Linking Cognitive Frameworks, Neural Mechanisms, and Behavioral Presentation
Open Access DepositedMultilevel Insights into Autism
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is defined by differences in social cognition, interaction, and communication and repetitive behaviors and restricted interests (RRBs). Currently, autism is conceptualized within a unidimensional, categorical framework such that the quantity of autistic traits varies across the population, but the quality of autism is consistent. However, autism often presents heterogeneously and comprising numerous features associated with each core symptom domain raising the possibility that the latent structure of autism is multidimensional. This dissertation aims to 1) propose a theoretical framework leveraging the cognitive rigidity-flexibility dimension to specify autism within a multidimensional space, 2) examine how a social learning paradigm and associated computational modeling schema can be applied to capture variability in autistic profiles at both the behavioral and neural levels. Ultimately, the findings of this dissertation corroborate the notion that a unidimensional approach to understanding autism may obscure nuanced ways in which the neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning the neurodevelopmental condition are distinct.
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