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Social and nonsocial visual prediction errors in autism spectrum disorder
Rachel K Greene1, Shuting Zheng2, Jessica L Kinard3
1Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Summary
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have challenges with prediction. Eye tracking revealed that adolescents with ASD looked more at unexpected visual stimuli, not predicted ones, linking to ASD symptom severity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with altered prediction mechanisms.
- Predictive coding frameworks offer insights into ASD symptoms, but empirical validation using eye tracking is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate visual prediction violations in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using eye tracking.
- To examine how individuals with ASD respond to unexpected social and nonsocial visual stimuli.
Main Methods:
- Eye tracking was used to assess visual attention in 26 adolescents with ASD and 18 typically developing controls (TDC).
- Participants completed a task involving learned visual associations with predictable (80%) and unpredictable (20%) outcomes of social and nonsocial stimuli.
Main Results:
- Adolescents with ASD looked more at locations violating learned visual associations and less at predicted locations.
- This pattern of attention to violated predictions was consistent for both social and nonsocial stimuli.
- Increased attention to violated predictions correlated with higher ASD symptom severity.
Conclusions:
- Findings support predictive coding theories of ASD, suggesting difficulties in updating expectations based on outcomes.
- Results highlight the role of prediction errors in core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder.
- Eye tracking can reveal subtle predictive processing differences in ASD.
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