Decision-Making in a Changing World: A Study in Autism Spectrum Disorders

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 45; no. 6; pp. 1603 - 1613
• Main Authors: Robic, S., Sonié, S., Fonlupt, P., Henaff, M.-A., Touil, N., Coricelli, G., Mattout, J., Schmitz, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.06.2015; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder - psychology; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Bayesian Statistics; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Case-Control Studies; Child and School Psychology; Cognitive Processes; Communication Problems; Comparative Analysis; Context Effect; Cues; Decision Making; Environmental Influences; Female; Health aspects; Humans; Intelligence Quotient; Interaction; Interpersonal Competence; Interpersonal Relationship; Life Sciences; Male; Neurons and Cognition; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Probability; Psychological aspects; Psychology; Public Health; Social aspects; Social Behavior; Social Environment; Social Influences; Social Life; Uncertainty; Young Adult; Autism spectrum disorders; Social; Decision-making; Instability; Autism Spectrum Disorders
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-014-2311-7
• ISSN: 0162-3257

To learn to deal with the unexpected is essential to adaptation to a social, therefore often unpredictable environment. Fourteen adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and 15 controls underwent a decision-making task aimed at investigating the influence of either a social or a non-social environment, and its interaction with either a stable (with constant probabilities) or an unstable (with changing probabilities) context on their performance. Participants with ASD presented with difficulties in accessing underlying statistical rules in an unstable context, a deficit especially enhanced in the social environment. These results point out that the difficulties people with ASD encounter in their social life might be caused by impaired social cues processing and by the unpredictability associated with the social world.