Learning priors for Bayesian perception in normal and atypical development

To navigate the environment and interact with others, people must constantly form decisions based on uncertain information. Humans have been shown to integrate current sensory evidence with expectations based on prior experience in a manner consistent with Bayesian decision theory. However, fundamental questions remain regarding how priors are learned, and how learning progresses in typical and atypical development.

This project has two provisional aims:
(1) To characterise the time-course and properties of Bayesian prior learning in normally developing children and adults
(2) To test the hypothesis that atypical Bayesian prior learning underlies commonly reported perceptual anomalies in autism spectrum disorder (ASD)