Reduced preference for social rewards in a novel tablet based task in young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Atypical responsivity to social rewards has been observed in young children with or at risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). These observations contributed to the hypothesis of reduced social motivation in ASD. In the current study we develop a novel task to test social reward preference using a tablet computer (iPad), where two differently coloured buttons were associated with a social and a nonsocial rewarding image respectively. 63 young children, aged 14–68 months, with and without a diagnosis of ASD took part in the study. The experimental sessions were also recorded on video, using an in-built webcam on the tablet as well as an external camera. Children with ASD were found to show a reduced relative preference for social rewards, indexed by a lower proportion of touches for the button associated with the social reward image. Greater social preference as measured using the tablet-based task was associated with increased use of social communicative behaviour such as eye contact with the experimenter and social smile in response to the social reward image. These results are consistent with earlier findings from eye-tracking studies, and provide novel empirical insights into atypical social reward responsivity in ASD.

Quantifying social preference in young children using two tasks on a mobile platform

“…The results from the button task are consistent with the original report by Ruta and colleagues [23], where typically developing children did not show an overall social preference. Even though the button task is a simpler version of the instrumental tasks used previously, it still requires participants to remember the association between the cue (button) and reward (linked videos).…”

“…Unlike preferential looking measures, behavioural approach or instrumental choice tasks have been less consistent in indicating preference for social stimuli in neurotypical children [20][21][22][23]. In the present study, we replicated the findings by Ruta and colleagues [23] using an adapted version of the original task. Children showed no significant preference for social stimuli on the button task.…”

“…This task was based on a similar tablet-based task used previously to measure social preference in young children on the autism spectrum and matched control [23]. This was an instrumental choice task in which participants were shown two "buttons" on the screen, which presented either a social or a non-social stimulus when touched.…”

“…They invest more effort to get social reward than non-social but no such preference is seen in neurotypical adolescents [20][21][22]. Ruta and colleagues used a similar but simpler paradigm targeted for younger children (14-68 months), where children choose one of two buttons to look at social or non-social images [23]. They found that neurotypical children do not show any preference for the 'social' stimulus in this 'button' task.…”

Consistent hypersocial behavior in mice carrying a deletion of Gtf2i but no evidence of hyposocial behavior with Gtf2i duplication: Implications for Williams–Beuren syndrome and autism spectrum disorder

“…Those diagnosed with ASD have early deficits in social cognition that are thought to reduce social interest and motivation, leading to the theory that because those with ASD do not find social interactions rewarding, they are not motivated to seek them out (Novacek, Gooding, & Pflum, ). Several recent studies have found support for the social motivation theory including a preference of ASD individuals for nonsocial over social videos (Dubey, Ropar, & Hamilton, ), a reduced preference for social stimuli in toddlers diagnosed with ASD (Ruta et al., ), and an inverse relationship between ASD traits and self‐reported pleasure from social interactions (Novacek et al., ).…”