Visual scanning and recognition of ambiguous faces in children with autism: The effects of morphing levels and facial identities |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China;2. Rehabilitation Center for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Ninth People’s Hospital, Chongqing, China;3. Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment for Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University, China;4. Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, China;1. Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA;2. ImagiRation, Boston, MA 02135, USA;3. Independent researcher, Newton, MA 02459, USA;1. University of California Riverside, 1207 Sproul Hall, Riverside, CA 92521, USA;2. The University of Texas at Austin, 1912 Speedway, Austin, TX 78712, USA;1. Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 117485, Butlerova 5A, Moscow, Russian Federation;2. Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, 117485, Akademika Volgina st, 6, Moscow, Russian Federation;1. Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Parklands Drive, Southport, QLD, 4215, Australia;2. School of Health Sciences and Social Work, Griffith University, Parklands Drive, Southport, QLD, 4215, Australia;3. Autism Centre of Excellence, School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, Messines Ridge Road, QLD, 4101, Australia;1. Department of Psychology, School of Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China;2. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China;3. Institute of Psychology and Behavioral Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China |
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| Abstract: | ![]()
Background and aimPrior work on face processing in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has mainly focused on the investigation of unfamiliar faces. The present study aimed to extend earlier research by the inclusion of the different faces with varying levels of perceptual difficulty.MethodsWe employed eye-tracking and morphing techniques to measure face recognition involving identification of face morphs and to record eye movements during the task. Three groups of children participated in the study, comprising 24 with ASD (aged from 4 to 7 years), 25 verbal IQ (VQ)-matched typical developing (TD) controls (aged from 3 to 4 years), and 25 chronological age (CA)-matched TD controls (aged from 4 to 6 years).ResultsThe group-difference was specific for morphed unknown faces – ASD children had a decreased judgement of unknown faces and showed a lower specificity. Concurrent eye-tracking further provided mechanistic insights: the ASD group exhibited a significant reduction in eye-region fixation when recognizing ambiguous unknown faces, relative to both TD groups.ConclusionThe current study provides evidence of a selective difficulty in the identification of unknown faces in ASD when the perceptual demand increased, without atypicality in self and familiar face processing. Reduced attention and social interest may be responsible for difficulties in response to stranger faces in young ASD children, rather than a consequence of inability. |
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| Keywords: | Autism spectrum disorder Face recognition Eye fixation Face scanning Familiarity |
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