Autistic Traits and Attention Orienting

Background

Our ability to shift our focus in space is essential for everyday activities. This cognitive function, known as attention orienting, has been found to be atypical in some autistic individuals. Existing research on attention orienting has primarily compared individuals with and without a clinical diagnosis of autism. It remains unknown whether attention orienting varies with different levels of autistic conditions and whether atypical attention orienting extends to those with subclinical autistic traits. Therefore, this study aims to understand whether and how autism-related conditions affect attention orienting in the general population.

Research Questions / Hypotheses

It was hypothesised that individuals with higher levels of autistic traits would be more efficient at exogenous (i.e., stimulus-driven) orienting and less efficient at endogenous (i.e., goal-driven) orienting. It was also hypothesised that age and symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety would moderate the association between autistic traits and attention orienting. No significant sex differences were expected.

Participants

One hundred and twenty participants (Mage = 22.8 years, SD = 5.82; range 17 to 44; 57% female), including 53 REP participants, completed the study. One participant was excluded from the exogenous orienting task, and two participants were excluded from the endogenous orienting task due to low accuracy.

Methods

Participants completed four attention tasks adapted from the Posner paradigm: an exogenous task, an endogenous task, an exogenous task with distractors, and an endogenous task with distractors. In each task, participants were required to respond to a target appearing on either the left or right side of the computer screen after a visual cue was presented. The cues either validly or invalidly indicated the location of target or were not informative about the target location. Participants' response times, accuracy, and pupil dilation were measured.

Results

We analysed the behavioural data from the exogenous and endogenous tasks without distractors. Other analyses are ongoing. The participants included in the study showed high accuracy in the exogenous (> 87%) and endogenous tasks (> 84%). Participants were fastest in the valid condition, followed by the neutral condition, and then the invalid condition in both tasks, indicating that they completed the tasks properly. Participants who tended to pay attention to detail—a trait associated with autism—were faster at disengaging their attention in both the exogenous and endogenous tasks. No other significant associations were found between autistic traits and attention orienting. Age, sex, and symptoms of ADHD and anxiety did not moderate the association between autistic traits and attention orienting.

Implications

The current results suggest that atypical attention orienting is associated with a specific trait of autism. The findings also suggest that the advantages and disadvantages of attention functions observed in autistic individuals may not extend to the general population with subclinical autistic traits. These findings will be addressed in an honours-level thesis, presented at conferences, and submitted for publication.