Crompton Catherine J, Foster Sarah J, Wilks Charlotte E H, Dodd Michelle, Efthimiou Themis N, Ropar Danielle, Sasson Noah J, Lages Martin, Fletcher-Watson Sue
Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
Nat Hum Behav. 2025 May 14. doi: 10.1038/s41562-025-02163-z.
Autism is clinically defined by social communication deficits, suggesting that autistic people may be less effective at sharing information, particularly with one another. However, recent research indicates that neurotype mismatches, rather than autism itself, degrade information sharing. Here, using the diffusion chain method, we examined information transfer in autistic, non-autistic and mixed-neurotype chains (N = 311), replicating and extending a key study. We hypothesized that information transfer would deteriorate faster and rapport would be lower in mixed-neurotype compared with single-neurotype chains. Additionally, we examined whether informing participants of the diagnostic status of their chain and whether information was fictional or factual impacted performance and rapport. We found no difference in information transfer between single-neurotype and mixed-neurotype chains. Non-autistic chains indicated higher rapport, and disclosing diagnosis improved rapport. This result challenges assumptions about autistic communication deficits but contrasts with prior findings. Enhanced participant heterogeneity and methodological differences may explain these unexpected results. Protocol registration The Stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 23 August 2022. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at https://osf.io/us9c7/ .
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