Autistic Adults Avoid Unpredictability in Decision-Making.
Ana Macchia, Laura Albantakis, Paul Theo Zebhauser and 3 others
PMID 39158770WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults did not make riskier or safer bets than non-autistic adults when probabilities were known.
Under uncertainty, they avoided unpredictable losses and took longer to decide. This suggests a preference for predictability, not a general decision-making deficit.
Key findings
01When outcome probabilities were known, autistic and non-autistic adults showed no significant difference in how much they bet or how often they chose the safer option.
02In a task with hidden probabilities, autistic adults chose decks with frequent, predictable gains even if the total payout was worse, avoiding decks with unpredictable losses.
03Autistic adults took significantly longer to make decisions in the known-probability task compared to non-autistic adults.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The groups were not perfectly matched for age and sex, though these were controlled for statistically. Half of the autistic participants were taking psychopharmaceutical medication, which can influence decision-making and hormone levels. The tasks were abstract computer games, not real-world social or everyday decision-making scenarios. A single influential case (an autistic participant who performed exceptionally well) drove some of the statistical significance in the Iowa Gambling Task results.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the slower decision-making in autistic adults as cognitive impairment or indecisiveness. In this study, it occurred alongside similar accuracy in known-risk conditions, suggesting a more deliberate processing style rather than a deficit.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →