Exploring how autistic adults engage in deceptive communication and detect deception.

自闭症在普通人群中的患病率为1%，但在法医人群中上升至2%-18%(Rutten等人，2017年)。由于自闭症成人通常表现出与神经正常成年人不同的社会行为，即使在说实话时，他们也可能被认为是欺骗性的(Lim等人，2022年)。因此，自闭症成年人可能特别容易受到刑事司法系统(CJS)负面接触的影响。此外，由于认知和情感上的差异，自闭症成年人在识别欺骗方面可能不太准确，从而增加了他们成为受害者或被操纵的风险。这项创新的研究将调查自闭症患者和神经典型成年人在欺骗和检测欺骗的能力方面的差异程度，并确定支持这些差异的因果机制。Brunswick Lens模型作为这一建议的理论框架(Brunswick，1955；图1)。在第一步，发送者选择撒谎。如果自闭症成年人没有认识到撒谎的好处，他们可能会选择比神经正常的人更少撒谎(Lim等人，2021年)。在第二步，发送者在撒谎时会显示欺骗暗示，包括不寻常的眼睛凝视和肢体语言(DePaulo等人，2003年)。然而，自闭症的特征通常是非典型的眼神接触和肢体语言，这意味着自闭症成年人在进行欺骗时可能会表现出与神经正常成年人不同的线索。因此，患有自闭症的成年人可能会面临更大的风险，他们的自然行为可能会被误解为欺骗性的。在步骤3，接受者感知到欺骗的线索；神经典型个体可能自然地将某些行为(如非典型的眼睛凝视)感知为欺骗线索，导致自闭症成年人被错误地视为欺骗性的(DePaulo等人，2003；Lim等人，2022)。然而，如果发送者被认为是自闭症患者，接收者可能不会认为非典型的眼睛凝视是欺骗性的。在步骤4，接收者决定发送者是否在撒谎。为了准确地发现欺骗，接收者必须了解他人的心理状态，实施更高层次的执行技能，并理解发送者的社交暗示(DePaulo等人，2003年)。然而，一些自闭症成年人在心理理论(Tom)、执行功能和社会线索理解方面存在困难(Lim等人，2021)。这些心理差异可能会降低自闭症成年人的欺骗识别能力，潜在地增加他们对操纵的脆弱性。

The prevalence of autism in the general population is 1%, but increases to 2-18% in forensic populations (Rutten et al., 2017). As autistic adults often display different social behaviours than neurotypical adults, they may be perceived as deceptive even when telling the truth (Lim et al., 2022). Consequently, autistic adults may be uniquely vulnerable to negative contacts in the Criminal Justice System (CJS). Moreover, due to cognitive and emotional differences, autistic adults may be less accurate at detecting deception, increasing their risk of being victimised or manipulated. This innovative research will investigate to what extent autistic and neurotypical adults differ in their ability to deceive and detect deception, and identify causal mechanisms underpinning these differences.The Brunswick Lens Model serves as the theoretical framework for this proposal (Brunswick, 1955; Figure 1). At step 1, senders choose to lie. Autistic adults may choose to lie less than neurotypical individuals if they fail to recognise the benefit of lying (Lim et al., 2021). At step 2, senders display deception cues when lying, including unusual eye-gaze and body language (DePaulo et al., 2003). However, autism is commonly characterised by atypical eye-contact and body language, meaning autistic adults may display different cues when engaging in deception compared to neurotypical adults. Resultantly, autistic adults may be at increased risk of their natural behaviours being misinterpreted as deceptive. At step 3, receivers perceive cues to deception; neurotypical individuals may naturally perceive certain behaviours (such as atypical eye-gaze) as deception cues, causing autistic adults to be erroneously viewed as deceptive (DePaulo et al., 2003; Lim et al., 2022). However, if the sender is known to be autistic, receivers may not regard atypical eye-gaze as deceptive. At Step 4, receivers decide whether senders are lying. To accurately detect deception, receivers must understand the mental states of others, implement higher-order executive skills, and comprehend senders' social cues (DePaulo et al., 2003). However, some autistic adults experience difficulties with Theory of Mind (ToM), executive functioning, and social cue comprehension (Lim et al., 2021). These psychological differences may reduce autistic adults' deception detection abilities, potentially increasing their vulnerability to manipulation.