Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the recognition of suspicious behaviour

Introduction: Difficulties recognising the intent of others, referred to as Theory of Mind (ToM) and intense, circumscribed interests (CIs) are two core features of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We propose these features... [ view full abstract ]

Introduction: Difficulties recognising the intent of others, referred to as Theory of Mind (ToM) and intense, circumscribed interests (CIs) are two core features of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We propose these features may decrease the likelihood that individuals with ASD will recognise the possibility that criminal activity is unfolding.
Methodology: 101 individuals (Mean age = 28.4 years, SD = 12.7) with a diagnosis of ASD and full scale intelligence quotient above 85 completed tasks assessing ToM and CIs. Participants listened to 16 audio scenarios. Half the scenarios were designed to make listeners increasingly suspicious and culminated in a crime. The remaining control scenarios were very similar, but were not designed to arouse suspicion and did not culminate in a crime. Half of the scenarios were tailored to include multiple references to each participant’s unique CI, and half made no mention of their CI. Time taken to press buttons ‘May be suspicious’ and ‘Definitely suspicious’ was recorded as a measure of ability to detect suspicious behaviour.
Results: 25-40% of participants failed to detect that behaviour was ‘Definitely suspicious’ until police officers were explicitly mentioned. Preliminary analyses indicate that both ToM and strength of CIs were negatively correlated with time taken to detect behaviour that ‘May be suspicious’. Analyses showing relationships between time taken to detect suspicious behaviour with various indices of ToM and CIs, after controlling for IQ are presented.
Conclusions: These results suggest that core features associated with ASD may be associated with the ability to determine if a situation is suspicious.

Ethics approval was received from the university Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee prior to commencement of the study. Individuals were invited to participate in the project via a mail out and web advertisement... [ view full abstract ]

Ethics approval was received from the university Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee prior to commencement of the study. Individuals were invited to participate in the project via a mail out and web advertisement from two state autism services, via flyers at organisations specifically for individuals with autism spectrum disorder, and flyers at psychology practices. Individuals who were interested in participating contacted the researcher and were provided further information about the study. On the day of participation individuals provided informed written consent prior to their involvement in the study and were able to withdraw their consent at any time.

Funding from a Flinders University Social and Behavioural Sciences Faculty Research Grant, and from Hamish Ramsay (private donation) contributed to this research project. No conflicts of interest are anticipated.