Actionable Tips to Support Central Coherence

Here are a few suggestions to support students. Remember if you are concerned be sure to consult the child’s pediatrician or other educational professionals.

In the classroom:

• Start with the big picture before moving into details
• Use visual organizers such as mind maps or storyboards to show connections
• Summarize often to link details back to the overall idea
• Provide clear context before new lessons or activities

In therapy sessions:

• Practice sorting main ideas and details in stories, images, or events
• Use role-play to work on interpreting nonliteral language and social cues
• Introduce multi-step tasks gradually, increasing complexity over time
• Pair verbal explanations with visual cues to reinforce meaning

At home:

• Talk about daily events starting with the overall summary, then add details
• Play games that involve categorizing, sequencing, or finding the odd one out
• Model how you figure out the meaning behind jokes, idioms, or unexpected events

Central coherence is a vital but often overlooked aspect of learning and social development. While executive function helps students manage tasks, central coherence helps them understand meaning, context, and connections. This study highlights that weak central coherence is not unique to autism. It can also affect students with NVLD and SCD, and sometimes co-occurs with ADHD. By intentionally building both big-picture thinking and detail awareness, teachers, therapists, and families can support stronger comprehension, social understanding, and adaptability in daily life.

Reference

Gambra, L., Magallon, S., & Crespo-Eguílaz, N. (2024). Weak central coherence in neurodevelopmental disorders: a comparative study. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1348074.