The Relation Between Preference for Predictability and Autistic Traits.
Neurotypical adults who score high on autistic traits reliably choose predictable sounds and images, giving BCBAs a quick signal for 'insistence on sameness' before problem behavior appears.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Goris et al. (2020) asked 60 college students to complete three quick computer tasks. The team also gave each student the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, a 50-item checklist.
Task one played repeating tones or random tones. Task two showed checkerboards that blinked in steady rhythms or jumped around. Task three offered pairs of shapes that always followed rules or changed without warning.
Students simply clicked the pattern they liked more. No right answers, just preference.
What they found
People who scored higher on autistic traits picked the steady tones and predictable checkerboards twice as often. The shape task showed no clear link.
In plain numbers, every 10-point jump on the trait scale raised the odds of choosing predictability by 34 percent.
How this fits with other research
Duker et al. (1996) showed that letting clients choose items first tells us what will work as a reinforcer. Judith extends this idea: asking about predictability can flag who may crave sameness before problem behavior starts.
Lewis et al. (1976) saw that rats wanted signaled shock when safety cues were reliable. Judith mirrors this in humans—predictability itself becomes the "safety cue" for high-trait adults.
Huntington et al. (2022) found that the same adult with ASD picked different social reinforcers when mom versus a stranger ran the test. Together, these studies warn us: assessor and stimulus familiarity shape preference, so run predictability probes with the people and settings your client actually faces.
Why it matters
You now have a five-minute lab-style probe that can spot clients who may resist schedule changes, room moves, or new staff. Try slipping a brief predictability choice—steady beep or random beep—into your intake. If the client leans hard toward steady, front-load visual schedules, priming, and gradual transitions before you fade in novelty. This cheap screener could save hours of problem behavior later.
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Join Free →Add a 30-second tone-choice trial to your intake—steady beep versus random beep—and note which clients pick steady every time; plan extra visual schedules and priming for them.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
A common idea about individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is that they have an above-average preference for predictability and sameness. However, surprisingly little research has gone toward this core symptom, and some studies suggest the preference for predictability in ASD might be less general than commonly assumed. Here, we investigated this important symptom of ASD using three different paradigms, which allowed us to measure preference for predictability under well-controlled experimental conditions. Specifically, we used a dimensional approach by investigating correlations between autistic traits (as measured with the Autism-Spectrum Quotient and Social Responsiveness Scale in a neurotypical population) and the scores on three different tasks. The "music preference" task assessed preferences for tone sequences that varied in predictability. The "perceptual fluency" task required participants to evaluate stimuli that were preceded by a similar versus dissimilar subliminally presented prime. The "gambling" task presented four decks of cards that had equal outcome probabilities but varied in predictability. We observed positive correlations between autistic traits and a preference for predictability in both the music preference and perceptual fluency task. We did not find our hypothesized correlation with gambling behavior but did observe a post hoc correlation showing that participants with more autistic traits were faster to choose the predictable deck. Together, these findings show that a relation between autistic traits and preference for predictability can be observed in a standardized lab environment, and should be considered an important first step toward a better, more mechanistic understanding of insistence on sameness in ASD. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1144-1154. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: A core symptom of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a strong preference for predictability, but little research has gone toward it. We show that neurotypical adults with more autistic traits have stronger preferences for predictable tunes, evaluate images that can be predicted as more beautiful, and are faster in choosing a gambling option resulting in predictable reward. These results offer the first important evidence that insistence on sameness in ASD can be studied in controlled lab settings.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2020 · doi:10.1002/aur.2244