Autistic qualities promote cognitive strengths and curiosity in learning

Researchers are increasingly documenting what the autistic community has known for a long time: that autistic brain is capable of remarkable cognitive strong points. Now, a recent study published in Plos Computational Biology believes that stronger autistic qualities are associated with impressive learning results driven through curiosity.

Curiosity is a super skill

When we try to learn something new, our curiosity determines how deeply we enter the subject. If the subject is interesting for us, our curiosity drives us to continue and everything we can get. But if the subject is boring, we tend to meet the minimum requirements, so that we can get away to something that we find interesting.

Curiosity is well established as one of the skills for social emotional doctrine (SEL) included in public school curriculs. According to the Office for drugs and crime of the United NationsCuriosity is a super skill that drives the formation of other skills. Curiosity not only promotes academic performance, but also empathy, critical thinking, relationship skills, life satisfaction and even health.

Autistic qualities and curiosity

In a study carried out at Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, at Radboud University in the Netherlands, people with stronger autistic characteristics, in particular insisting on the genemia, performed better in a curiosity-powered learning task than others.

The researchers asked 77 students to play a computer game where they had to learn to predict where several Karakschith different hiding patterns would be found. An important part of the research design was that participants could freely decide when they could separate themselves from a character and what they then had to explore.

The level of autistic properties of the participants was quantified on the basis of both self-reported and other reported behavioral questionnaires, a process comparable to current clinical protocols for autism diagnosis. Then the researchers looked at whether the level of autistic characteristics of players had something to do with how many prediction errors they made or how far they came in their learning progress and exploration of the game.

The participants with stronger autistic qualities performed best in the game. In particular, participants who preferred predictability exceeded curiosity driven behavior. Those with stronger autistic qualities were more persistent and relied on the learning progress in later exploratory phases, which resulted in better performance in the task.

On the other hand, players with weak autistic qualities, that is, the more neurotypic, had the tendency to give up more easily. The researchers discovered that they were less persistent and were especially dependent on the learning progress during the first stages of exploration.

“We wanted to understand their decision -making process: which character they decided to participate and how long. It is remarkable that participants with stronger autistic characteristics showed different exploration patterns, and in scenarios that required persistence, their approach was particularly effective, ”wrote the authors of the study.

Unfair stereotypes about autistic people

Autistic people are often subject to unfair stereotypes that suggest that they are limited in their ability to learn or excel in work or school. Some of these stereotypes can be inspired by the need of autistic brain for routine and equality. Because autistic brains have differences in sensory processing, often experienced the world in brighter colors, louder sounds and more intense textures than non-autistic people, use their brains routine and equality to remain regulated.

If the dominant group in our culture interpreted neurotypal people the behavior of others through what it would mean for them. This tendency has been promoted by historical prejudices in psychology and psychiatric location that even in the current version of the DSM-V-TR Still refer to the needs and interests of autistic people such as abnormal or shortages. As a result, neurotypal people from our culture are taught to dismiss autistic as ‘reduced’, instead of becoming curious about how autistic the world experiences. This means that neurotypic people sometimes incorrectly interpret the autistic desire for equality as a lack of curiosity. However, this research shows that the autistic desire for equality is actually associated with improved curiosity.

Autistic people need personally learning

This study is one of the many who demonstrates that autistic people have different cognitive strengths, are very curious and can achieve a lot when they are allowed to pursue their interests. The authors of the study conclude that we must acknowledge that individuals, especially those with autistic qualities, can have unique strategies for exploration and learning. They encourage educators and policy makers to make room for personalized learning approaches.

Note about language: Most members of the autistic community prefer to be referred with an identity-first language, such as “autistic person” or “autistic”, because they see their autism as a valuable part of who they are. In this article my word choices honor this preference.