Adults with autism spectrum disorders exhibit decreased sensitivity to reward parameters when making effort-based decisions

Table 1 Means (and Standard Deviations) scores on demographic and clinical measures for the ASD and Control Groups

	ASD (n = 20)	Control (n = 38)	*t / χ* ²	p
	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	*t / χ* ²	p
Age	25.95 (7.96)	20.42 (5.64)	2.764	0.01
Verbal IQ	112.50 (14.65)	112.94 (9.94)	-0.135	0.89
Performance IQ	113.60 (10.39)	109.17 (9.06)	1.664	0.10
Full Scale IQ	114.70 (11.25)	112.82 (8.66)	0.709	0.48
Handedness (Absolute Value) ^a	68.55 (24.48)	74.72 (21.00)	-1.004	0.32
Right: Left: Ambidextrous	16:1:3	31:2:5	0.038	0.98
Male: Female ratio	17:3	34:4	0.247	0.62
IRB Insistence on Sameness	5.61 (3.85)	1.74 (1.70)	4.082	<0.01
Range	0-14	0-5	4.082	<0.01
IRB Circumscribed Interests	8.17 (2.88)	2.18 (2.05)	8.927	<0.01
Range	4 to 13	0 to 9	8.927	<0.01
IRB Motor Stereotypies	6.06 (3.64)	2.66 (2.39)	3.612	<0.01
Range	0 to 11	0 to 8	3.612	<0.01
ADOS SBRI	1.68 (1.62)	N/A	N/A	N/A
Range	0 to 5	N/A	N/A	N/A
ADOS Communication	3.95 (1.36)	N/A	N/A	N/A
Range	2 to 7	N/A	N/A	N/A
ADOS Social Interaction	8.35(2.70)	N/A	N/A	N/A
Range	4 to 14	N/A	N/A	N/A

^aHandedness was indexed with the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory [39]. For each participant, this questionnaire provided handedness as both a continuous value (from −40 to 40, with larger negative values indicating a stronger preference for the left hand and larger positive values indicating a stronger right hand preference) and a categorical value (left-handed: <−40, ambidextrous: ≤-40 and ≤+40, and right-handed: > + 40). The absolute value of handedness is an index of the degree of ambidexterity regardless of right or left hand preference (with values closer to 0 indicating greater ambidexterity). The ADOS was only completed with the ASD group. ADOS, Autism Diagnostic Interview.
IRB = Interview for Repetitive Behaviors.
SBRI, Stereotyped Behaviors and Restricted Interests.

ISSN: 1866-1955