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Updated: May 10, 2026
09:13
Testing Sensory and Multisensory Function in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Published on: April 22, 2015
Children with autism spectrum disorder are more trusting than typically developing children
1Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510275, China.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|July 2, 2013
Summary
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) showed increased trust in unfamiliar adults compared to typically developing peers. While not blindly believing all information, ASD children demonstrated a greater reliance on adult informants.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Background:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by social communication challenges.
- Understanding trust behaviors in children with ASD is crucial for social integration and intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate trust bias in young school-aged children with ASD towards unfamiliar adults.
- To compare the trust behaviors of children with ASD to typically developing (TD) peers.
Main Methods:
- A hide-and-seek game was employed with young school-aged children diagnosed with ASD and matched TD children.
- An unfamiliar experimenter provided information about a hidden reward's location using gestures or markers.
Main Results:
- Children with ASD did not exhibit indiscriminate trust, not believing all information presented.
- However, ASD children demonstrated a significantly higher level of trust in the unfamiliar adult informant compared to TD children.
Conclusions:
- Young school-aged children with ASD display a heightened, though not indiscriminate, trust bias towards unfamiliar adults.
- These findings suggest nuanced differences in social cognition and trust formation in ASD.
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