01-08-2007 | Original Paper | Uitgave 7/2007
Adults with Autism Show Increased Sensitivity to Outcomes at Low Error Rates During Decision-Making
- Tijdschrift:
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Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
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Uitgave 7/2007
- Auteurs:
- Arpi Minassian, Martin Paulus, Alan Lincoln, William Perry
Abstract
Decision-making is an important function that can be quantified using a two-choice prediction task. Individuals with Autistic Disorder (AD) often show highly restricted and repetitive behavior that may interfere with adaptive decision-making. We assessed whether AD adults showed repetitive behavior on the choice task that was unaffected by changing task demands, by examining the influence of experimenter-determined error rates on decision-making. Sixteen AD adults and 14 typically developed subjects were administered a two-choice task using three error rate conditions. Although AD subjects showed occurrences of stereotyped responding, their decision-making behavior was strongly affected by changes in task demands, especially when they experienced frequent success. Thus, behavioral paradigms that provide frequent reinforcement may be helpful in modifying decision-making abilities in AD.