Searching for Significance: An Evolutionary Advantage in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

This paper explores theories and evidence supporting visual search ability being an evolutionary advantage in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), resulting in the persistence of the Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP) in the gene pool. Through evaluation of the existing psychological literature, an overview of the evolutionary advantages of superior visual search ability are reviewed, with focus on those in threat detection and foraging behaviour. Explorations of the experimentally found superiority among those with genetic markers for autism are discussed through the perspective of destigmatization of the disorder. The paper details that the superiority holds among various experimental paradigms with moderate effect sizes even in variable age groups. It overviews the Autism Advantage and evaluates the validity of research in this area. The paper concludes that individuals with ASD have generally advantageous visual search abilities in comparison to neurotypical control populations which may be indicative of an evolutionary trade-off of the disorder.