Abstract Existing literature has documented diminished norm‐based adaptation (aftereffects) across several perceptual domains in autism. However, the exact underlying mechanisms, such as sensory dominance possibly caused by imprecise priors and/or increased sensory precision, remain elusive. The “Bayesian brain” framework offers refined methods to investigate these mechanisms. This study utilized both model‐free (frequentist statistics) and model‐based (hierarchical Drift Diffusion Modeling) analytical approaches to compare gender face aftereffects in male adolescents with autism ( n = 29) to neurotypical controls ( n = 39) using a behavioral choice experiment. Contrary to our initial hypotheses, our analyses did not find support for imprecise priors or increased sensory precision within the autistic group. Instead, we observed generally decreased drift rates towards male but not female stimuli in the autistic group. Thus, our findings suggest a lack of own‐gender bias in face processing among the autistic participants. These findings align with more recent behavioral and neurophysiological research observing intact priors in individuals with autism, suggesting that other mechanisms may better explain the perceptual challenges in autism. Our study contributes to the ongoing discourse on perceptual processing in autism, emphasizing the necessity for more nuanced analytical approaches in order to unravel the complexity of this condition.

Julius Hennig

Arne Doose

Clara Marie Breier

Alexander Soutschek

Nicole Beyer

Stefan Schweinberger

Ingeborg Kamp‐Becker

Luise Poustka

Katja Albertowski

Veit Roessner

Stefan Ehrlich

Autism Research

自闭症研究将涵盖被称为普遍性发育障碍（或自闭症谱系障碍 - ASD）的发育障碍。该杂志侧重于基本的遗传、神经生物学和心理机制，以及这些机制如何影响 ASD 的发育过程。

The journal "Autism Research" focuses on the study of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a pervasive developmental disorder. It covers fundamental research in genetics, neurobiology, and psychological mechanisms, examining how these mechanisms influence the developmental processes of ASD.

《Autism Research》期刊专注于自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）这一普遍性发育障碍的研究。该杂志涵盖遗传学、神经生物学和心理机制等基础研究，探讨这些机制如何影响ASD的发展过程。

Category	Quartile
医学	2
医学, 行为科学	1
医学, 心理学发育	2

Disentangling the perceptual underpinnings of autism: Evidence from a face aftereffects experiment

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Journal Info

Category	Quartile
PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL	1