Dataset Information

Negatively phrased items of the Autism Spectrum Quotient function differently for groups with and without autism.

ABSTRACT: The Autism Spectrum Quotient is a widely used instrument for the detection of autistic traits. However, the validity of comparisons of Autism Spectrum Quotient scores between groups may be threatened by differential item functioning. Differential item functioning entails a bias in items, where participants with equal values of the latent trait give different answers because of their group membership. In this article, items of the Autism Spectrum Quotient were studied for differential item functioning between different groups within a single sample (N?=?408). Three analyses were conducted. First, using a Rasch mixture model, two latent groups were detected that show differential item functioning. Second, using a Rasch regression tree model, four groups were found that show differential item functioning: men without autism, women without autism, people 50?years and younger with autism, and people older than 50?years with autism. Third, using traditional methods, differential item functioning was detected between groups with and without autism. Therefore, group comparisons with the Autism Spectrum Quotient are at risk of being affected by bias. Eight items emerged that consistently show differences in response tendencies between groups across analyses, and these items were generally negatively phrased. Two often-used short forms of the Autism Spectrum Quotient, the AQ-28 and AQ-10, may be more suitable for group comparisons.

SUBMITTER: Agelink van Rentergem JA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6728748 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Negatively phrased items of the Autism Spectrum Quotient function differently for groups with and without autism.

Agelink van Rentergem Joost A JA Lever Anne Geeke AG Geurts Hilde M HM

Autism : the international journal of research and practice 20190228 7

The Autism Spectrum Quotient is a widely used instrument for the detection of autistic traits. However, the validity of comparisons of Autism Spectrum Quotient scores between groups may be threatened by differential item functioning. Differential item functioning entails a bias in items, where participants with equal values of the latent trait give different answers because of their group membership. In this article, items of the Autism Spectrum Quotient were studied for differential item functi ...[more]

PMID: 30818972

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Project description:Multisensory information is integrated asymmetrically in speech perception: An audio signal can follow video by 240ms, but can precede video by only 60ms, without disrupting the sense of synchronicity (Munhall et al., 1996). Similarly, air flow can follow either audio (Gick et al., 2010) or video (Bicevskis et al., 2016) by a much larger margin than it can precede either while remaining perceptually synchronous. These asymmetric windows of integration have been attributed to the physical properties of the signals; light travels faster than sound (Munhall et al., 1996), and sound travels faster than air flow (Gick et al., 2010). Perceptual windows of integration narrow during development (Hillock-Dunn and Wallace, 2012), but remain wider among people with autism (Wallace and Stevenson, 2014). Here we show that, even among neurotypical adult perceivers, visual-tactile windows of integration are wider and flatter the higher the participant's Autism Quotient (AQ) (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001), a self-report measure of autistic traits. As "pa" is produced with a tiny burst of aspiration (Derrick et al., 2009), we applied light and inaudible air puffs to participants' necks while they watched silent videos of a person saying "ba" or "pa," with puffs presented both synchronously and at varying degrees of asynchrony relative to the recorded plosive release burst, which itself is time-aligned to visible lip opening. All syllables seen along with cutaneous air puffs were more likely to be perceived as "pa." Syllables were perceived as "pa" most often when the air puff occurred 50-100ms after lip opening, with decaying probability as asynchrony increased. Integration was less dependent on time-alignment the higher the participant's AQ. Perceivers integrate event-relevant tactile information in visual speech perception with greater reliance upon event-related accuracy the more they self-describe as neurotypical, supporting the Happé and Frith (2006) weak coherence account of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Dataset Information

Negatively phrased items of the Autism Spectrum Quotient function differently for groups with and without autism.

Publications

Negatively phrased items of the Autism Spectrum Quotient function differently for groups with and without autism.

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