Abstract
An action’s end state can be anticipated by considering the agent’s goal, or simply by projecting the movement trajectory. Theories suggest that individuals with autism spectrum condition (ASC) have difficulties anticipating other’s goal-directed actions, caused by an impairment using prior information. We examined whether children, adolescents and adults with and without ASC visually anticipate another’s action based on its goal or movement trajectory by presenting participants an agent repeatedly taking different paths to reach the same of two targets. The ASC group anticipated the goal and not just the movement pattern, but needed more time to perform goal-directed anticipations. Results are in line with predictive coding accounts, claiming that the use of prior information is impaired in ASC.
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The work was funded by a grant from the Volkswagenstiftung to B.S. and the German Research Foundation (DFG, Nr. PA 2302/6-1) to M.P. We thank all participants and their families for participating in this study. We are grateful to Tabea Schädel for her help in data acquisition and Emily Redekop for proofreading the manuscript. We thank Martin Sobanski (Heckscher-Klinikum gGmbH) and Martina Schabert (autkom) for their help with recruiting participants.
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KG participated in design, performed data- and statistical analysis, investigation and writing of the original draft, as well as coordination and participation in revision and editing. TS participated in design and data collection, supervision, as well as revising and editing the manuscript. BS participated in revising and editing, and funding acquisition. MP conceived of the study, participation in design, supervision, revising and editing the manuscript, as well as funding acquisition.
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Ganglmayer, K., Schuwerk, T., Sodian, B. et al. Do Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum Condition Anticipate Others’ Actions as Goal-Directed? A Predictive Coding Perspective. J Autism Dev Disord 50, 2077–2089 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-03964-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-03964-8