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Choice blindness in autistic and non-autistic people

Remington, Anna ; White, Hannah ; Fairnie, Jake ; Sideropoulos, Vassilis ; Hall, Lars LU and Johansson, Petter LU (2024) In Journal of Cognitive Psychology 36(4). p.493-501
Abstract

Choice blindness (failure to notice when our choices are switched unexpectedly) suggests people are often unaware of reasons underlying their intentions/preferences. Some argue, however, that research revealing choice blindness simply reflects social-demand characteristics in participant-experimenter interactions. To address this, we compared autistic adults (a population less susceptible to social demands), to non-autistic adults on a computer-based choice blindness task. Sixteen autistic and 21 non-autistic adults chose between faces, based on preference, and justified their choices. On one fifth of trials, participants were presented with the face they did not choose (manipulation). Finally, previously presented face pairs were... (More)

Choice blindness (failure to notice when our choices are switched unexpectedly) suggests people are often unaware of reasons underlying their intentions/preferences. Some argue, however, that research revealing choice blindness simply reflects social-demand characteristics in participant-experimenter interactions. To address this, we compared autistic adults (a population less susceptible to social demands), to non-autistic adults on a computer-based choice blindness task. Sixteen autistic and 21 non-autistic adults chose between faces, based on preference, and justified their choices. On one fifth of trials, participants were presented with the face they did not choose (manipulation). Finally, previously presented face pairs were re-presented to assess choice stability. Choice blindness was seen for both groups, at equivalent rates. Autistic participants showed less stability of their choices compared to non-autistic participants. Our findings suggest that social-demand characteristics do not influence choice blindness, and that—in this situation—introspective ability does not differ between autistic and non-autistic participants.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Autism, choice blindness, decision making
in
Journal of Cognitive Psychology
volume
36
issue
4
pages
9 pages
publisher
Psychology Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85194552140
ISSN
2044-5911
DOI
10.1080/20445911.2024.2356283
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c0585fe2-d8f8-4aa0-bbef-bddc6df74ab1
date added to LUP
2024-11-06 14:55:43
date last changed
2025-07-03 12:46:11
@article{c0585fe2-d8f8-4aa0-bbef-bddc6df74ab1,
  abstract     = {{<p>Choice blindness (failure to notice when our choices are switched unexpectedly) suggests people are often unaware of reasons underlying their intentions/preferences. Some argue, however, that research revealing choice blindness simply reflects social-demand characteristics in participant-experimenter interactions. To address this, we compared autistic adults (a population less susceptible to social demands), to non-autistic adults on a computer-based choice blindness task. Sixteen autistic and 21 non-autistic adults chose between faces, based on preference, and justified their choices. On one fifth of trials, participants were presented with the face they did not choose (manipulation). Finally, previously presented face pairs were re-presented to assess choice stability. Choice blindness was seen for both groups, at equivalent rates. Autistic participants showed less stability of their choices compared to non-autistic participants. Our findings suggest that social-demand characteristics do not influence choice blindness, and that—in this situation—introspective ability does not differ between autistic and non-autistic participants.</p>}},
  author       = {{Remington, Anna and White, Hannah and Fairnie, Jake and Sideropoulos, Vassilis and Hall, Lars and Johansson, Petter}},
  issn         = {{2044-5911}},
  keywords     = {{Autism; choice blindness; decision making}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{493--501}},
  publisher    = {{Psychology Press}},
  series       = {{Journal of Cognitive Psychology}},
  title        = {{Choice blindness in autistic and non-autistic people}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2024.2356283}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/20445911.2024.2356283}},
  volume       = {{36}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}