Differential profiles of response inhibition deficit between male children with autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia.
Autistic boys blurt out responses; schizophrenia boys hold back too long—use a quick stop-task to spot the difference.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Shi et al. (2020) compared how well boys with autism, boys with schizophrenia, and typical boys stop themselves from hitting the wrong key. All kids were 8-14 years old.
They used two quick computer games. One game showed pictures, the other played sounds. Kids had to press for one stimulus and hold back for another.
What they found
Autistic boys pressed too fast and made more 'oops' commission errors. Schizophrenia boys waited too long; their reaction times were slower.
On sound tasks, the schizophrenia group was even slower. The autism group stayed the same across sight and sound.
How this fits with other research
Souza et al. (2023) reviewed sex differences in autism. They note that boys show more repetitive behaviors. The target paper adds a new male-only marker: fast, impulsive errors.
Wormald et al. (2019) found no sex gap on the SRS-2 scale. Their null result looks opposite to Li-Juan's group split, but D et al. used parent ratings, not timed tasks. Different tools, different story.
Evers et al. (2014) saw autistic kids struggle to join local and global visual cues. Slower visual processing in that study pairs with the slower responses Li-Juan saw in the schizophrenia group, not the autism group. This hints that slowed visual processing may separate schizophrenia from autism.
Why it matters
If a boy is referred for possible autism but shows slow, hesitant responses rather than fast impulsive ones, consider schizophrenia spectrum screening. In your session, give the child a quick stop-signal game. Count commission errors and reaction time. More than three fast errors points toward autism-style inhibition. Long pauses point elsewhere. This five-minute probe can sharpen your diagnosis and guide which self-control skill you target first.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia (SZ) are both associated with response inhibition impairment. However, the relative pattern of deficits in these two disorders remains unclear. Twenty-three male children with ASD, 23 male children with SZ, and 32 typically developing male controls were recruited to complete a set of tasks measuring response inhibition in the visual, auditory, and verbal domains. We found that visual, auditory, and verbal response inhibitions were impaired in both children with ASD and children with SZ. Compared with typically developing controls, children with ASD made more commission errors whereas children with SZ responded much slower in the visual response inhibition task. Both clinical groups showed comparable impairment in verbal response inhibition, but children with SZ were more impaired in auditory response inhibition than children with ASD. These different patterns of response inhibition deficit between male children with ASD and SZ may help to differentiate between these two disorders and may be potential targets for intervention. Autism Res 2020, 13: 591-602. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: In this study, we found that male children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) made more commission errors whereas male children with schizophrenia (SZ) responded much slower in the visual response inhibition task. Both clinical groups exhibited comparable impairments in verbal response inhibition, but male children with SZ were more impaired in auditory response inhibition than male children with ASD. Our findings provide potential targets for intervention.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2020 · doi:10.1002/aur.2231