Leila Jameel: Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London (UCL), Bedford Way Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK, l.jameel@ucl.ac.uk.
Measuring Autistic Traits in the general population has proven sensitive for examining cognition. The present study extended this to pro-social behaviour, investigating the influence of expectations to help others. A novel task describing characters in need of help was administered to students scoring high versus low on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient. Scenarios had two variants, describing either a 'clear-cut' or 'ambiguous' social rule. Participants with high versus low Autistic Traits were less pro-social and sympathetic overall towards the characters. The groups' ratings of characters' expectations were comparable, but those with high Autistic Traits provided more rule-based rationales in the clear-cut condition. This pattern of relatively intact knowledge in the context of reduced pro-social behaviour has implications for social skill training programmes.
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