Introduction
Methods
Participants
Materials
Procedure
Results
Construction AQ-Short
Higher-order factor Social Behavior
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Social skills
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I prefer to do things with others rather than on my own (1) |
I find social situations easy (11) |
I would rather go to a library than to a party (13) |
I find myself drawn more strongly to people than to things (15) |
I find it hard to make new friends (22) |
I enjoy social occasions (44) |
I enjoy meeting new people (47) |
English samples only: New situations make me anxious (46) |
Routine
|
I prefer to do things the same way over and over again (2) |
It does not upset my if my daily routine is disturbed (25) |
I enjoy doing things spontaneously (34) |
New situations make me anxious (46) |
Switching
|
I frequently get strongly absorbed in one thing (4) |
I can easily keep track of several different people’s conversations (10) |
I find it easy to do more than one thing at once (32) |
If there is an interruption, I can switch back very quickly (37) |
Imagination
|
Trying to imagine something, I find it easy to create a picture in my mind (3) |
Reading a story, I can easily imagine what the characters might look like (8) |
I find making up stories easy (14) |
Reading a story, I find it difficult to work out the character’s intentions (20) |
I find it easy to work out what someone is thinking or feeling (36) |
I find it difficult to imagine what it would be like to be someone else (42) |
I find it difficult to work out people’s intentions (45) |
I find it easy to play games with children that involve pretending (50) |
Factor numbers and patterns
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I usually notice car number plates or similar strings of information (6) |
I am fascinated by dates (9) |
I am fascinated by numbers (19) |
I notice patterns in things all the time (23) |
I like to collect information about categories of things (41) |
Items omitted from the AQ-Short
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I often notice small sounds when others do not (5) |
Other people frequently tell me that what I have said is impolite (7) |
I tend to notice details that others do not (12) |
I tend to have very strong interests (16) |
I enjoy social chit-chat (17) |
When I talk, it isn’t always easy for others to get a word in edgeways (18) |
I don’t particularly enjoy reading fiction (21) |
I would rather go to the theatre than a museum (24) |
I don’t know how to keep a conversation going (26) |
I find it easy to “read between the lines” (27) |
I usually concentrate more on the whole picture, rather than the small details (28) |
I am not very good at remembering phone numbers (29) |
I know how to tell if someone listening to me is getting bored (31) |
I don’t usually notice small changes in a situation, or a person’s appearance (30) |
When I talk on the phone, I am not sure when it’s my turn to speak (33) |
I am often the last to understand the point of a joke (35) |
I am good at social chit-chat (38) |
People tell me that I keep going on and on about the same thing (39) |
When younger, I enjoyed playing games involving pretending with others (40) |
I like to plan any activities I participate in carefully (43) |
I am a good diplomat (48) |
I am not very good at remembering people’s date of birth (49) |
Factor Structure Replication and Validation AQ-Short
Factor (# items in scale) | Dutch controls reference | Dutch controls replication | English controls | English AS |
---|---|---|---|---|
AQ-Short (28) | .79 | .77 | .78 | .86 |
Broad factor | .80 | .79 | .80 | .86 |
Social behaviour (23) | ||||
Social skills (7) | .76 | .72 | .79 | .80 |
Social skills English version (8) | .80 | .80 | ||
Routine (4) | .55 | .54 | .57 | .62 |
Switching (4) | .56 | .54 | .47 | .59 |
Imagination (8) | .68 | .69 | .68 | .75 |
Numbers/patterns (5) | .70 | .71 | .67 | .73 |
Sample | Sex | N | AQ-Short | Social behavior | Numbers/patterns |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dutch controls referencea
| Men | 502 | 56.91 (9.32) | 46.16 (8.31) | 10.75 (3.18) |
Women | 739 | 52.79 (8.06)*** | 43.70 (7.27)*** | 9.10 (2.90)*** | |
Dutch controls replication | Men | 485 | 58.40 (8.70) | 47.02 (7.94) | 11.39 (3.25) |
Women | 636 | 56.61 (8.63)** | 46.86 (7.73)ns
| 9.75 (3.18)*** | |
English controls | Men | 737 | 59.73 (8.90) | 47.95 (8.30) | 11.79 (2.96) |
Women | 1,101 | 56.00 (8.88)*** | 45.56 (7.99)*** | 10.44 (3.15)*** | |
English ASb
| Men | 156 | 87.76 (12.06) | 72.51 (10.43) | 15.26 (3.45) |
Women | 117 | 91.49 (11.62)* | 76.07 (9.98)** | 15.42 (3.46)ns
| |
English controls versus AS | F (1, 2,107) = 2695.17*** | F (1, 2,107) = 2483.38*** | F (1, 2,107) = 423.69*** |