Choice behavior in autistic adults: What drives the extreme switching phenomenon?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Previous studies reported that autistic adolescents and adults tend to exhibit extensive choice switching in repeated experiential tasks. However, a recent meta-analysis showed that this switching effect was non-significant across studies. Furthermore, the relevant psychological mechanisms remain unclear. We examined the robustness of the extreme choice-switching phenomenon, and whether it is driven by a learning impairment, feedback-related aspects (e.g., avoiding losses), or alternatively a different information sampling strategy.

Methods

We recruited an online sample of 114 US participants (57 autistic adults and 57 non-autistic). All participants performed the Iowa Gambling task, a four-option repeated choice task. Standard task blocks were followed by a trial

SUBMITTER: Zeif D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9980774 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature