Computer Science and Engineering, Department of
First Advisor
Stephen Cooper
Date of this Version
12-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Citation
A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science
Major: Computer Science
Under the supervision of Professor Stephen Cooper
Lincoln, Nebraska, December 2024
Abstract
The incidence rate of autism spectrum condition (ASC) has increased significantly in recent decades, as awareness of the condition and its impacts increases amongst clinicians, parents, and the general population. Medical literature has proposed that there may be a relationship between ASC and participation in the computing field. This study tests for the prevalence of autism spectrum condition traits measured by delivering the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) to a population of undergraduate computer science students. We examine the relationships between AQ scores and students taking undergraduate computer science classes, sex, socioeconomic status, and parents in the computing industry. Additionally, we compared the AQ scores of our participants with publicly available control data. As in previous studies of ASC, we saw a noteworthy increase in AQ score amongst participants over the average general population rate reported in the literature. We saw a statistically significant increase in mean AQ score across most demographic metrics, including both higher male and female means and higher means in the topmost socioeconomic classes. This supports existing evidence for an increase in the prevalence of ASC amongst the general population, as well as for a relationship between ASC and participation in computing.
Advisor: Stephen Cooper
Included in
Computer Engineering Commons, Computer Sciences Commons, Human Factors Psychology Commons, Personality and Social Contexts Commons, Psychological Phenomena and Processes Commons
Comments
Copyright 2024, Rachel Michaela Mettenbrink. Used by permission