Spontaneous Visuo-Spatial Perspective-Taking in Autism Spectrum Condition

Autism spectrum condition (ASC) is associated with difficulties in social functioning, yet the mechanisms underlying these difficulties remain contested. Visuo-spatial perspective-taking (VPT) is central to many social interactions, but prior research has focused almost exclusively on directed VPT – what individuals can do when explicitly instructed. In contrast, spontaneous VPT, reflecting the perspectives individuals tend to adopt without instruction, has not been examined in ASC. This study investigated spontaneous VPT in 61 adults (24 ASC, 37 neurotypical controls) using the “Do You See What I See” (DYSWIS) task across conditions varying in social context and implied movement. Both groups showed comparable spontaneous VPT and sensitivity to social cues, displaying approximately doubled odds of altercentric responding when a human agent was present. A Group × Gender interaction revealed nuanced differences: ASC females showed reduced altercentric responding relative to control females, whereas ASC males exhibited significantly slower responses than females with and without ASC. Spontaneous VPT was unrelated to working memory, but higher mentalizing predicted higher altercentric responding in social contexts, and poorer inhibitory control predicted greater altercentric responding among ASC males, suggesting that spontaneous VPT may reflect reduced filtering of automatically activated spatial representations. Overall, spontaneous VPT appeared largely preserved in high-functioning autistic adults, with individual differences shaped more by dispositional tendencies than abilities. These findings support a multifaceted account of social functioning in ASC – one that distinguishes social-cognitive abilities from spontaneous or motivational aspects of social engagement, and highlight the importance of differentiating between directed and spontaneous forms of perspective-taking in characterizing autism’s heterogeneous socio-cognitive profile.