{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,23]],"date-time":"2026-08-23T17:26:35Z","timestamp":1787505995998,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,2]],"date-time":"2023-03-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1677715200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Technion Research & Development Foundation"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Previous studies reported that autistic adolescents and adults tend to exhibit extensive choice switching in repeated experiential tasks. However, a recent meta-analysis showed that this switching effect was non-significant across studies. Furthermore, the relevant psychological mechanisms remain unclear. We examined the robustness of the extreme choice-switching phenomenon, and whether it is driven by a learning impairment, feedback-related aspects (e.g., avoiding losses), or alternatively a different information sampling strategy.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We recruited an online sample of 114 US participants (57 autistic adults and 57 non-autistic). All participants performed the Iowa Gambling task, a four-option repeated choice task. Standard task blocks were followed by a trial block with no feedback.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The findings replicate the extreme choice switching phenomenon (Cohen\u2019s\n                      <jats:italic>d<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.48). Furthermore, the effect was found with no difference in average choice rates denoting no learning impairment, and was even observed in trial blocks with no feedback (\n                      <jats:italic>d<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.52). There was no evidence that the switching strategy of autistic individuals was more perseverative (i.e., that similar switching rates were used in subsequent trial blocks). When adding the current dataset to the meta-analysis, the choice switching phenomenon is significant across studies,\n                      <jats:italic>d<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.32.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The findings suggest that the increased choice switching phenomenon in autism may be robust and that it represents a distinct information sampling strategy and not poor implicit learning (or a bias in the sensitivity to losses). Such extended sampling may underlie some of the phenomena previously attributed to poor learning.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0282296","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,2]],"date-time":"2023-03-02T13:26:42Z","timestamp":1677763602000},"page":"e0282296","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Choice behavior in autistic adults: What drives the extreme switching phenomenon?"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Dana","family":"Zeif","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ofir","family":"Yakobi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0389-2131","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Eldad","family":"Yechiam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0282296.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.ss7011a1","article-title":"Prevalence and characteristics of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 8 years\u2013autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, 11 sites, United States, 2018","volume":"70","author":"MJ Maenner","year":"2021","journal-title":"MMWR Surveillance Summaries"},{"key":"pone.0282296.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"889","DOI":"10.1016\/j.euroneuro.2015.06.021","article-title":"Impulsivity and compulsivity: translational approaches to compulsivity in autism spectrum disorders","volume":"26","author":"E Hollander","year":"2016","journal-title":"European Neuropsychopharmacology"},{"key":"pone.0282296.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"142","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpsychires.2021.12.055","article-title":"The Montefiore-Einstein Rigidity Scale-Revised (MERS-R): Development, administration, reliability, and validity in child and adult Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)","volume":"147","author":"BP Taylor","year":"2022","journal-title":"Journal of Psychiatric Research"},{"key":"pone.0282296.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"668","DOI":"10.1017\/S1355617706060802","article-title":"Motivational processes and autonomic responsivity in Asperger\u2019s disorder: Evidence from the Iowa gambling task","volume":"12","author":"SA Johnson","year":"2006","journal-title":"Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society"},{"key":"pone.0282296.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1279","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-006-0278-8","article-title":"Adults with autism show increased sensitivity to outcomes at low error rates during decision-making","volume":"37","author":"A Minassian","year":"2006","journal-title":"Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders"},{"key":"pone.0282296.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1016\/0010-0277(94)90018-3","article-title":"Insensitivity to future consequences following damage to human prefrontal cortex","volume":"50","author":"A Bechara","year":"1994","journal-title":"Cognition"},{"key":"pone.0282296.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"421","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1014076108","article-title":"Children with autism are neither systematic nor optimal foragers","volume":"108","author":"E Pellicano","year":"2011","journal-title":"PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America"},{"key":"pone.0282296.ref008","unstructured":"Link SB, Roth Y, Yechiam E. 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