Association between autistic traits and success in an exploration game

Association between autistic traits and success in an exploration game

The researchers tested 77 university students in a curious exploration task.

In a recently published study inPLoS Computational BiologyThe researchers examined how curious behavior varies on individual characteristics, particularly autistic traits, and on exploratory success.

Their findings highlight how individual differences in autistic traits shape exploration styles, which impacts the potential of personalized approaches to improve learning processes.

background

Curious learning focuses on self-directed exploration, motivated by an intrinsic desire to learn rather than external rewards. People tend to explore environments in which they expect to make more learning progress and disengage when progress is minimal.

However, probing behavior varies significantly between individuals and may relate to personality traits such as autistic traits, risk-taking and impulsivity.

Autistic traits, including insistence on sameness, are associated with unique learning patterns, such as: Previous research shows that those with higher autistic traits may have less tolerance for prediction errors, which affects their exploratory behavior.

About the study

In this study, researchers examined how autistic traits influence curious exploration. Their first hypothesis was that individuals higher in autistic traits may emphasize reducing uncertainty and the value of small, consistent learning gains. Alternatively, intolerance of uncertainty could lead individuals high in autistic traits to avoid situations with unpredictable outcomes.

The researchers recruited 77 participants who were either recent or current university students, 70 of whom continued on in the study. The final participants were between 17 and 35 years old, with a mean age of 22.2; 14 identified as men, 51 as women and 5 as non-binary.

Participants interacted with animal characters in a screen base and predicted each character's next location based on probabilistic hiding patterns. The task included three settings (grassland, sea, and beach), each with four animals.

The task allowed participants to explore freely, with decisions tracked in relation to their prediction errors, learning progress, and novelty preferences. A hierarchical model assessed their learning progress, prediction errors, and exploratory trial decisions. No instructions were given and no rewards were given if participants guessed correctly.

In addition, researchers collected information about autistic traits through adult social behavior questionnaires and, optionally, reports from participants' parents. The study focused on the “insistence on sameness” subscale, which assesses the need for predictability and avoidance of change. Researchers also examined the broader impact that autistic traits can have on exploratory behavior.

By analyzing how autistic traits influence learning decisions, the study aims to increase understanding of how these traits impact curious exploration and differ between individuals.

Results

Four logistic models tested the influence of factors (prediction error, learning progress, novelty) on participants' decisions to stay or leave. Autistic traits (particularly “insistence on sameness”) and time in trials were analyzed for their effects.

Participants with lower equality insistence used learning progress early but switched to prediction error later. However, participants higher in insistence on sameness later relied on learning progress but did not initially use any factor. The novelty did not have a significant impact on these decisions.

Similar trends were observed when self-report data were considered as explanatory variables, but not all interactions (particularly time) reached statistical significance.

When examining the links between exploratory choices and autistic traits, researchers found that participants high and low in sameness insistence preferred novel options.

Based on reports from others, novelty influenced both low and high equality group insistence, while prediction error and learning progress effects were not significant. Based on self-reports, the low persistence group preferred options with lower prediction errors, whereas the high persistence group preferred options with higher learning progress.

Regarding associations with learning performance, higher sameness insistence was correlated with improved performance in most hiding patterns, except one with high associations, and disallowed patterns. This interaction was significant for reports of others, but not for self-reports.

Conclusions

The researchers examined how autistic traits influence curious learning behavior using a task that asked participants to choose when to stop sampling an environment and what to explore next. They used computer modeling to analyze participants' learning pace and prediction errors.

While participants with lower equity insistence relied more on the learning step to exit an environment early, they switched to expected prediction error to exit activities when they expected poor performance.

Participants higher in sameness persistence showed greater persistence and initially relied less on learning progress, but gradually began to abandon activities as learning progress decreased. All participants preferred new options.

However, other autistic characteristics such as reduced social interaction and empathy may also influence the investigation beyond equality. The researchers emphasized the need for future research to examine brain mechanisms and causal relationships between autistic traits and learning behavior.

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