Adults with autism show increased sensitivity to outcomes at low error rates during decision-making.
Adults with autism tune in to high-rate success, so dense reinforcement can drive flexible choices.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Minassian et al. (2007) watched adults with autism play a computer game.
The game gave points for right choices. Sometimes wins came often, sometimes rarely.
The team asked: do players change their plan when wins are frequent?
What they found
Players with autism kept using the same finger press again and again.
Yet they still shifted their choices when the game paid off often.
Frequent success made them more flexible, not less.
How this fits with other research
Luke et al. (2012) asked autistic adults to fill out a survey. Those adults said they hate making choices and often avoid them. The lab result looks opposite, but the methods differ: self-report versus live game.
Sasson et al. (2018) ran a similar lab task and found the same group also shuns risky bets. Together the papers show adults with autism like safe, high-rate wins and will switch strategies to keep that rate.
Guiberson et al. (2014) moved the test to teens. The teens needed more info before choosing, echoing the cautious style seen in adults.
Why it matters
You can use fast, clear reinforcement in sessions with adult clients. Set the task so correct responses pay off quickly at first. The steady wins will help the client stay engaged and flexible while you shape new skills.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Decision-making is an important function that can be quantified using a two-choice prediction task. Individuals with Autistic Disorder (AD) often show highly restricted and repetitive behavior that may interfere with adaptive decision-making. We assessed whether AD adults showed repetitive behavior on the choice task that was unaffected by changing task demands, by examining the influence of experimenter-determined error rates on decision-making. Sixteen AD adults and 14 typically developed subjects were administered a two-choice task using three error rate conditions. Although AD subjects showed occurrences of stereotyped responding, their decision-making behavior was strongly affected by changes in task demands, especially when they experienced frequent success. Thus, behavioral paradigms that provide frequent reinforcement may be helpful in modifying decision-making abilities in AD.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2007 · doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0278-8