Knowledge of the temporal structure of events in relation to autistic traits and social ability

Event knowledge, a person's understanding of patterns of activities in the world, is crucial for everyday social interactions. Social communication differences are prominent in autism, which may be related to atypical event knowledge, such as atypical knowledge of the sequences of activities that comprise the temporal structure of events. Previous research has found that autistic individuals have atypical event knowledge, but research in this area is minimal, particularly regarding autistic individuals' knowledge of the temporal structure of events. Furthermore, no studies have investigated the link between event knowledge and autistic traits in a non-clinical sample. We investigated relationships between event knowledge and autistic traits in individuals from the general population with varying degrees of autistic traits. We predicted that atypical ordering of event activities is related to autistic traits, particularly social communication abilities, but not other clinical traits. In Study 1, atypical ordering of event activities correlated with social ability, but not with most measures of repetitive behaviours and restricted interests. In Study 2, the typicality of activity ordering varied by participants' social ability and the social nature of the events. Relationships were not found between event activity ordering and other clinical traits. These findings suggest a relationship between autistic traits, specifically social abilities, and knowledge of the temporal structure of events in a general population sample. •Event knowledge is related to social communication ability in the general population.•Ability to order activities within events is associated with social abilities.•The degree to which an event is socially-oriented matters for this relationship.•Activity ordering is not associated with other tested clinical traits.