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Cited by 2,072Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchChild and Animal Learning DevelopmentAction Observation and Synchronization

The social motivation theory of autism

Open access
Chevallier, Coralie, Kohls, Gregor, Troiani, Vanessa, Brodkin, Edward S., Schultz, Robert T.·2012·Trends in Cognitive Sciences
DOI 10.1016/j.tics.2012.02.007PMC PMC3329932
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Abstract

The idea that social motivation deficits play a central role in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) has recently gained increased interest. This constitutes a shift in autism research, which has traditionally focused more intensely on cognitive impairments, such as Theory of Mind deficits or executive dysfunction, while granting comparatively less attention to motivational factors. This review delineates the concept of social motivation and capitalizes on recent findings in several research areas to provide an integrated picture of social motivation at the behavioral, biological and evolutionary levels. We conclude that ASD can be construed as an extreme case of diminished social motivation and, as such, provides a powerful model to understand humans’ intrinsic drive to seek acceptance and avoid rejection.

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Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This review proposes that autism spectrum disorders are best framed as an early-emerging reduction in social motivation, spanning attention to social cues, enjoyment of social interaction, and efforts to sustain relationships. It synthesizes behavioral, neural, and evolutionary evidence and argues that social-cognitive difficulties are more likely downstream consequences than root causes.

Key findings

  • Typical social motivation is described as three-tiered: social signals capture attention, social interactions are rewarding, and people work to maintain social bonds; these are linked to orbitofrontal-striatal-amygdala circuitry and neuropeptides such as oxytocin.
  • In ASD, the review reports reduced social orienting (e.g., less looking at people, faces, and eyes; weaker preference for speech/social sounds), reduced social seeking/liking (e.g., about half of adults with ASD report no particular friends; lower friendship questionnaire scores; less spontaneous helping and joint attention; social anhedonia tracks severity), and fewer social maintaining behaviors (e.g., less greeting/farewell, affect hiding, strategic self-presentation, flattery, and audience effects on donations).
  • Neural evidence implicates abnormal orbitofrontal-striatum-amygdala responses to social stimuli and possible oxytocin dysregulation, though direct tests of social versus non-social reward in ASD are few and inconsistent.
  • Evolutionary argument: affiliation motivation is distinct from attachment and sexual/romantic drives, which appear relatively spared in ASD; collaborative foraging examples include Aché hunters returning empty on about 40% of hunts and Hadza on over 90%, and human children prefer collaboration more than chimpanzees.

Methods

  • Narrative review and integrative theoretical synthesis, not a primary empirical study; no new sample or dataset is reported.
  • Draws on behavioral, eye-tracking, neuroimaging, lesion, animal-model, genetic, neuropeptide, behavioral-economic, and evolutionary evidence to build a multi-level account.
  • Main analysis is conceptual integration and generation of predictions about causality, universality, developmental ordering, and intervention effects; no systematic review or meta-analytic procedure is described.

Limitations

  • The paper states that the social motivation account, like Theory of Mind accounts, does not explain non-social ASD features such as repetitive behaviors, restricted interests, intellectual disability, comorbidities, or savant skills, and that social motivation/cognition deficits are not specific to ASD.
  • The paper states unresolved issues: ASD heterogeneity (e.g., whether all subtypes show reduced social motivation), whether reward deficits are social-specific or general, whether “wanting” and “liking” are equally affected, inconsistent neuroimaging findings, and reliance on indirect measures of social motivation.
  • Evident from the text: as a review, it does not provide new causal or longitudinal tests; several key predictions (developmental precedence, boosting social attention improving social cognition) are supported by convergent but not definitive evidence, and longitudinal studies are noted as lacking.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.tics.2012.02.007

Cites

117 of 117 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

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  • Premisecitation

    Attention is rapidly captured by human faces and bodies.

    “attention is rapidly captured by human faces and bodies [1]”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [1] Fletcher-Watson S 2008 Rapid detection of person information in a naturalistic scene Perception 37 571 583 18546664 source

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  • Interpretationnone given

    Diminished social motivation is a primary deficit in autism spectrum disorders.

    “defends the idea that social motivation is a powerful force guiding human behavior and that disruption of social motivational mechanisms may constitute a primary deficit in autism”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Premisecitation

    Changes in faces are detected better than changes in other objects.

    “changes in faces are detected better than in other objects [2,3]”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [2] Kikuchi Y 2009 Faces do not capture special attention in children with autism spectrum disorder: A change blindness study Child Dev 80 1421 1433 19765009 source

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    • cites [3] Ro T 2001 Changing faces: A detection advantage in the flicker paradigm Psychol Sci 12 94 11294237 source

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  • Interpretationnone given

    Autism spectrum disorder can be understood as an extreme instance of reduced social motivation.

    “We conclude that ASD can be construed as an extreme case of diminished social motivation”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Premisecitation

    Computing the salience value of social stimuli depends on interactions between the amygdala, ventral striatum, and orbitofrontal cortex.

    “Computing the salience value of social stimuli rests on strong interactions with the ventral striatum and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) with which the amygdala shares dense connections [26]”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [26] Ghashghaei H 2007 Sequence of information processing for emotions based on the anatomic dialogue between prefrontal cortex and amygdala Neuroimage 34 905 923 17126037 PMC2045074 source

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  • May combine two claims. 51
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 5

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    Interpretationnone given

    In autism, motivational deficits act upstream of social cognition, so social-cognitive deficits are consequences rather than causes of disrupted social interest.

    “motivational deficits are thought to have downstream effects on the development of social cognition and deficits in social cognition are therefore construed as a consequence, rather than a cause, of disrupted social interest.”
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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Premisenone given

    At the ultimate level, social motivation is an evolutionary adaptation that enhances fitness in collaborative environments.

    “At the ultimate level, social motivation constitutes an evolutionary adaptation geared to enhance the individual’s fitness in collaborative environments”
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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Premisenone given

    Social motivation is a powerful force that guides human behavior.

    “defends the idea that social motivation is a powerful force guiding human behavior”
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    Premisecitation

    Aché hunter-gatherers return with no game on about 40% of hunts, and Hadza on over 90%.

    “Aché hunter-gatherers return with no game on about 40% of their hunts, and the Hadza on over 90% of their hunts.”
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    • cites [42] Kaplan HS 2009 The evolutionary and ecological roots of human social organization Philos T Roy Soc B 364 3289 3299 PMC2781874 19805435 source

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    Premisecitation

    The amygdala guides attention to biologically relevant social stimuli and calculates and updates social orienting value.

    “the amygdala plays an important role in guiding attention to biologically relevant stimuli, such as social information conveyed by eyes, faces, or biological motion [24], and in calculating and updating social orienting value [25]”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [24] Adlphs R Spezio M 2006 Role of the amygdala in processing visual social stimuli Prog Brain Res 156 363 378 17015091 source

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    • cites [25] Klein JT 2009 Social attention and the brain Curr Biol 19 R958 R962 19889376 PMC3387539 source

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    Premisecitation

    Subcortical structures are most involved in generating reward utilities but require cortical involvement for conscious hedonic representations.

    “Subcortical structures are most involved in the generation of reward utilities, but require cortical involvement for conscious hedonic representations [10].”
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    • cites [10] Berridge KC 2009 Dissecting components of reward:’liking’,’wanting’, and learning Curr Opin Pharmacol 9 65 73 19162544 PMC2756052 source

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    Premisecitation

    OXT-receptor knockout mice exhibit social deficits including fewer vocalizations after social isolation and impaired social discrimination.

    “OXT-receptor knockout mice exhibit a range of social deficits including fewer vocalizations in response to social isolation and impaired social discrimination [38]”
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    • cites [38] Takayanagi Y 2005 Pervasive social deficits, but normal parturition, in oxytocin receptor-deficient mice P Natl Acad Sci USA 102 16096 16101 PMC1276060 16249339 source

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    Premisecitation

    People try to be viewed as likeable, competent, and physically attractive.

    “people try to be viewed as likeable rather than unlikeable, as competent rather incompetent, as more rather than less physically attractive, etc. [16]”
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    • cites [16] Lery MR Allen AB 2010 Belonging Motivation Establishing, Maintaining, and Repairing Relational Value Social Motivation

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    Premisecitation

    OFC lesions disrupt emotion recognition and interpersonal maintaining behaviors.

    “OFC lesions disrupt emotion recognition and interpersonal maintaining behaviors [36].”
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    • cites [36] Hornak J 2003 Changes in emotion after circumscribed surgical lesions of the orbitofrontal and cingulate cortices Brain 126 1691 1712 12805109 source

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    Premisecitation

    In contexts of high foraging variance, individuals rely on others' resources and the value of cooperation outweighs solitary alternatives.

    “In such contexts, individuals rely on others’ resources in times of need, and the value of cooperation far outweighs solitary alternatives [42].”
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    • cites [42] Kaplan HS 2009 The evolutionary and ecological roots of human social organization Philos T Roy Soc B 364 3289 3299 PMC2781874 19805435 source

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    Premisecitation

    People unconsciously mimic others' nonverbal manners because perceived similarity predicts likeability and can enhance integration.

    “people unconsciously mimic others’ nonverbal manners and that they do so because perceived similarity is an important predictor of likeability, which can be exploited to enhance integration [21]”
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    • cites [21] Lakin JL 2003 The chameleon effect as social glue: Evidence for the evolutionary significance of nonconscious mimicry J Nonverbal Behav 27 145 162 source

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    Premisecitation

    In other apes, food sharing either does not occur or is not the result of a collaborative process.

    “In other apes, by contrast, food sharing either does not occur (i.e., food is foraged individually) or is not the result of a collaborative process”
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    • cites [41] Toasello M 2010 Human Culture in Evolutionary Perspective Advances in Culture and Psychology 1 5 52 source

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    Premisecitation

    Ingratiating behaviors such as flattery elicit positive attitudes in recipients and enhance the ingratiator's reputation.

    “ingratiating behaviors, such as flattery, which elicit positive attitudes in the recipient and thereby enhance the reputation of the ingratiator [17]”
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    • cites [17] Higgins C 2003 Influence tactics and work outcomes: a meta analysis J Organ Behav 24 89 106 source

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    Premisecitation

    The ventral striatum represents rewards as decision utility and computes incentive salience and reward wanting for social and non-social rewards.

    “The ventral striatum, on the one hand, plays a specific role in representing rewards as a “decision utility” and in computing incentive salience and reward wanting for both non-social and social rewards”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [27] Lin A 2011 Social and monetary reward learning engage overlapping neural substrates Soc Cogn Affect Neur 31 13039 13045 PMC3304477 21427193

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    • cites [28] Taibnia G Lieberman MD 2007 Fairness and cooperation are rewarding Ann NY Acad Sci 1118 90 101 17717096 source

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    • cites [29] Izuma K 2010 Processing of the incentive for social approval in the ventral striatum during charitable donation J Cognitive Neurosci 22 621 631 19320552 source

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    Premisecitation

    Preschoolers spontaneously engage in positive self-presentation, prosocial lies, and negative emotion concealment for politeness.

    “preschoolers spontaneously engaging in positive self-presentation, prosocial lies, and negative emotion concealment for politeness purposes [18–20]”
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    • cites [18] Talwar V 2007 White lie-telling in children for politeness purposes Int J Behav Dev 31 1 11 18997880 PMC2581483 source

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    • cites [19] Fu G Lee K 2007 Social grooming in the kindergarten: the emergence of flattery behavior Dev Sci 10 255 265 17286848 PMC2597104 source

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    • cites [20] Ross H 2004 Shading the Truth: Self-Serving Biases in Children’s Reports of Sibling Conflicts Merrill-Palmer Quart 50 61 86 source

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    Interpretationcitation

    Prosociality is intrinsically motivated and constitutes its own reward.

    “Social psychologists have thus argued that the overjustification effect provides evidence that prosociality constitutes its own reward and is intrinsically motivated.”
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    Premisecitation

    Oxytocin, through interactions with dopamine, impacts social orienting by modulating social salience and perceptual selectivity via the amygdala and social reward via the nucleus accumbens.

    “oxytocin (OXT), through interactions with dopamine, is thought to impact social orienting by modulating social salience and perceptual selectivity via the amygdala and social reward via the nucleus accumbens [37]”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [37] Bartz JA 2011 Social effects of oxytocin in humans: context and person matter Trends Cogn Sci 15 301 309 21696997

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    Premisecitation

    More empathic individuals and people high in social motivation exhibit stronger mimicry.

    “more empathic individuals [22] and people scoring high in measures of social motivation [23] exhibit stronger mimicry.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [22] Chrtrand TL Bargh JA 1999 The chameleon effect: The perception–behavior link and social interaction J Pers Soc Psychol 76 893 910 10402679 source

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    • cites [23] Lain JL Chartrand TL 2003 Using nonconscious behavioral mimicry to create affiliation and rapport Psychol Sci 14 334 339 12807406 source

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    Premisecitation

    In children with ASD, experimenter presence has little influence on ratings of drawing quality, and the flattery index correlates negatively with social anhedonia.

    “the experimenter’s presence had little influence on the way children with ASD rated the quality of the experimenter’s drawing and this flattery index correlated negatively with levels of social anhedonia [74]”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [74] Chevallier C 2012 Diminished social motivation negatively impacts reputation management: Autism Spectrum Disorders as a case in point PLoS ONE 7 e31107 22303483 PMC3267764 source

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    Premisecitation

    Children with ASD are less likely to spontaneously help an experimenter or to re-engage her when she interrupts a game.

    “children with ASD are less likely to spontaneously help the experimenter [63] or to re-engage her when she interrupts the game.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [63] Liebal K 2008 Helping and cooperation in children with autism J Autism Dev Disord 38 224 238 17694374 PMC2758368 source

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    Premisecitation

    Compared to typically developing populations, individuals with ASD display fewer maintaining strategies and appear to place less emphasis on preserving reputation and managing self-image.

    “Compared to TD populations, individuals with ASD display fewer maintaining strategies and appear to place less emphasis on preserving their reputation and managing their self image.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

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    Premisecitation

    Very young infants succeed in age-appropriate versions of false belief tasks, so failure in standard false belief tasks should not be taken as evidence for impaired theory of mind.

    “Research in developmental psychology has indeed revealed that very young infants succeed in age-appropriate versions of the FBT, hence indicating that failure in standard FBTs should not be taken as evidence for impaired ToM [90].”
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    • cites [90] Baillargeon R 2010 False-belief understanding in infants Trends Cogn Sci 14 110 118 20106714 PMC2930901 source

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    Premisenone given

    In the mindblindness framework, social impairments are explained by individuals who struggle to understand the social world losing interest in social interactions.

    “In the ‘mindblindness’ framework, social impairments are explained by the fact that individuals who struggle to understand the intricate workings of the social world are likely to end up losing interest in social interactions.”
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    Premisecitation

    A significant proportion of children and adults with ASD can represent others' mental states in standard and advanced false belief tasks, although some may not spontaneously use theory of mind.

    “there is evidence that although some may fail to spontaneously use ToM, a significant proportion of children and adults with ASD do demonstrate an ability to represent others’ mental states in standard and advanced false belief tasks (FBTs) [89].”
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    • cites [89] Senju A 2009 Mindblind Eyes: An Absence of Spontaneous Theory of Mind in Asperger Syndrome Science 325 883 885 19608858 source

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    Premisecitation

    Children with ASD display attention deficits for speech but not for non-speech sounds.

    “display attention deficits for speech but not for non-speech sounds [55,56]”
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    • cites [55] Ceponiene R 2003 Speech-sound-selective auditory impairment in children with autism: They can perceive but do not attend P Natl Acad Sci USA 100 5567 5572 PMC154385 12702776 source

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    • cites [56] Gervais H 2004 Abnormal cortical voice processing in autism Nat Neurosci 7 801 802 15258587 source

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    Interpretationcitation

    Social orienting, social seeking and liking, and social maintaining are all disrupted in ASD.

    “recent evidence demonstrates that social orienting, social seeking and liking, and social maintaining are all disrupted in ASD.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Social attention and social reward measures used in the reviewed studies are valid proxies for social motivation.

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    Premisecitation

    Few neuroimaging studies have directly addressed social versus non-social reward processing in ASD, and findings to date have not been entirely consistent.

    “only few neuroimaging studies have directly addressed the basis of social vs. non-social reward processing in ASD and findings to date have not been entirely consistent (perhaps, in part, due to the lack of potent social reward paradigms) [78,80]”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [78] Scott Van Zeeland A 2010 Reward processing in autism Autism Res 3 53 67 20437601 PMC3076289 source

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    • cites [80] Dichter GS 2012 Reward Circuitry Function in Autism During Face Anticipation and Outcomes J Autism Dev Disord 42 147 160 22187105 PMC8624275 source

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    Premisecitation

    Attachment to parents and offspring and levels of sexual drive are spared in ASD.

    “researchers have long noted that attachment to parents and offspring and levels of sexual drive are spared in ASD.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

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    Premisecitation

    Children with ASD show similar responses after separation from and reunion with their primary caregiver and have similar attachment styles to TD controls.

    “Children with ASD indeed show similar responses after separation from and reunion with their primary caregiver and have similar attachment styles to TD controls [85].”
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    • cites [85] Rutgers AH 2004 Autism and attachment: a meta-analytic review J Child Psychol Psyc 45 1123 1134 15257669 source

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    Premisecitation

    Despite lower overall acceptance, greater loneliness is either not reported in ASD or bears little relation to actual social involvement.

    “despite lower overall acceptance, greater loneliness is either not reported [60] or bears little relation to the individual’s actual degree of social involvement [61]”
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    • cites [60] Chamberlain B 2007 Involvement or Isolation? The Social Networks of Children with Autism in Regular Classrooms J Autism Dev Disord 37 230 242 16855874 source

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    • cites [61] Baminger N Kasari C 2000 Loneliness and Friendship in High-Functioning Children with Autism Child Dev 71 447 456 10834476 source

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    Premisecitation

    Distinct motivations for dealing with conspecifics can vary across individuals or be selectively impaired.

    “there are distinct motivations to deal with our conspecifics and each of these can vary across individuals or be selectively impaired (see e.g., [44] for hyposexuality; or [45] for disorders of mother-infant bonding)”
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    • cites [44] Brtto LA 2010 The DSM diagnostic criteria for hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women Arch Sex Behav 39 221 239 19777334 source

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    • cites [45] Brockington IF 2006 Severe disorders of the mother–infant relationship: definitions and frequency Arch Women Ment Hlth 9 243 251 16699838 source

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    Premisecitation

    Children with ASD lack declarative pointing and are impaired at initiating and responding to others' bids for joint attention.

    “children with ASD lack declarative pointing [64], they are impaired at initiating [65] and responding to others’ bids for joint attention [66]”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [64] Swinkels SHN 2006 Screening for autistic spectrum in children aged 14 to 15 months. I: The development of the Early Screening of Autistic Traits Questionnaire (ESAT) J Autism Dev Disord 36 723 732 16614790 source

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    • cites [65] Mundy P 2009 A parallel and distributed – processing model of joint attention, social cognition and autism Autism Res 2 2 21 19358304 PMC2715157 source

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    • cites [66] Lekam SR Ramsden CAH 2006 Dyadic orienting and joint attention in preschool children with autism J Autism Dev Disord 36 185 197 16502142 source

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    Premisecitation

    Individuals with ASD are less likely to offer spontaneous gestures of greeting and farewell, hide affect, present themselves strategically, or display social laughter and social emotions.

    “They are less likely to offer spontaneous gestures of greeting and farewell [69], to adequately resort to maintaining strategies, such as hiding affect [70], presenting themselves strategically to convince a specific audience [71], or displaying social laughter [72] and social emotions –e.g., embarrassment, or coyness [73].”
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    • cites [69] Hoson R Lee A 1998 Hello and Goodbye: A Study of Social Engagement in Autism J Autism Dev Disord 28 117 127 9586774 source

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    • cites [70] Babaro J Dissanayake C 2007 A Comparative Study of the Use and Understanding of Self-Presentational Display Rules in Children with High Functioning Autism and Asperger’s Disorder J Autism Dev Disord 37 1235 1246 17086441 source

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    • cites [71] Scheeren AM 2010 Can you tell me something about yourself? Autism 14 457 473 20841344 source

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    Interpretationcitation

    Social motivation models of ASD posit that early-onset impairments in social attention set in motion developmental processes that deprive the child of adequate social learning and that imbalance in attending to social and non-social stimuli further disrupts social skill and social cognition development.

    “Social motivation models of ASD posit that early-onset impairments in social attention set in motion developmental processes that ultimately deprive the child of adequate social learning experiences and that the resulting imbalance in attending to social and non-social stimuli further disrupts social skill and social cognition development [46–48].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [46] Scultz R 2005 Developmental deficits in social perception in autism: the role of the amygdala and fusiform face area Int J Dev Neurosci 23 125 141 15749240 source

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    • cites [47] Mudy P Neal A 2001 Neural plasticity, joint attention, and a transactional social-orienting model of autism Int Rev Res Ment Ret 23 139 168 source

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    • cites [48] Dawson G 2005 Neurocognitive and electrophysiological evidence of altered face processing in parents of children with autism: implications for a model of abnormal development of social brain circuitry in autism Dev Psychopathol 17 679 697 16262987 source

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    Interpretationreasoning

    Viewing the social motivation deficit in an evolutionary framework helps explain the specificity of social affiliative impairments in ASD and why attachment or sexual drive are spared.

    “Viewing the social motivation deficit in an evolutionary framework helps to explain the specificity of social affiliative impairments in ASD and why other interpersonal dispositions such as attachment or sexual drive are spared.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

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    Premisecitation

    Core diagnostic criteria for ASD and descriptions of the first year of life include infrequent orienting to one's own name, diminished eye contact, and social aloofness.

    “Core diagnostic criteria for ASD as well as descriptions of the first year of life include infrequent orienting to one’s own name, diminished eye-contact, and social aloofness [49].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [49] Osterling J 2002 Early recognition of 1-year-old infants with autism spectrum disorder versus mental retardation Dev Psychopathol 14 239 251 12030690 source

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    Premisecitation

    Adolescents with ASD show selective social anhedonia in self-reported pleasure in social versus non-social situations, and degree of social anhedonia correlates with ASD severity.

    “Self-reported pleasure in social and non-social situations also reveals selective social anhedonia in adolescents with ASD and a correlation between degree of social anhedonia and ASD severity [68].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [68] Chevallier C Brief Report: Selective Social Anhedonia in High Functioning Autism J Autism Dev Disord 10.1007/s10803-011-1364-0 21986875 source

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  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Among individuals with ASD who have functional theory of mind skills, social motivation deficits remain and are a fundamental part of the diagnosis.

    “In this subpopulation of individuals with functional ToM skills, however, social motivation deficits remain (and in fact, constitute a fundamental part of the diagnosis).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Social motivation deficits constitute a fundamental part of the ASD diagnosis.

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    Premisecitation

    Mentalizing deficits are widespread in ASD but are not universal.

    “the general consensus has come to be that mentalizing deficits, though widespread in ASD, are by no means universal [88].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [88] Chevallier C Slater A Quinn P 2012 Theory of mind and autism: Revisiting Baron-Cohen et al.’s Sally-Anne study Developmental Psychology: Revisiting the Classic Studies Sage

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  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    In ASD, social cognition deficits are downstream consequences of reduced exposure to the social world and may occur only in a subgroup, whereas social motivation deficits are primary and should occur in almost all individuals with ASD.

    “First, social cognition deficits, which constitute a downstream consequence of diminished exposure to the social world, might only appear in a subgroup of individuals, while social motivation deficits, which are primary, ought to appear in all or nearly all with ASD.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

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    Interpretationcitation

    Despite a spontaneous disinterest in mutual gaze, children with ASD are not blind to eye direction.

    “This suggests that, despite a spontaneous disinterest in mutual gaze, they are not blind to eye direction.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

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    Premisecitation

    Disrupted social orienting has been evidenced much sooner than deficits in social cognition, with atypical social orienting observed from as early as 6 months in infants later diagnosed with ASD.

    “Following this second prediction, disrupted social orienting has, to this date, been evidenced much sooner than deficits in social cognition, with recent findings highlighting atypical social orienting from as early as 6 months in infants later diagnosed with ASD [57].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [57] Elsabbagh M 2012 Infant Neural Sensitivity to Dynamic Eye Gaze Is Associated with Later Emerging Autism Curr Biol 22 338 342 22285033 PMC3314921 source

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  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The underlying competence to process social stimuli may be more spared than previously thought, and atypical performance can be at least partly accounted for by differences in spontaneous attentional patterns.

    “Taken together, these findings suggest that the underlying competence to process social stimuli may be more spared than previously thought and that atypical performance can, at least in part, be accounted for by differences in spontaneous attentional patterns.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    High functioning adults with ASD do not spontaneously attribute mental states as assessed by looking times, but they display control-like performances in verbally instructed versions of false belief tasks.

    “While high functioning adults with ASD do not spontaneously attribute mental states (as assessed in their looking times), they display control-like performances in verbally instructed versions of the FBT [89].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [89] Senju A 2009 Mindblind Eyes: An Absence of Spontaneous Theory of Mind in Asperger Syndrome Science 325 883 885 19608858 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • Rests on an assumption: Looking times provide a valid measure of spontaneous mental state attribution.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Diminished social orienting, social reward, and social maintaining are all found in autism and can account for a range of behaviors, including cascading effects on the development of mature social cognitive skills.

    “Diminished social orienting, social reward and social maintaining, are all found in autism and can account for a range of behaviors, including cascading effects on the development of mature social cognitive skills.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    These deficits appear to be rooted in biological disruptions of the orbitofrontal-striatal-amygdala circuitry and in dysregulation of certain neuropeptides and neurotransmitters.

    “These deficits appear to be rooted in biological disruptions of the orbitofrontal-striatal-amygdala circuitry as well as in dysregulation of certain neuropeptides and neurotransmitters.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    If diminished social motivation and attention cause social cognition deficits, then boosting social attention ought to enhance performance in social cognition.

    “Finally, if diminished social motivation and attention cause social cognition deficits, boosting social attention ought to enhance performance in social cognition.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    ASD involves a lack of spontaneous interest in mobilizing social cognitive skills for social purposes, but underlying cognitive skills may be more spared than previously thought.

    “This suggests that ASD involves a lack of spontaneous interest in mobilizing social cognitive skills for social purposes but that underlying cognitive skills may be more spared than previously thought.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Recent tasks designed to test theory of mind in young infants have not been used in ASD, and longitudinal studies assessing the development of social motivation and social cognition are still lacking.

    “Indeed, recent tasks designed to test ToM in young infants [90] have not been used in ASD and longitudinal studies assessing the development of social motivation and social cognition are still lacking.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [90] Baillargeon R 2010 False-belief understanding in infants Trends Cogn Sci 14 110 118 20106714 PMC2930901 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    Social motivation is subserved by dedicated biological mechanisms and can be seen as an evolutionary adaptation to humans' highly collaborative environment.

    “Social motivation is subserved by dedicated biological mechanisms and can be seen as an evolutionary adaptation to humans’ highly collaborative environment:”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    By enhancing attention to social information, rewarding social interactions, and promoting the desire to maintain social bonds, social motivation smoothes relationships, promotes coordination, and fosters collaboration.

    “by enhancing attention to social information, by rewarding social interactions, and by promoting the desire to effectively maintain social bonds, social motivation smoothes relationships, promotes coordination and ultimately fosters collaboration.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Because social interactions are normally rewarding and lead to experiences that allow social cognitive skills to develop, social exposure mediated by social interest should predict expertise in social cognition.

    “Because the reward value of social interactions normally leads to a range of experiences that further allow social cognitive skills to develop, social exposure (mediated by social interest) should predict expertise in social cognition.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

    Interpretationreasoning

    Boosting social motivation and attention might be a powerful lever for social learning.

    “This has important implications for intervention and suggests that boosting social motivation and attention might be a powerful lever for social learning.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    ASD can be seen as an extreme case of early-onset diminished social motivation and provides a powerful model for understanding humans' intrinsic drive to seek acceptance and avoid rejection.

    “ASD can thus be seen as an extreme case of early-onset diminished social motivation and provides a powerful model for understanding humans’ intrinsic drive to seek acceptance and avoid rejection.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    OXT is known to enhance social salience and has been found to increase performance in a range of social cognitive tasks.

    “In this respect, OXT –which is known to enhance social salience [37]– can be seen as a promising therapeutic target and has been indeed been found to increase performance in a range of social cognitive tasks [81].”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [37] Bartz JA 2011 Social effects of oxytocin in humans: context and person matter Trends Cogn Sci 15 301 309 21696997

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [81] Modi ME Young LJ The oxytocin system in drug discovery for autism: Animal models and novel therapeutic strategies Horm Behav 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.12.010 PMC3483080 22206823 source

      Not checked in the free run.

55 of 55

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Social attention and social reward measures used in the reviewed studies are valid proxies for social motivation.

    “At the moment, most research uses indirect measures, such as social attention, and as such relies on approximations to the direct measurement of social motivation.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Social motivation deficits constitute a fundamental part of the ASD diagnosis.

    “In this subpopulation of individuals with functional ToM skills, however, social motivation deficits remain (and in fact, constitute a fundamental part of the diagnosis).”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Looking times provide a valid measure of spontaneous mental state attribution.

    “While high functioning adults with ASD do not spontaneously attribute mental states (as assessed in their looking times), they display control-like performances in verbally instructed versions of the FBT [89].”
3 of 3

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Authors
Chevallier, C., Kohls, G., Troiani, V., Brodkin, E. S., & Schultz, R. T.
Affiliations
  • Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (US)
  • University of Pennsylvania (US)
Corresponding author
Chevallier, Coralie
ORCID
Venue
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-04
Volume
16
Issue
4
Pages
231-239
ISSN
1364-6613 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.tics.2012.02.007
PMC
PMC3329932
OpenAlex
W2091028497
Semantic Scholar
64441a238d93fc38e7a27610c66f425b9cace422
Cited by
2,072
References
117
Citations by year
2026: 165 · 2025: 151 · 2024: 182 · 2023: 188 · 2022: 187 · 2021: 177 · 2020: 175 · 2019: 158 · 2018: 160 · 2017: 130 · 2016: 114 · 2015: 113 · 2014: 79 · 2013: 62 · 2012: 27
FWCI
7.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Trends in Cognitive Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5r01mh073084-06)
  • Economic and Social Research Council (ES/G020523/1)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH080718, R01-MH073084)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, social motivation, theory of mind, executive dysfunction, evolutionary psychology, social acceptance, rejection avoidance
MeSH terms
Animals, Autistic Disorder, Brain, Biological Evolution, Humans, Models, Psychological, Motivation, Social Behavior

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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-10-05.

Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-05.

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