Vicarious Effort-Based Decision-Making in Autism Spectrum Disorders

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Maya G. Mosner, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Jessica L. Kinard, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Sean McWeeny, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Jasmine S. Shah, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Nathan D. Markiewitz, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Cara R. Damiano-Goodwin, Duke University; Margaret R. Burchinal, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute; Helena J.V. Rutherford, Yale Child Study Center; Rachel K. Greene, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Michael Treadway, Emory University; Gabriel S. Dichter, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-10-01
• Publisher: Springer Verlag (Germany)
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3220-3
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
• ISSN: 0162-3257
• Volume: 47
• Issue: 10
• Start Page: 2992
• End Page: 3006
• Grant/Funding Information: This research was funded by National Institutes of Health grants (grant numbers MH081285, MH073402, HD079124, R00MH102355, and R01MH108605), and UNC-Chapel Hill (the Diller-Gilligan Summer Research Fellowship).
• Keywords: Male; Autism spectrum disorder; Social motivation; Vicarious reward; Humans; Case-Control Studies; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Effort-based decision-making; Adolescent; Female; Decision Making; Task Performance and Analysis; Reward; Motivation
• Research Categories: Psychology, Cognitive; Sociology, Individual and Family Studies

Abstract

This study investigated vicarious effort-based decision-making in 50 adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) compared to 32 controls using the Effort Expenditure for Rewards Task. Participants made choices to win money for themselves or for another person. When choosing for themselves, the ASD group exhibited relatively similar patterns of effort-based decision-making across reward parameters. However, when choosing for another person, the ASD group demonstrated relatively decreased sensitivity to reward magnitude, particularly in the high magnitude condition. Finally, patterns of responding in the ASD group were related to individual differences in consummatory pleasure capacity. These findings indicate atypical vicarious effort-based decision-making in ASD and more broadly add to the growing body of literature addressing social reward processing deficits in ASD.