The influence of high autistic personality traits on the attribution of intentionality in typically developing individuals

The Dual Process model: the effect of cognitive load on the ascription of intentionality

Background

The classic Dual Process model posits that decision-making is determined by the interplay of an intuitive System 1 and a logical System 2. In contrast, the revised model suggests that intuition can also be logical. The Cognitive load paradigm has been used to distinguish underlying rational and intuitive processes, as it tends to lead to the use of heuristics over reasoning. Through two studies, we aimed to investigate the impact of two increasing levels of extraneous cognitive load on intentionality decision-making by comparing the two decision-making models.

Methods

The task required participants to attribute intentionality to negative and positive side effects, which were foreseeable but not deliberately intended. This compared an intuitive response, focused on the outcome, with a logical one, focused on the absence of intention. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the six experimental conditions, each with varying cognitive loads (high cognitive load vs. low cognitive load vs. no cognitive load) and scenario valence (negative vs. positive). In Study 1, cognitive load was made by introducing a concurrent task during intentionality attribution, whereas in Study 2, cognitive load was accomplished by associating the dual-task with a time pressure paradigm. Participants under cognitive load were expected to exhibit cognitive resource exhaustion, providing greater judgments of intentionality for negative outcomes and lower for positive ones, due to the dominance of intuition, compared to evaluations provided by participants who were not under cognitive load.

Results

In both studies, cognitive load reduced intentionality attributions for positive side effects compared to the no-load condition, with response times being longer for positive side effects than for negative ones.

Conclusion

This pattern suggests System 2 intervention for positive outcomes and System 1 dominance for negative ones. Therefore, introducing cognitive load enabled us to identify the different roles of the two decision systems in intentionality attribution.

Autistic Traits and Aggressive Behavior in Chinese College Students: A Serial Mediation Model and the Gender Difference

Background

The existence of aggressive behavior in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) raises questions about whether cognitive and emotional factors in social information processing play a role between autistic traits (ATs) and aggressive behavior in the general population, especially in the context of Chinese culture. Moreover, given a possible gender difference in these variables, the study aimed to examine the effect of ATs on aggressive behavior, and the potential mediating role of hostile attribution bias and alexithymia on this association, as well as gender difference.

Methods

850 Chinese college students participated in the assessment, including their ATs, hostile attribution bias, alexithymia, and aggressive behavior. Pearson correlation, mediation effects analyses, and multiple-group comparison were conducted.

Results

The results indicated that ATs indirectly predicted increased aggressive behavior through attribution bias and alexithymia. Gender difference in mediating effects was revealed: ATs indirectly predicted increased aggressive behavior through the serial mediating effect only in males.

Conclusion

Hostile attribution bias and alexithymia completely mediated the association between ATs and aggressive behavior, which contained the separate mediating effects of (a) hostile attribution bias and (b) alexithymia and the serial mediating effect of (c) hostile attribution bias and alexithymia. Gender differences in mediating effects were found only in the serial mediating effect, which was significant in males but not in females. The findings revealed the internal mechanism of ATs affecting aggressive behavior and gender difference, which have implications for the intervention of aggressive behavior of individuals with autism and those with high levels of ATs.

The Chinese "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Test: A study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism

We developed a 28-item Chinese Eyes Test and tested its psychometric properties with a mixed sample of high-functioning adults with autism or Asperger syndrome and neurotypical adults. The Chinese Eyes Test showed good convergent and divergent validity, satisfactory known-group discrimination, and acceptable internal consistency. The identified cutoff score of 18 or below (Sensitivity: 66.7%; Specificity: 84.0%) should be useful for identifying clinically significant levels of social cognitive deficits, in terms of difficulty with the perceptual understanding of others' mental states, in high-functioning adults with autism or Asperger syndrome.

Brief Report: Young Children with Autism Can Generate Intent-Based Moral Judgments

Past research suggested that, due to difficulties in mentalistic reasoning, individuals with autism tend to base their moral judgments on the outcome of agents' actions rather than on agents' intentions. In a novel task, aimed at reducing the processing demands required to represent intentions and generate a judgment, autistic children were presented with agents that accidentally harmed or attempted but failed to harm others and were asked to judge those agents. Most of the times, children blamed the character who attempted to harm and exculpated the accidental wrongdoer, suggesting that they generated intent-based moral judgments. These findings suggest that processing limitations rather than lack of conceptual competence explain the poor performance reported in previous research on moral judgment in autism.

Cognitive-Emotional and Inhibitory Deficits as a Window to Moral Decision-Making Difficulties Related to Exposure to Violence

In the present review, we illustrate how exposure to violence results in an increased probability of developing functional impairments of decision mechanisms necessary for moral behavior. We focus in particular on the detrimental effects of exposure to violence on emotional (e.g., Empathy), cognitive (e.g., Theory of Mind), and inhibitory control abilities. Relying on studies that document impaired moral behavior in individuals with deficits in these abilities, we propose a "model" of how exposure to violence can affect moral behavior. We then discuss how impaired moral decision making can also be a factor increasing the likelihood of reiterating violence: agents who lack abilities such as understanding and resonating with others' emotions or inhibitory control, can lead to an increase of violent displays. Thus, if not properly addressed, the noxious effects of exposure to violence on morality can lead to a violence generating cycle. We conclude proposing that interventions targeted at improving moral behavior can maximize their efficacy focusing on mitigating the impact of violence on the basic cognitive, emotional, and inhibitory abilities discussed.