Abstract
This study examined the effect of competing auditorily and visually presented word cues on emotion recognition ability in high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Adolescents with ASD were compared to typical controls on computer-based tasks of emotion recognition. Participants were asked to make a determination about the emotion expressed by a face presented alone, with competing visually-presented word stimuli, and with competing auditorily-presented word stimuli. Individuals with autism were more proficient at recognizing emotions in faces when competing word cues were consistent with the emotion in the face than when they were inconsistent or irrelevant, and all participants were more accurate in emotion recognition when competing word cues were presented auditorily rather than visually, and when competing word cues were consistent as opposed to inconsistent or irrelevant. Contrary to hypothesized results, individuals with autism did as well as controls in making determinations about emotions in faces when competing word cues were inconsistent with the emotion in the faces. Implications of the findings are discussed.
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Notes
To determine the number of participants needed in each group (n) to detect an effect of a particular size, Cohen’s power tables were consulted (1988). Only one study to date (Grossman et al. 2000) examined the effect hypothesized in the current study. Consequently, the effect size measure d was calculated for comparisons between means obtained in the previous study. Effect sizes (d values) ranged from 1.83 to 2.41 for comparisons between various means. Based on these calculations, a large effect was hypothesized. According to Cohen (1988), to detect an effect (d) of 1.00 using an alpha level of .05 with a power (β) of 80, a group size (n) of 13 would be required for comparison between means. As such, and to increase the likelihood that an effect would be detected, groups in the current study consisted of 17 high-functioning adolescents with autism and 17 controls.
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Boggs, K.M., Gross, A.M. Cue Salience in Face Processing by High Functioning Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Dev Phys Disabil 22, 595–613 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-010-9198-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-010-9198-9