Visual scene discrimination: A perceptual advantage in autistic adults

Discriminating between similar scenes proves to be a remarkably demanding task due to the limited capacity of our visual cognitive processes. Here we examine how visual scene discrimination is modulated by perceptual differences arising from neurodiversity. A large sample of autistic (n=140) and typical (n=147) participants completed two visual scene discrimination experiments online. Each experiment consisted of “match” (identical scenes) and “mismatch” (subtle differences between scenes) conditions. In both experiments, we found strong evidence for an interaction between group and task condition. Specifically, when compared to typical controls, autistic individuals were on average more accurate at identifying subtle differences between scenes. Taken together, our findings suggest differential and superior processing of contextual expectations in autism. This is consistent with both, classic cognitive theories- such as weak central coherence, enhanced perceptual function, and hyper-systemising- and more recent Bayesian explanations of autistic perception.