Attention control in adults with high autistic traits and attention training in children with autism

While attention is not a core component of the autism phenotype, attention atypicalities are often reported in research. However, contradicting findings in autism and the Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP) imply that the circumstances under which attentional selection is successful or impaired are not clear. Therefore, this thesis attempts to delineate more clearly the contexts under which attentional control is enhanced or impaired in the BAP. Specifically, I investigate whether differences in attentional control are driven by perceptual atypicalities in Chapters 2 & 3, where global/local stimuli and face/scene pairs are used while participants selected one aspect and suppressed the other. In Chapter 3, I investigate if attentional atypicalities in the BAP are linked to the mode of attentional control required, using experiments tapping separately proactive and reactive distractor suppression. In Chapter 4, I ask whether attentional atypicalities in the BAP translate to the motor domain, using a reaching task that may also tap proactive and reactive control processes and distractor suppression. In Chapter 5, I test whether attention training could prove beneficial for children with autism. The Computerized Progressive Attentional Training (CPAT) programme was utilized in schools with children with autism, while transfer effects were tested (in behaviour, cognitive and academic performance). Results suggest enhanced distractor suppression in adults with more autistic traits, when preparatory control is utilized, while the CPAT is shown to bring transfer effects from attention training to cognitive and academic skills of children with autism. Results are further discussed in Chapter 6

Diametric effects of autism tendencies and psychosis proneness on attention control irrespective of task demands

Our capacity to attend a target while ignoring irrelevant distraction impacts our ability to successfully interact with our environment. Previous reports have sometimes identified excessive distractor interference in both autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders and in neurotypical individuals with high subclinical expressions of these conditions. Independent of task, we show that the direction of the effect of autism or psychosis traits on the suppression or rejection of a non-target item is diametrical. In Study 1, in which the presence of a salient non-target item hindered performance, higher autism traits were associated with better performance, while higher psychosis traits were associated with worse performance. In Study 2, in which the presence of a salient non-target item facilitated performance, a complete reversal of effects was observed. Future clinical interventions may be informed by the context-specific advantages we observed for the autism and psychosis spectra, and by the need to consider the diametric effects they yield