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Social motivation in autism: Gaps and directions for measurement of a putative core construct

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2019

Cara M. Keifer
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2500. cara.keifer@stonybrook.edumatthew.lerner@stonybrook.eduhttps://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/psychology/graduate/profiles/cara-keifer.htmlhttps://www.lernerlab.com/lab-director.html
Gabriel S. Dichter
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7255. dichter@med.unc.eduhttp://can.unc.edu/Can/index.php/members/
James C. McPartland
Affiliation:
Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT 06520. james.mcpartland@yale.eduhttps://medicine.yale.edu/lab/mcpartland/people/
Matthew D. Lerner
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2500. cara.keifer@stonybrook.edumatthew.lerner@stonybrook.eduhttps://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/psychology/graduate/profiles/cara-keifer.htmlhttps://www.lernerlab.com/lab-director.html

Abstract

This commentary highlights the observation that social motivation is usually an imprecisely specified construct. We suggest four social motivation conceptualizations across levels of analysis and explore where the target article situates among these. We then offer theoretical and practical guidance for operationalization and measurement of social motivation to support more comprehensive future research on this complex construct in the autism literature.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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