The effect of volatility in linguistic input on prediction behavior in autistic toddlers

Abstract

Domain-general prediction differences have been posited as underlying many aspects of the cognitive-behavioral profile in autism. An interesting potential implication of such differences is hyperplasticity of learning—the idea that autistic individuals may privilege more recent input over the accumulation of prior learning. Because real world language input is highly variable, hyperplasticity could have serious ramifications for language learning. To investigate potential hyperplasticity during a language processing task, we administered an experimental anticipatory eye movement (AEM) task to 2- to 3-year-old autistic children and neurotypical (NT) peers. Autistic children's change in anticipation from before to after a switch in contingencies did not significantly differ from NT counterparts, failing to support claims of hyperplasticity in the linguistic domain. Analysis of individual differences among autistic children revealed that cognitive ability was associated with prediction of the initial, stable contingencies, but neither age nor receptive language related to task performance. Results are discussed in terms of clinical implications and the broader context of research investigating prediction differences in autism.