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Abstract
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder of unknown etiology. Recently, there has been a growing interest in sensory processing in autism as a core phenotype. However, basic questions remain unanswered. Here, we review the major findings and models of perception in autism and point to methodological issues that have led to conflicting results. We show that popular models of perception in autism, such as the reduced prior hypothesis, cannot explain the many and varied findings. To resolve these issues, we point to the benefits of using rigorous psychophysical methods to study perception in autism. We advocate for perceptual models that provide a detailed explanation of behavior while also taking into account factors such as context, learning, and attention. Furthermore, we demonstrate the importance of tracking changes over the course of development to reveal the causal pathways and compensatory mechanisms. Finally, we propose a developmental perceptual narrowing account of the condition. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Vision Science, Volume 8 is September 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bat-Sheva Hadad
- Department of Special Education and The Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel; ,
| | - Amit Yashar
- Department of Special Education and The Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel; ,
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2
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Hosozawa M, Mandy W, Cable N, Flouri E. The Role of Decision-Making in Psychological Wellbeing and Risky Behaviours in Autistic Adolescents Without ADHD: Longitudinal Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. J Autism Dev Disord 2021; 51:3212-3223. [PMID: 33196916 PMCID: PMC8349343 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-020-04783-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
This study examined the development of decision-making and its association with psychological wellbeing and risky behaviours in adolescents with and without autism. Participants included 270 autistic and 9,713 typically developing adolescents. In both samples, those with a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were excluded. Data came from the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative population-based birth cohort. Decision-making was assessed using the Cambridge Gambling Task at ages 11 and 14. Psychological wellbeing (happiness, self-esteem, depressive symptoms and self-harm) and risky/antisocial behaviours were self-reported at age 14. After adjusting for sex, cognitive ability, spatial working memory, socioeconomic status and pubertal status, autistic adolescents showed comparable quality of decision-making to that of their peers at both ages but also a more deliberative decision-making style as they aged. Only in autistic adolescents was this decision-making style associated with positive outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariko Hosozawa
- Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - William Mandy
- Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Noriko Cable
- Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Eirini Flouri
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, London, UK
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3
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Steinley D, Vilidaite G, Lygo FA, Smith AK, Flack TR, Gouws AD, Andrews TJ. Power contours: Optimising sample size and precision in experimental psychology and human neuroscience. Psychol Methods 2021; 26:295-314. [PMID: 32673043 PMCID: PMC8329985 DOI: 10.1037/met0000337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
When designing experimental studies with human participants, experimenters must decide how many trials each participant will complete, as well as how many participants to test. Most discussion of statistical power (the ability of a study design to detect an effect) has focused on sample size, and assumed sufficient trials. Here we explore the influence of both factors on statistical power, represented as a 2-dimensional plot on which iso-power contours can be visualized. We demonstrate the conditions under which the number of trials is particularly important, that is, when the within-participant variance is large relative to the between-participants variance. We then derive power contour plots using existing data sets for 8 experimental paradigms and methodologies (including reaction times, sensory thresholds, fMRI, MEG, and EEG), and provide example code to calculate estimates of the within- and between-participants variance for each method. In all cases, the within-participant variance was larger than the between-participants variance, meaning that the number of trials has a meaningful influence on statistical power in commonly used paradigms. An online tool is provided (https://shiny.york.ac.uk/powercontours/) for generating power contours, from which the optimal combination of trials and participants can be calculated when designing future studies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
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Retzler C, Boehm U, Cai J, Cochrane A, Manning C. Prior information use and response caution in perceptual decision-making: No evidence for a relationship with autistic-like traits. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2021; 74:1953-1965. [PMID: 33998332 PMCID: PMC8450985 DOI: 10.1177/17470218211019939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Interpreting the world around us requires integrating incoming sensory signals with prior information. Autistic individuals have been proposed to rely less on prior information and make more cautious responses than non-autistic individuals. Here, we investigated whether these purported features of autistic perception vary as a function of autistic-like traits in the general population. We used a diffusion model framework, whereby decisions are modelled as noisy evidence accumulation processes towards one of two bounds. Within this framework, prior information can bias the starting point of the evidence accumulation process. Our pre-registered hypotheses were that higher autistic-like traits would relate to reduced starting point bias caused by prior information and increased response caution (wider boundary separation). 222 participants discriminated the direction of coherent motion stimuli as quickly and accurately as possible. Stimuli were preceded with a neutral cue (square) or a directional cue (arrow). 80% of the directional cues validly predicted the upcoming motion direction. We modelled accuracy and response time data using a hierarchical Bayesian model in which starting point varied with cue condition. We found no evidence for our hypotheses, with starting point bias and response caution seemingly unrelated to Adult Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores. Alongside future research applying this paradigm to autistic individuals, our findings will help refine theories regarding the role of prior information and altered decision-making strategies in autistic perception. Our study also has implications for models of bias in perceptual decision-making, as the most plausible model was one that incorporated bias in both decision-making and sensory processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Retzler
- Department of Psychology, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK
| | - Udo Boehm
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jing Cai
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Aimee Cochrane
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Catherine Manning
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
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Abnormal negative feedback processing in individuals with autistic traits in the Iowa gambling task: Evidence from behavior and event-related potentials. Int J Psychophysiol 2021; 165:36-46. [PMID: 33647381 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2021.02.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2020] [Revised: 02/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Value-based decision making plays an important role in social interaction. Previous studies have reported that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit deficits in terms of decision making. However, it is still unknown clearly whether individuals with high autistic traits within nonclinical populations employ abnormal neural substrates in value-based decision-making. To explore this issue, we investigated value-based decision making and its neural substrates in individuals with high and low autistic traits within a typically developing population who completed the revised Iowa gambling task (IGT) based on measurements of event-related potentials (ERPs). The IGT net scores were significantly lower in the group with high autistic traits than the group with low autistic traits in the fifth and sixth blocks. The ERP results showed that the feedback-related negativity (FRN) amplitude in individuals with high autistic traits allowed slight discrimination between positive and negative feedback in the low-risk option. The event-related spectral perturbations (ERSPs) and inter-trial coherence (ITC) of the theta-band frequency were also lower in the group with high autistic traits than the group with low autistic traits in the loss low-risk option. The results obtained in this study indicate that individuals with high autistic traits exhibit an unusual negative feedback process and relevant neural substrate. The FRN amplitude and theta-band oscillation may comprise a neural index of abnormal decision-making processes in individuals with high autistic traits. This study of a small sample may be considered an important step toward a more comprehensive understanding of the autism "spectrum" within a nonclinical population based on cognitive neuroscience.
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Quinde-Zlibut JM, Okitondo CD, Williams ZJ, Weitlauf A, Mash LE, Heflin BH, Woodward ND, Cascio CJ. Elevated Thresholds for Light Touch in Children With Autism Reflect More Conservative Perceptual Decision-Making Rather Than a Sensory Deficit. Front Hum Neurosci 2020; 14:122. [PMID: 32317953 PMCID: PMC7154145 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2020] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often behaviorally hyper-reactive to light touch, but it is unclear to what degree this arises from a fundamental sensory difference vs. higher order systems for attention or emotion processing. Thus far, experimental findings for light touch detection are mixed, and few previous studies have independently considered sensitivity (the ability to discriminate signal from noise) and decision criterion (the overall response bias or tendency to answer “yes” or “no” in a detection task). We tested a large sample of children, adolescents, and adults with ASD (n = 88) and with neurotypical (NT) development (n = 59) using von Frey filaments to derive light touch thresholds at the palm. We calculated signal detection metrics for sensitivity (Az) and response criterion (c) from hit and false alarm rates. Both metrics exhibited significant group differences, such that the ASD group was less sensitive, but had a much more conservative response criterion. We used a best subset model selection procedure in three separate ordinal regressions for the whole group, adults, and children/adolescents. In all selected models, c was by far the most significant predictor of threshold, supplanting effects of diagnostic group that were significant in the baseline models. In contrast, Az was not a significant predictor of threshold in any of the models. Mean values of c were similar for adults with and without autism and for children/adolescents with ASD, but lower (more liberal) in neurotypical children/adolescents. This suggests that children with ASD exhibit a conservatism in their perceptual decision-making that differs from their NT peers but resembles that of adults. Across the sample, the value of c was significantly and positively correlated with age and with autism symptoms (SRS-2 total score), in addition to thresholds. The results of this study suggest that, rather than a sensory difference in detection of light touch, there is a difference in response bias such that children with ASD are more conservative/likely to report “no” if unsure, than their young NT peers. Future work should consider the implications of conservative response criterion in ASD for commonly used forced-choice psychophysical paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Christian D Okitondo
- Graduate Program in Biostatistics, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Zachary J Williams
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States.,Medical Scientist Training Program, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, United States.,Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Amy Weitlauf
- Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Lisa E Mash
- San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Brynna H Heflin
- Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Neil D Woodward
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Carissa J Cascio
- Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States.,Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
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7
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Pirrone A, Johnson I, Stafford T, Milne E. A diffusion model decomposition of orientation discrimination in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/17405629.2018.1561364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Angelo Pirrone
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Illin Johnson
- Department of Psychology, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Tom Stafford
- Department of Psychology, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Elizabeth Milne
- Department of Psychology, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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