Intact predictive processing in autistic adults: evidence from statistical learning

Abstract

Impairment in predictive processes gained a lot of attention in recent years as an explanation for autistic symptoms. However, empirical evidence does not always underpin this framework. Thus, it is unclear what aspects of predictive processing are affected in autism spectrum disorder. In this study, we tested autistic adults on a task in which participants acquire probability-based regularities (that is, a statistical learning task). Twenty neurotypical and 22 autistic adults learned a probabilistic, temporally distributed regularity for about 40 min. Using frequentist and Bayesian methods, we found that autistic adults performed comparably to neurotypical adults, and the dynamics of learning did not differ between groups either. Thus, our study provides evidence for intact statistical learning in autistic adults. Furthermore, we discuss potential ways this result can extend the scope of the predictive processing framework, noting that atypical processing might not always mean a deficit in performance.