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The dynamics of statistical learning in autism – exploratory research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2024

C. A. Nagy*
Affiliation:
1Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University
F. Hann
Affiliation:
1Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University 2Doctoral School of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University 3Brain, Memory and Language Research Group, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences
B. Brezóczki
Affiliation:
1Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University 2Doctoral School of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University 3Brain, Memory and Language Research Group, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences
K. Farkas
Affiliation:
4Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
T. Vékony
Affiliation:
5INSERM, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon CRNL, Bron, France
O. Pesthy
Affiliation:
1Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University 2Doctoral School of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University 3Brain, Memory and Language Research Group, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences
D. Nemeth
Affiliation:
1Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University 3Brain, Memory and Language Research Group, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences 5INSERM, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon CRNL, Bron, France
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

In the context of developmental disorders, it is frequently observed that atypical processes may yield seemingly unimpaired behavioural outcomes. Research has shown that children and adults with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have intact statistical learning performance. Recent studies have indicated that learning can happen not only during practice but during ultrashort rests between practice blocks (that is, ultrafast offline learning) but no study to date examined these dynamics in ASD.

Objectives

This research aimed to unravel the effect of ASD on learning during and between blocks, also known as online and offline improvement.

Methods

We conducted a series of research with three different samples: 1) ASD children (N = 27), 2) ASD adults (N = 42), and 3) neurotypical adults with distinct positions on the autism spectrum, i.e., the severity of autistic traits (N = 174). Participants performed the Alternating Serial Reaction Time task, allowing us to measure statistical learning (the extraction of statistical knowledge) and general skill learning (speed-up regardless of probabilities) separately.

Results

Individual differences in online and offline improvements were observed. Results of individual studies further confirmed by meta-analysis performed on the three above-mentioned datasets show that neither ASD nor the severity of autistic traits influences the dynamics of learning.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that, not only learning but also the dynamics of acquisition of statistical knowledge are intact in autism.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Psychiatric Association
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