Removal of negative feedback enhances WCST performance for individuals with ASD

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Highlights

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    Negative feedback led to perseveration in individuals with AS on the WCST.

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    Performance on WCST by AS individuals was enhanced when negative feedback was removed.

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    These results suggest negative feedback may impair learning in persons with AS.

Abstract

Negative feedback was explored as a potential mechanism that may exacerbate perseverative behaviours in individuals with Asperger's syndrome (AS). The current study compared 50 individuals with AS and 50 typically developing (TD) individuals for their abilities to successfully complete the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) in the presence or absence of negative feedback. The results revealed that negative feedback led to perseveration in individuals with AS. When negative feedback was removed from the WCST, performance by individuals with AS was enhanced, and was no different to that of the TD individuals under the same conditions. These results suggest negative feedback may impair learning in persons with AS, and prevent the development of more effective strategies in many life domains.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants used within the study included 50 high-functioning adolescents or adults with a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome (AS), and 50 typically developing adolescents or adults. Diagnosed participants were recruited from Australian Autism support networks and organisations. Participants with AS were required to have a prior diagnosis confirmed in writing by a registered clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, or paediatrician, and have a tested IQ above 70. TD participants were recruited by

Results

There were no missing values, univariate outliers, or normality issues. Jaegar and Halliday (1998) argue that when a study is exploratory in nature (as is the present study), controlling for Type 2 error (supporting the null hypothesis when it is false) is more important for knowledge development than controlling for Type 1 error alone. By retaining the .05 alpha criterion, the present retains more power than either FWE or FDR approaches to detect a significant effect. Confidence intervals will

Discussion

The present study investigated perseveration in individuals with AS using the WCST. Feedback during the test was manipulated in order to determine the role of negative feedback in perseverative behaviour for persons with an AS. Investigation of differences into how negative feedback is processed in the AS and TD groups was guided by one broad hypothesis; that when the correct vs. blank reinforcement combination was employed, the absence of negative feedback would result in improved performance

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