Autism Research Group, City, University of London, London, UK.
University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Autism Res. 2020 Nov;13(11):1915-1928. doi: 10.1002/aur.2388. Epub 2020 Sep 10.
Rewards act as a motivator for positive behavior and learning. Although compounding evidence indicates that reward processing operates differently in autistic individuals who do not have co-occurring learning disabilities, little is known about individuals who have such difficulties or other complex needs. This study aimed first to assess the feasibility of using an adapted reward devaluation paradigm to examine basic reward processes in this underrepresented population, and second to investigate whether autistic children and adolescents with complex needs would show dynamic behavioral changes in response to changes in the motivational value of a reward. Twenty-seven autistic children and adolescents with complex needs and 20 typically developing 5-year-old children took part in the study. Participants were presented with two visual cues on a touchscreen laptop, which triggered the delivery of a video, music, or physical reward. One of the rewards was then presented in abundance to decrease its motivational value. Participants showed decreased interest in the video and music rewards after devaluation. The experimental setup was found to be suitable to test individuals with complex needs, although recommendations are made for the use of physical rewards. The results suggest that autistic participants with complex needs demonstrate goal-directed behavior and that it is feasible to develop experimental paradigms that can shed important light on learning processes that are fundamental to many education and intervention strategies for this population. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1915-1928. © 2020 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC. LAY SUMMARY: We adapted an experimental task to conduct research with autistic children and adolescents with complex needs, who remain grossly underrepresented in autism research. We found that once a reward was presented in great quantity, participants were less motivated to obtain it, showing that they adapted their behavior to changes in the value of that reward. This is an important finding to help promote learning and design better interventions for this population.
奖励是积极行为和学习的动力。尽管越来越多的证据表明，在没有同时存在学习障碍的自闭症个体中，奖励处理的方式不同，但对于那些有这种困难或其他复杂需求的个体，我们知之甚少。本研究首先旨在评估使用改编的奖励贬值范式来检查这个代表性不足的群体的基本奖励过程的可行性，其次研究是否具有复杂需求的自闭症儿童和青少年会对奖励的动机价值变化做出动态的行为改变。27 名具有复杂需求的自闭症儿童和青少年和 20 名典型发展的 5 岁儿童参加了这项研究。参与者在笔记本电脑的触摸屏上看到两个视觉提示，这些提示触发了视频、音乐或身体奖励的呈现。然后，其中一个奖励会大量呈现，以降低其动机价值。贬值后，参与者对视频和音乐奖励的兴趣降低。虽然建议使用实物奖励，但研究发现实验设置适合测试具有复杂需求的个体。研究结果表明，具有复杂需求的自闭症参与者表现出目标导向的行为，并且可以开发出实验范式，这些范式可以为许多针对该人群的教育和干预策略的基础学习过程提供重要的启示。自闭症研究 2020，13：1915-1928。©2020 自闭症研究协会和 Wiley 期刊 LLC。 非专业人士概要：我们改编了一项实验任务，以便对自闭症儿童和青少年进行研究，他们在自闭症研究中仍然严重缺乏代表性。我们发现，一旦奖励大量呈现，参与者获得奖励的动机就会降低，这表明他们会根据奖励价值的变化调整自己的行为。这是一个重要的发现，可以帮助促进学习，并为该人群设计更好的干预措施。
