Brief Report: Risk-Aversion and Rationality in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

This study tested whether risk-aversion is related to rational decision-making in ASD individuals. ASD and matched control adults completed a decision-making task that discriminated between the use of risk-averse and rational strategies. Results showed that overall, ASD participants were more risk-averse than control participants. Specifically, both groups made similar choices when risk-aversion was the less rational strategy but ASD participants chose more rational options than control participants when risk-aversion was the most rational strategy. This study confirmed that risk-aversion is a core feature of ASD and revealed that ASD individuals can switch their decision-making strategy adaptively to avoid negative consequences.
PMID: 29846850 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - May 30, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Gosling CJ, Moutier S Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: research