Perceptual learning and perceptual search are altered in male university students with higher Autism Quotient scores

Reed, Phil; Lowe, C.; Everett, Rhiannan

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.06.016

Cited by 25 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…For instance, individuals with ASD show better performance than individuals with TD on the Embedded Figures Test (EFT; Brosnan et al, 2012 ), in which one is required to find a local (embedded) target within a global context constructed of multiple figures. A similar result has been found in the Navon-type Global–Local Naming Task (Reed et al, 2011 ) and various perceptual and cognitive tasks (Happe and Frith, 2006 ).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 83%

The relationship between level of autistic traits and local bias in the context of the McGurk effect

2015

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The McGurk effect is a well-known illustration that demonstrates the influence of visual information on hearing in the context of speech perception. Some studies have reported that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display abnormal processing of audio-visual speech integration, while other studies showed contradictory results. Based on the dimensional model of ASD, we administered two analog studies to examine the link between level of autistic traits, as assessed by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), and the McGurk effect among a sample of university students. In the first experiment, we found that autistic traits correlated negatively with fused (McGurk) responses. Then, we manipulated presentation types of visual stimuli to examine whether the local bias toward visual speech cues modulated individual differences in the McGurk effect. The presentation included four types of visual images, comprising no image, mouth only, mouth and eyes, and full face. The results revealed that global facial information facilitates the influence of visual speech cues on McGurk stimuli. Moreover, individual differences between groups with low and high levels of autistic traits appeared when the full-face visual speech cue with an incongruent voice condition was presented. These results suggest that individual differences in the McGurk effect might be due to a weak ability to process global facial information in individuals with high levels of autistic traits.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 83%

The relationship between level of autistic traits and local bias in the context of the McGurk effect

2015

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“…This finding is novel with respect to AQ scores, but is consistent with previous findings for those with ASD (Kelly et al 2015;Leader et al 2009), and also replicates previous findings that have shown greater levels of anxiety or stress associated with over-selective responding (Groden et al 2005). The finding that those with higher AQ scores perform similarly to those with clinical-ASD also extend the suggestion that ASD could be regarded as a broad phenotype with traits distributed across the population (Couteur et al 1996;Reed et al 2011). The mindfulness intervention removed a tendency to overselect, and did so independently of the level of AQ displayed by the participants.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Mechanisms of Mindfulness in Those with Higher and Lower Levels of Autism Traits

Reed

2018

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The effects of brief mindfulness induction on a central trait of autism spectrum disorder (over-selective attention) were examined in order to assess whether different mechanisms act in those with lower and higher levels of autism traits, and determine which intervention may be most appropriate for individuals with different sets of symptoms. Two hundred and 24 volunteer participants (110 male; 114 female) were assessed for levels of autism traits (autism quotient; AQ), anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales), and mindful awareness (Toronto Mindfulness Scale). They were randomly assigned to mindfulness, relaxation, or no-intervention groups. After three 10-min sessions, held on alternate days, participants underwent simultaneous discrimination training between two two-element compound stimuli (AB+ CD−), followed by an extinction test (AvC, AvD, BvC, BvD) to determine the amount of over-selectivity present. Levels of depression, anxiety, and mindfulness were reassessed. Participants with greater autism traits demonstrated greater over-selectivity, than those with lower autism traits. Mindfulness reduced over-selectivity, and did so independently of the level of AQ displayed by the participants. For lower scoring AQ participants, mindfulness worked more effectively than relaxation. In contrast, for participants with higher AQ scores, there was little difference between the impact of mindfulness and relaxation. The latter group displayed no improvement in mindful awareness. Mindfulness induction can be effective, but may work through different mechanisms for those with higher and lower autism traits, and consideration should be given as to whether this intervention may be the most suitable in all cases where autism traits are present.

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“…In support of this view, studies have found similar behavioral patterns in TD individuals with High-AQ and individuals with ASD [e.g., 12]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Responses to others’ pain in adults with autistic traits: The influence of gender and stimuli modality

Meng¹,

Li²,

Shen³

2017

PLoS ONE

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Individuals with autism-spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit impairments in response to others’ pain. Evidence suggests that features of autism are not restricted to individuals with ASD, and that autistic traits vary throughout the general population. To investigate the association between autistic traits and the responses to others’ pain in typically developing adults, we employed the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) to quantify autistic traits in a group of 1670 healthy adults and explored whether 60 participants (30 males and 30 females) with 10% highest AQ scores (High-AQ) would exhibit difficulties in the responses to others’ pain relative to 60 participants (30 males and 30 females) with 10% lowest AQ scores (Low-AQ). This study included a Visual Task and an Auditory Task to test behavioral differences between High-AQ and Low-AQ groups’ responses to others’ pain in both modalities. For the Visual Task, participants were instructed to respond to pictures depicting others’ pain. They were instructed to judge the stimuli type (painful or not), judge others’ pain intensity, and indicate the unpleasantness they personally felt. For the Auditory Task, experimental procedures were identical to the Visual Task except that painful voices were added. Results showed the High-AQ group was less accurate than the Low-AQ group in judging others’ pain. Moreover, relative to Low-AQ males, High-AQ males had significantly longer reaction times in judging others’ pain in the Auditory Task. However, High-AQ and Low-AQ females showed similar reaction times in both tasks. These findings demonstrated identification of others’ pain by healthy adults is related to the extent of autistic traits, gender, and modality.

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Perceptual learning and perceptual search are altered in male university students with higher Autism Quotient scores

Cited by 25 publications

References 17 publications

The relationship between level of autistic traits and local bias in the context of the McGurk effect

The relationship between level of autistic traits and local bias in the context of the McGurk effect

Mechanisms of Mindfulness in Those with Higher and Lower Levels of Autism Traits

Responses to others’ pain in adults with autistic traits: The influence of gender and stimuli modality

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