A common idea about individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is that they have an above‐average preference for predictability and sameness. However, surprisingly little research has gone toward this core symptom, and some studies suggest the preference for predictability in ASD might be less general than commonly assumed. Here, we investigated this important symptom of ASD using three different paradigms, which allowed us to measure preference for predictability under well‐controlled experimental conditions. Specifically, we used a dimensional approach by investigating correlations between autistic traits (as measured with the Autism‐Spectrum Quotient and Social Responsiveness Scale in a neurotypical population) and the scores on three different tasks. The “music preference” task assessed preferences for tone sequences that varied in predictability. The “perceptual fluency” task required participants to evaluate stimuli that were preceded by a similar versus dissimilar subliminally presented prime. The “gambling” task presented four decks of cards that had equal outcome probabilities but varied in predictability. We observed positive correlations between autistic traits and a preference for predictability in both the music preference and perceptual fluency task. We did not find our hypothesized correlation with gambling behavior but did observe a post hoc correlation showing that participants with more autistic traits were faster to choose the predictable deck. Together, these findings show that a relation between autistic traits and preference for predictability can be observed in a standardized lab environment, and should be considered an important first step toward a better, more mechanistic understanding of insistence on sameness in ASD. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1144‐1154. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

中文翻译：

---

可预测性偏好与自闭特征之间的关系。

关于自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）个体的一个普遍想法是，他们对可预测性和相同性的偏好高于平均水平。然而，令人惊讶的是，很少有研究针对这种核心症状，并且一些研究表明，对ASD的可预测性的偏爱可能不如通常假设的普遍。在这里，我们使用三种不同的范例研究了ASD的这一重要症状，这使我们能够在控制良好的实验条件下测量对可预测性的偏好。具体来说，我们通过研究自闭特征（通过自闭症患者的频谱自言自语能力和社会反应能力量表对神经典型人群进行测量）与三个不同任务的得分之间的相关性使用了量纲方法。“音乐偏好”任务评估了可预测性各不相同的音调序列的偏好。“感知流利度”任务要求参与者评估刺激，在相似或不相似的前提下，进行初步呈现。“赌博”任务提供了四副牌，它们具有相同的结果概率，但可预测性各不相同。我们观察到在音乐偏好和感知流畅性任务中自闭症特征与可预测性偏好之间存在正相关。我们没有发现我们假设的与赌博行为的相关性，但确实观察到事后相关性，表明具有更多自闭症特征的参与者选择可预测套牌的速度更快。一起，自闭症水库2020年，13：1144-1154。©2019国际自闭症研究会，Wiley Periodicals，Inc.