Autistic children's ability to interpret faces: a research note.
Ten autistic children were compared with 10 non-autistic children matched for chronological age and performance IQ on two tests of finding the odd face out of a set of photographs of faces, two tests of labelling photographs of faces, and a test of labelling photographs of common objects. The autistic children were significantly worse than the non-autistic children at finding the odd person out and the odd facial expression of emotion out, and at labelling facial expressions of emotion. They did no worse than the non-autistic children at labelling upside down faces or at labelling objects. The results, which replicate the findings of Hobson (J. Child Psychol, Psychiat. 27, 321-342, 671-680, 1986; Communication, 20, 12-17, 1986) are consistent with other evidence for a specific perceptual abnormality in at least some children with autism, the nature of which is discussed.
Department of Psychiatry, Withington Hospital, University Hospital of South Manchester, U.K.
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Tantam
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Monaghan
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Nicholson
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Stirling
D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012660:Semantics