Exploring the Duration‐Dependent Relationship Between Autistic Traits and the Tilt Illusion

Abstract

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to have perceptual uniqueness, including a bias toward local over global information (the local processing bias). Previous studies regarding such bias and its potential effect on the visual illusions are inconclusive. The current study investigated whether the ASD traits manifest differently across different timescales, which may explain the controversy. We examined the relationship between the ASD traits and the magnitude of the tilt illusion in two stimulus duration conditions (50 ms/500 ms). The illusion magnitude was greater in the short than in the long condition, which agrees with the previous report. Notably, we found anecdotal evidence of a negative correlation between the degree of influence from spatial context and the autism quotient only in the long‐duration condition. Our exploratory results suggest that local processing bias in those with high ASD traits is not present in a temporally uniform fashion. We discuss the importance of the timing control when studying the effects of ASD traits on visual perception.