title: Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder show a circumspect reasoning bias rather than 'jumping-to-conclusions'.
abstract: People with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often take longer to make decisions. The Autism-Psychosis Model proposes that people with autism and psychosis show the opposite pattern of results on cognitive tasks. As those with psychosis show a jump-to-conclusions reasoning bias, those with ASD should show a circumspect reasoning bias. Jumping-to-conclusions was assessed in a sample of 20 adolescents with ASD and 23 age-matched controls using the jumping-to-conclusions beads task. Both groups demonstrated equivalent levels of confidence in decision-making, however the ASD group required more beads than controls before making their decision. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the beads required and degree of autism symptoms. Consistent with the Autism-Psychosis Model, a more circumspect reasoning bias was evident in ASD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK, M.J.Brosnan@Bath.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brosnan
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ashwin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000523:psychology*; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*