发表机构
Wrocław University of Science and Technology（弗罗茨瓦夫理工大学）
机构由 AI 辅助整理，请以论文原文为准。AI 中文总结
该研究提出基于信息论的框架，将自闭症的坚持同一性解释为熵度量约束最小化的体现，可量化相关概念、指导护理并可通过类图灵测试验证，为自闭症疗法提供基础。
AI 中文摘要
本文提出了一种基于信息论的框架，旨在将自闭症中的坚持同一性解释为个体试图减少惊讶与不确定性的一般行为模式的实例。该框架将自闭症新定义为认知功能受限的障碍，仅针对环境的有形属性进行区分、记忆与预测。研究观察到坚持同一性与熵度量的约束最小化之间存在类比关系，并针对描述自闭症患者认知局限的一系列假设展开检验。该度量公式为 $D_H(R, M) = H(R|M) + H(M|R)$，其中 $R$ 代表随机刺激序列，$M$ 为存储与检索这些刺激的记忆，$H(.|.)$ 表示分别被解释为惊讶与不确定性的条件熵。研究首先推断，为最小化该度量，个体可学习关于 $R$ 的知识并存储于 $M$ 中，或可将 $R$ 限制于已熟知的 $M$；随后得出结论，坚持同一性是后者的体现。此外，研究表明该框架：（1）有助于量化惊讶、不确定性、感官过载与剥夺、焦虑、舒适区、失望、定向障碍、迂腐、刻板、遵守或异常精准等概念；（2）为学习疗法与日常护理流程提供了一系列指南，可将其定义为优化算法并实现为机器人同居护理员的程序；（3）可通过类似图灵测试的方法验证，无需涉及自闭症患者的实验。若该框架得到正面验证，将为旨在提高自闭症患者基本日常生活活动自理能力的疗法提供形式化基础与设计指南。
英文摘要
An information theory-based framework is proposed in attempt to explain insistence on sameness in autism as an instance of a general behavior pattern in which an individual tries to reduce surprise and uncertainty. It offers a new definition of autism as an impairment in which cognitive functions are restricted to discrimination, memorization and prediction of tangible properties of the environment. An analogy between insistence on sameness and constrained minimization of the entropy metric is observed and examined for a set of assumptions that describe cognitive limitations of a person with autism. The metric is given by the formula $D_H(R, M) = H(R|M) + H(M|R)$, where $R$ represents sequences of random stimuli, $M$ is a memory that stores and retrieves them, and where $H(.|.)$ denotes their conditional entropies interpreted as surprise and uncertainty, respectively. It is first inferred that to minimize the metric an individual can learn about $R$ (and store that knowledge in $M$) or can restrict $R$ to the already known $M$. Then, it is concluded that insistence on sameness is a manifestation of the latter. Moreover, it is shown that the proposed framework: (1) Helps to quantify the concepts of surprise, uncertainty, sensory overload and deprivation, anxiety, comfort zone, disappointment, disorientation, pedantry, rigidness, observance or aberrant precision. (2) Leads to a list of guidelines for learning therapies and daily care routines, and allows them to be defined as optimization algorithms and implemented as programs for robotic live-in caregivers. (3) Can be validated with the help of a Turing test-like approach that requires no experiments involving individuals with autism. The framework-if positively validated-will provide formal foundations and design guidelines for therapies aimed at improving self-reliance of individuals with autism in basic activities of daily living.
Comments11 pages, 2 figures, a preprint of the accepted article
Journal refŚliwiński P (2026) An entropic explanation of insistence on sameness in autism. Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience. 19:1714428
DOI：10.3389/fncom.2025.1714428
