Responses to nonverbal behaviour of dynamic virtual characters in high-functioning autism.
We investigated feelings of involvement evoked by nonverbal behaviour of dynamic virtual characters in 20 adults with high-functioning autism (HFA) and high IQ as well as 20 IQ-matched control subjects. The effects of diagnostic group showed that subjects with autism experienced less "contact" and "urge" to establish contact across conditions and less "interest" than controls in a condition with meaningful facial expressions. Moreover, the analyses within groups revealed that nonverbal behaviour had less influence on feelings in HFA subjects. In conclusion, disturbances of HFA subjects in experiencing involvement in social encounters with virtual characters displaying nonverbal behaviour do not extend to all kinds of feelings, suggesting different pathways in the ascription of involvement in social situations.
Schwartz
Caroline
C
Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät, Department of Social Psychology, University of Cologne, Herbert-Lewin Street 2, 50931 Cologne, Germany. caroline.schwartz@gmx.de
Bente
Gary
G
Gawronski
Astrid
A
Schilbach
Leonhard
L
Vogeley
Kai
K
D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014584:User-Computer Interface