RETRACTED: Social Bayes: Using Bayesian Modeling to Study Autistic Trait–Related Differences in Social Cognition

Abstract

Our results demonstrate that higher autistic traits in healthy subjects are related to lower scores in a learning task that requires social cue integration. Computational modeling further demonstrates that these trait-related performance differences are not explained by an inability to process the social stimuli and its causes, but rather by the extent to which participants take into account social information during decision making.

Towards a second-person neuropsychiatry

“…A secondperson neuropsychiatry, therefore, promises to interrogate those brain systems that subserve active participation in and understanding of social interactions and may provide novel neuroimaging biomarkers of social interaction-based processes that might be both diagnostically and therapeutically helpful across different disorders. Of note, the secondperson approach advocated here draws upon a conceptual framework [3,4] which addresses the importance of being part of a social interaction and the embeddedness in a social environment, but is also open to explore how computational approaches can help to explain the underlying cognitive architecture possessed by individuals in the context of complex social situations [139].…”

Strategic Decision-Making and Social Skills: Integrating Behavioral Economics and Social Cognition Research

“…While this latter study shows the importance of mentalizing for predicting others' actions, it does not show that the predictions about others are also used during strategic decision-making. Assuming that the impact of ToM on predictions and beliefs are identical with its impact on social choices seems farfetched since, as a recent study shows, impairments of social skills do not affect learning or the processing of social cues, but their use in decisions (Sevgi et al [21]). …”

“…Consequently, even individuals without a diagnosis of autism differ in the scores on the Autism Quotient (AQ) (Yoshida et al [19]), a well-established psychometric test used to assess autistic traits. In contrast to the notion that high autistic traits are always associated with a ToM deficit, it has been shown that high-functioning individuals with autism show a dissociation of explicit and implicit mentalizing abilities: while they are able to explicitly mentalize what others do and may even spend more time mentalizing than low AQ individuals (Senju et al [23]), they are impaired to form adequate mental representations of the specific other in the ongoing social interaction and to use them during social decision-making (Sevgi et al [21]). …”

“…In line with this research tradition, we decided to employ a standard self-report measure used in previous studies to measure social skills (Sevgi et al [21], Senju et al [23], Schneider et al [26]). Specifically, we conducted a correlational study with a student sample measuring strategic decision-making on the one hand (by employing the standard beauty contest game) and the AQ (Baron-Cohen et al [5]), which measures autistic traits in adults of normal intelligence that are associated with ToM and social skills.…”

“…As a result, just the mere simulation of iterative steps in the game could have resulted in the activation of the respective brain areas, without reflecting the social aspect of it. Second, predictions are central for forming beliefs about others in social interactions and are affected by the ability to mentalize (Bruguier et al [20]), but individuals who vary in their autistic traits do not show impairments of the ability to form beliefs but to use these beliefs when making social decisions (Sevgi et al [21]). …”