Differentiating between sensory sensitivity and sensory reactivity in relation to restricted interests and repetitive behaviours.
Behavioral sensory tasks predict repetitive behaviors better than questionnaires, so test senses with tasks, not just surveys.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Granieri et al. (2020) asked adults to fill out a sensory questionnaire and do a visual detection task. They wanted to see which measure better predicts restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs).
The team used neurotypical adults so they could test the idea without autism-related confounds.
What they found
Visual sensitivity scores from the task predicted RRBs, but questionnaire scores did not. The two measures did not correlate with each other.
In plain words, what people say about their senses and how they actually perform are different things.
How this fits with other research
Król et al. (2019) also linked sensory issues to RRBs, yet they used only parent questionnaires. E et al. show that questionnaires may miss true sensory sensitivity, explaining why questionnaire studies give mixed results.
Eussen et al. (2016) used a tactile psychophysics task and found autistic adults rated surfaces as rougher and more variable. E et al. extend this by showing behavioral sensory tasks predict RRBs even in neurotypicals, pointing to a general mechanism.
Iversen et al. (2021) meta-analysis found executive-function deficits correlate with RRBs. E et al. add sensory sensitivity as another independent predictor, suggesting RRBs have multiple cognitive and sensory pathways.
Why it matters
If you want to understand why a client engages in repetitive behavior, don’t rely only on caregiver reports of sensory issues. Add a quick behavioral sensory task—like a simple visual detection game—to see real sensitivity. This gives you a clearer target for intervention and helps decide whether to treat sensory issues, executive function, or both.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Recent studies have suggested that individuals who exhibit heightened sensitivity also exhibit higher rates and severity of restricted interests and repetitive behaviours. This line of research has been conducted almost exclusively through caregiver reports of sensitivity. Here, a more rigorous psychophysics paradigm was applied to assess sensory sensitivity and relate hypersensitivity to restricted interests and repetitive behaviours. In addition, commonly used questionnaire measures of sensory sensitivity were collected to determine if self-reported measures accurately reflect behavioural measures of sensory sensitivity. In all, 90 typically developing participants completed a visual detection task, a questionnaire measure of sensory processing and a measure of restricted interests and repetitive behaviours. Visual sensitivity, measured both behaviourally and with questionnaires, is positively related to restricted interests and repetitive behaviours. Surprisingly, visual sensitivity as measured behaviourally and through self-report are unrelated. Furthermore, a regression analysis suggests that while restricted interests and repetitive behaviours can be predicted based on both behavioural and self-reported sensitivity, these two predictors account for different portions of the variance in restricted interests and repetitive behaviours. Thus, while these results provide evidence supporting the contribution of sensory sensitivity to restricted interests and repetitive behaviours, these results also indicate that behavioural and questionnaire measures of sensory sensitivity are measuring two distinct constructs. We hypothesize that behavioural measures are measuring sensory sensitivity, while questionnaires measures are in fact measuring sensory reactivity.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2020 · doi:10.1177/1362361319850402