Exploring the relationship between autism spectrum disorder traits and metacognition sensitivity

Abstract

Given the large amounts of data that are currently acquired and manipulated, a new field called Computational Psychiatry has emerged. One of the best examples where computational psychiatry has contributed to neurodevelopmental syndromes comes from the study on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One of the current problems to which attention has recently begun to be paid is whether or not people with ASD have altered metacognition. The importance of exploring metacognition in ASD lies in practical and theoretical implications. However, the results found by studies exploring metacognition in people with ASD are inconsistent with each other. Only one study has utilized a bias-free measure of metacognition as in the present study. The main objective of this study was to contribute to the debate, through the study of metacognition in ASD traits in a sample of neurotypical people in an online experiment with a perceptual task. The results have not shown a statistically significant relationship between ASD traits and metacognition. These results are consistent with some of the previous studies.