2.1 Participants
We recruited thirty-one HF-ASD participants (4 females) fromoutpatient clinics at the Children's Mental Health Research Center of Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Brain Hospital and 38 TD participants(5 females) from the community.
The inclusion criteria for the HF-ASD group were as follows: (1)met the diagnostic criteria for ASD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-fifth edition(DSM-5);(2) met the scoring standards of the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS);(3)was 6-16 years old, with a Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—third edition (WISC-III)Full-Scale Intelligence Quotien(FIQ) greater than 80;(4) received parental permission to participate in the study;(5) beingright handed.
The exclusion criteria for the HF-ASD group were as follows: (1)having a history of head trauma; (2) having a neurological or mental disease;and (3)using neurological or psychiatric drugs.
The inclusion criteria for the TD group were as follows: (1)being TD, with an age, sex and IQ that matched those of the HF-ASD group;(2)received parental permission to participate in the study;and (3)being right handedness.
The exclusion criteria for the TD group were as follows: (1) having a history of head trauma; (2) having a neurological or mental disease; and (3) using neurological or psychiatric drugs.
The study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Brain Hospital (KY043), and all participants signed informed consent forms.
2.2 Materials and analysis
2.2.1 Assessment
(1) Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF)(29)
BRIEF is a questionnaire for parents of school-age children that enables professionals to assess EFs. It is designed for a broad range of children between 5 and 18 years of age. This scale contains 86 items, all of which are three-level scoring items.It is divided into two sub-indexes:the Behavioral Regulation Index (BRI) and Metacognition Index(MI).The BRI includes Inhibition, Shift and Emotional control.The MI includes five factors: Initiate, Working Memory, Plan/Organize, Organization of Materials and Monitoring.BRI and MI scores form the Global Executive Composite (GEC), which represents the overall level of EF deficit. The higherthe score is, the more seriousthe deficit.
(2) Griffith Empathy Measure—Parent Report(GEM-PR)(30)
The GEM-PR is a scale of empathy for children and adolescents that is completed by parents according to the actual situation of their children. There are 23 items, all of which are scored on a 9-point scale. The higher the total score is, the greater the empathy.The total table is divided into two dimensions: Cognitive Empathy (GEM-C) and Affective Empathy (GEM-A).
(3)Ultimatum Game
In recent years, researchers have often used games, including the ultimatum game(UG),dictator game(DG)and prisoner's dilemma(PD), to study fair decision-making.The UG designed by Güth Schmittberger and Schwarze is one of the most commonly used of these games(31).In UG experiments, participants are given a fixed amount of funds and are assigned to a proposer orresponder role. The proposerproposes an allocation of funds, and if the responder accepts, the funds will be dispersed according to the proposer's allocation.Ifnot, both parties receive an amount of 0.In this study, a simple version of the UG was used. In the test, the subjects were assigned to only theresponder role and provided with 9 different allocations. Each allocation was presented twice for a total of 18 rounds (see Table 1).Presented by E-prime 1.0, the test procedure is as follows.
Step 1: The participants are familiarized with the experimental environment
Step 2: The operation mode is explained to the participants, who are then shown the instructions on a computer screen. The participants then complete a practice test.The practice allocation scheme differs from the formal allocation scheme.
Step 3: The participants’ familiarity with the task is tested, and the experiment begins.The instructions areagain displayed on the screen, and the "spacebar"is pressed to start the experiment.The preparation time for each round is 2 seconds.For each round, the computer screen displays the proposer’s allocation for 6 seconds.Then, the participants are asked to respond by pressing the "accept" or "reject" button. The decision process does not exceed 6 seconds.Finally, the results are displayed.
2.2.2 Statistical analysis
SPSS 23.0 software was used for statistical analysis.First, independent sample T tests and chi-squaretests were used to compare the differences insex, age and IQ between the two groups. Then, chi-squaretests were used to compare the acceptance rates of three different allocations between the two groups and the unfair acceptance rates of the two groups by age group.Pearson correlation analysis was used to explore the influencing factors of the two groups' unfair acceptance rates, and then, stepwise regression analysis was used to analyse the influencing mechanism of the two groups' unfair acceptance rates.