Chess Players & Autism Quotient

I'm curious if there is a statistically significant difference among chess players in terms of how they score on a standard test for autistic traits in adults. If you'd like to contribute, please take the test here (it only takes a few minutes), and anonymously report your score (and optionally your chess rating) HERE.

A live report showing the average score and how many have reported is available at http://sapientdust.wufoo.com/reports/autism-quotient-of-chess-players/

The report will update automatically as more data comes in, so feel free to take the test and report your scoreHERE at any time if you haven't already.

There is some discussion of the results starting here, but if you haven't taken the test yet and are going to take it, wait to read the discussion until after you've taken the test and reported your results.

Done. Nice one 

I don't have friends, so I don't have people telling me I'm impolite, I don't play pretend, I don't have phone calls in which I don't know if it's my turn (remembering phone numbers? was this test made in 1995?), etc. etc.

By the way, I have made this test several times before, and every time it was because it was linked to on chess websites. So there you have at least one tendency.

I got a 13... Does this mean I am going to die? o-o

The test was first published in 2001. But it definitely does show its age that they ask about remembering phone numbers.

Interesting, and not entirely surprising ;-)

Please report it HERE as well if you post your score here, so that all the scores are included in the average and other info I'll post.

It literally takes just seconds to submit the score (no signup or other hassle required).

I got 32 (I have Asperger's). Do higher scores indicate more severe autism?

It's not a one-to-one correspondence, but that's generally how it works. From the wikipedia article:

In the initial trials of the test,^[7] the average score in the control group was 16.4, with men scoring slightly higher than women (about 17 versus about 15). 80% of adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders scored 32 or more, compared with only 2% of the control group.

The authors cited a score of 32 or more as indicating "clinically significant levels of autistic traits". However, although the test is popularly used for self-diagnosis of Asperger syndrome, the authors caution that it is not intended to be diagnostic, and advise that anyone who obtains a high score and is suffering some distress should seek professional medical advice before jumping to any conclusions.^[5]

A further research paper indicated that the questionnaire could be used for screening in clinical practice, with scores less than 26 indicating that a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome can effectively be ruled out.^[1]

Score: 10

19

One problem I have with self tests is I usually have an idea of what I want the result to be.  And by knowing (I suppose guessing) how each answer will affect the result I can be bias in the answers I give.  This is especially easy on the vague ones e.g. "I find social groups enjoyable" (or whatever).  I may tend to remember uncomfortable social experiences if I think a higher autism score suits me or try harder to recall / focus on the opposite if I'd like a lower score.

And I'm guessing others are the same.  I'd guess it's a significant reason why self tests can't be said to be reliable even if the taker rates themselves as being very honest in the test.

Okay, initially I scored a 14, but then I followed your suggestion to be biased and got a 49. When will I start to play better, now that I've officially grown autistic after taking the test twice?

I guess 50 is the top score, right?

Let's make it happen!

Behold!If you can remeber more telephone number's you are autistic as you have a passion for numbers.

21

19.

There were two questions that I did not understand really.

That were the questions about pretending while playing. I know the meaning of the word 'to pretend', but I did not know how to connect that to playing with children. Those two questions are also questions with two aspects, namely playing with children and pretending while playing (with children). I took the decision to interpret both questions like:

1. you like playing with children,

2. you don't play honest.

I will always play honest, but that does not mean that I will play at full power. I have lost for instance a wrestling battle from a six year old repeatedly, but I have at their request played at full power with checkers and football. Main thing is the emotional well being of the child and learning proper attitude while playing - the latter if possible. Much more important then pretending. Pretending is one of the strategies that you can use.

Pretending example: the kid says he is a knight, under the table is his castle, and you're the dragon.  Then you walk around the table throwing pillows at him saying it's your fire breath or something.