Weakened Bayesian Calibration for Tactile Temporal Order Judgment in Individuals with Higher Autistic Traits

Abstract

Previous psychophysical studies reported a positive aftereffect in tactile temporal order judgments, which can be explained by the Bayesian estimation model (‘Bayesian calibration’). We investigated the relationship between Bayesian calibration and autistic traits in participants with typical development (TD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Bayesian calibration was weakened in TD participants with high autistic traits, consistent with the ‘hypo-priors’ hypothesis for autistic perceptions. The results from the ASD group were generally observed as a continuation of those from the TD groups. Meanwhile, two ASD participants showed irregularly large positive or negative aftereffects. We discussed the mechanisms behind the general results among TD and ASD participants and two particular results among ASD participants based on the Bayesian estimation model.

People with higher autistic traits show stronger binding for color–shape associations

“…Our previous studies showed that children at the age of 6 ~ 8 years of age could show similar patterns of CSAs as adults [73][74]. Those results may indicate that once a prior association is formed in individuals with higher autistic traits, it is likely to remain strongly associated, and tended to be less easily updated by later development, resulting in a hypo-prior [50,51,54,77]. Pellicano and Burr [50] suggested a Bayesian model for autistic perception, that people with autism weight their prior experience less than do neurotypical individuals, leading to a tendency to perceive the world more accurately because less in uenced by learned top-down in uences.…”

“…Ten participants were diagnosed with ASDs by a medical doctor (see Supplementary Table 1). The sample size of participants diagnosed with ASDs was chosen on the basis of a recent study investigating the effect of autistic traits on sensory processing [54], and the availability of respondents from participants. Those participants with ASD received the Japanese version of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule Component, Second Edition (ADOS-2) [55][56] and a Japanese version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III [57][58].…”

People with higher autistic traits show stronger binding for color–shape associations

“…Our previous studies showed that children at the age of 6~8 years of age could show similar patterns of CSAs as adults (Chen & Watanabe, 2021b;Chen et al, 2019). Those results may indicate that once a prior association is formed in individuals with higher autistic traits, it is likely to remain strongly associated, and tended to be less easily updated by later development, resulting in a hypo-prior (Pellicano & Burr, 2012;Van Boxtel & Lu, 2013;Spector & Maurer, 2011;Stevenson et al, 2017;Wada et al, 2022). Pellicano and Burr (2012) suggested a Bayesian model for autistic perception, that people with autism weight their prior experience less than do neurotypical individuals, leading to a tendency to perceive the world more accurately because less influenced by learned topdown influences.…”

“…Ten participants were diagnosed with ASDs by a medical doctor (see Supplementary Table 1). The sample size of participants diagnosed with ASDs was chosen on the basis of a recent study investigating the effect of autistic traits on sensory processing (Wada et al, 2022), and the availability of respondents from participants.…”

People with higher autistic traits show stronger binding for color–shape associations

“…Ten participants were diagnosed with ASDs by a medical doctor (see Supplementary Table S1). The sample size of participants diagnosed with ASDs was chosen on the basis of a recent study investigating the effect of autistic traits on sensory processing [54], and the availability of respondents from participants. Those participants with ASD received the Japanese version of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule Component, Second Edition (ADOS-2) [55][56] and a Japanese version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III [57][58].…”