Cognitive control of intentions for voluntary actions in individuals with a high level of autistic traits.

The team asked 40 college students with high autism-trait scores to pick freely between two simple computer tasks. They repeated the choice 160 times. The harder task gave more points, so smart players should mix it up. The researchers counted how often each student repeated the same choice.

They also gave everyone the Autism-Spectrum Quotient survey. Then they compared repetition rates between high-AQ and typical students.

High-AQ students repeated the same task far more often when the decision was hard. Typical students mixed their choices. The extra repeats happened only during the planning moment, not while doing the task.

This points to a bottleneck at the 'what should I do next?' stage, not at the 'how do I do it?' stage.

Iversen et al. (2021) pooled the kids and adults. They found medium links between poor executive functions and repetitive behaviors. The new lab result gives one clear reason: intention-formation interference.

Ohan et al. (2015) showed the same link in autistic children. Poor inhibition predicted more repetitive play. The adult data now show the trouble starts earlier—when the brain is still deciding.

Liu et al. (2025) moved the idea into daily life. They found executive dysfunction tied repetitive behaviors to picky eating. Together, the studies trace a line: weak intention control → repetition → real-world rigidity.

If repetition springs from slow intention planning, cue the plan instead of the action. Before a transition, give a brief visual prompt that states the next task name. Keep the language the same each time. This front-loads the decision and cuts the bottleneck Poljac et al. (2012) found. You may see faster shifts and less stereotyped play in clients with high AQ or ASD.