Stimulus-reward association and reversal learning in individuals with Asperger Syndrome

摘要

In the present study, performance of a group of adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS) on two series of object reversal and extinction was compared with that of a group of adults with typical development. Participants were requested to learn a stimulus-reward association rule and monitor changes in reward value of stimuli in order to gain as many points as possible. In order to assess whether difficulties with stimulus-reward association learning and with reversal and/or extinction might be related to social and behavioural impairments, we performed correlation analyses between test measures and scores measuring the severity of clinical symptoms in the areas of repetitive behaviours and social interaction as assessed by the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) [Lord, C, Rutter, M., & Le Couteur, A. (1994). Autism diagnostic interview-revised: A recise version of a diagnostic interview for caregivers of individuals with possible pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24,659-685]. Individuals with AS showed difficulties in establishing rapid stimulus-reward associations, whereas no severe impairment was observed in reversal and extinction learning. In addition, the present findings show that these difficulties correlate with scores in social reciprocal interaction, suggesting that the diminished ability in the assignment of reinforcement value to incoming stimuli might be related to disturbances in social behaviour often reported in autism spectrum disorders.