Fig. 2.

(A) A schematic depiction of the PIA hypothesis. Relationships between two events can be characterized by their strength [P(B|A)] and temporal separation (Δt). In this space, the interface between undetectable and detectable relationships marks the ASF, denoted by the solid curve here. The PIA hypothesis posits that autism is accompanied by a shift of the ASF toward the upper left (red arrows) corresponding to a reduction in one’s sensitivity to relationships that are weak and/or have large temporal spans. This shift renders some interevent relationships, which are evident to neurotypical individuals, invisible to those with autism. The vertical bands indicate that different tasks rely on the detection of interevent relationships over varying time-scales. For instance, whereas motor-control and language learning operate in the millisecond regime, social interactions and planning involve longer time intervals. (B) Behavioral manifestations of PIA may differ depending on which temporal regimes experience the greatest ASF shifts. As depicted in the four small graphs, different autism subtypes may arise in part from ASF shifts of different kinds.