Memory for Rules and Output Monitoring in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study examined factors related to repetitive errors in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from the perspective of output monitoring and memory for rules. Previous studies have suggested that output monitoring errors are associated with repetition errors. Moreover, people with ASD have a reduced memory for rules, which could result in repetitive errors. Typically developing (TD) and ASD participants memorized rules and conducted an object arrangement task consisting of sorting objects according to their price under two conditions. Memory tests and output monitoring tests were conducted immediately, and 1 week later. Results indicated that output monitoring in ASD was significantly lower than in TD, although the memory for rules showed no differences between ASD and TD.