Dysfunctions in Infants’ Statistical Learning are Related to Parental Autistic Traits

Statistical learning refers to the ability to extract the statistical relations embedded in a sequence, and it plays a crucial role in the development of communicative and social skills that are impacted in the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Here, we investigated the relationship between infants’ S...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of autism and developmental disorders 2021-12, Vol.51 (12), p.4621-4631
Main Authors: Roberta, Bettoni, Riva, Valentina, Cantiani, Chiara, Riboldi, Elena Maria, Molteni, Massimo, Macchi Cassia, Viola, Bulf, Hermann
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ability
Analysis
Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder - diagnosis
Autistic Disorder
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Child and School Psychology
Communication
Demographic aspects
Diagnosis
Habituation
Health aspects
Humans
Incidental Learning
Infants
Learning
Neurosciences
Original Paper
Parental influences
Parents
Patient outcomes
Pediatrics
Pervasive Developmental Disorders
Psychological aspects
Psychology
Public Health
Social development
Social Skills
Statistical learning (Psychology)
Statistics
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Summary:Statistical learning refers to the ability to extract the statistical relations embedded in a sequence, and it plays a crucial role in the development of communicative and social skills that are impacted in the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Here, we investigated the relationship between infants’ SL ability and autistic traits in their parents. Using a visual habituation task, we tested infant offspring of adults (non-diagnosed) who show high (HAT infants) versus low (LAT infants) autistic traits. Results demonstrated that LAT infants learned the statistical structure embedded in a visual sequence, while HAT infants failed. Moreover, infants’ SL ability was related to autistic traits in their parents, further suggesting that early dysfunctions in SL might contribute to variabilities in ASD symptoms.
ISSN:0162-3257
1573-3432
DOI:10.1007/s10803-021-04894-0