Skin conductance response patterns of face processing in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Advances in Autism,Volume 3, Issue 2, April 2017. Purpose The aim of this paper is to investigate the face processing responses of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using Skin Conductance Response (SCR) patterns and to compare it with Typically Developed (TD) children. Design/methodology/approach Two experiments have been designed to analyze the effect of face processing. In the first experiment, learned non-face (objects) versus unknown face stimuli have been shown and in the second experiment, familiar versus unfamiliar face stimuli have been shown to 10 ASD and 10 TD children and SCR patterns have been recorded, analyzed and compared for both the groups. Findings It has been observed that children with ASD were able to differentiate faces out of learned non-face stimuli and their SCR patterns were similar as TD children in the first experiment. In the second experiment, children with ASD were unable to recognize familiar faces from unfamiliar faces but TD children could easily discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar faces as their SCR patterns were different from children with ASD. Research limitations/implications The present study advocates that impairment in face identification exists in children with ASD. Hence, it can be concluded that in children with ASD face processing is present but they do not recognize familiar faces or it can be said that face familiarization effect is absent in children with ASD. Originality/value There are very ...
Source: Advances in Autism - Category: Child Development Source Type: research