Brief report: Schema consistent misinformation effects in eyewitnesses with autism spectrum disorder.

Ridge et al. (2011) showed the adults a video of a bank robbery. Half had autism, half were neurotypical. Later they heard questions that slipped in wrong details, like saying the robber wore a blue cap when it was black.

Both groups took a final test. The team counted how often each person repeated the false detail.

Autistic adults fell for the planted errors just as often as neurotypical adults. The gap was zero.

In other words, the usual 'schema bias'—our mind's habit of bending memories to fit expectations—works the same in autism.

Godfrey et al. (2023) extends this picture. They found autistic adults forget story details faster and rarely use 'thematic gist' to organize what they heard. Together the two papers say: memory accuracy may drop, but the bias to accept misinformation stays intact.

Hsieh et al. (2014) looks like a contradiction at first. Preschoolers with autism scored lower than mental-age peers on planning for future events. The gap closed by adulthood, so Katie's null result makes sense; the early deficit fades.

McGarty et al. (2018) adds another null finding: autistic adults monitor their own recognition confidence as well as anyone. No group difference there either, lining up with the intact misinformation effect.

When you interview an autistic client, expect the same suggestibility you would see in anyone else. Use neutral questions, avoid leading words, and check facts with open prompts. Do not assume extra resistance—or extra vulnerability—to misleading cues.