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Brief Report: Perceptual Load and the Autism Spectrum in Typically Developed Individuals

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Abstract

A fundamental task of the cognitive system is to prioritize behaviourally relevant sensory inputs for processing at the expense of irrelevant inputs. In a study of neurotypical participants (n = 179), we utilized a brief flanker interference task while varying the perceptual load of the visual display. Typically, increasing perceptual load (i.e., with greater numbers of search items) reduces interference from a competing peripheral distractor. We show that individuals who score above average on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) show stronger interference at high perceptual load than individuals with below-average AQ scores. This is consistent with recent findings in individuals with autism spectrum conditions, and supports the idea that the cognitive style of the autistic brain is reflected in a broader phenotype across the population.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Notes

  1. Data from an additional 11 participants were discarded due to high error rates (>30%).

  2. The pattern of results is the same with the cut-offs originally used by Bayliss and Tipper (2005). With Low (AQ < 14; n = 82) and High (AQ > 17; n = 53) groups showing equal interference effects at Set Size Two, t(133) = 1.04, p = .30, d = .18, but the High AQ group showed stronger interference at Set Size Four, t(133) = 2.14, p = .035, d = .38. Finally, we also calculated linear correlations between AQ score and RT Interference (in ms) for both Set Sizes for the sample as a whole. At Set Size Two, there was no significant linear relationship, r = .09, n = 179, p = .25, two-tailed. Corroborating the other analyses, the correlation was significant at Set Size Four, r = .17, n = 179, p = .027, two-tailed. The quadratic relationship between AQ score and interference effect magnitude was non-significant (r < .1).

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Merryn Constable, Dana Schneider, Sheyna Ezrapour, Harriet Dempsey-Jones, Brenda Ocampo, Elizabeth Beadle, Jasmine Loo and Daphne Bryan for assistance with data collection. This work was supported by a UQ Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to Andrew Bayliss.

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  1. McElwain Building, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Andrew P. Bayliss & Ada Kritikos

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  1. Andrew P. Bayliss
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  2. Ada Kritikos
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Correspondence to Andrew P. Bayliss.

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Bayliss, A.P., Kritikos, A. Brief Report: Perceptual Load and the Autism Spectrum in Typically Developed Individuals. J Autism Dev Disord 41, 1573–1578 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1159-8

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