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Autistic Children's Ability to Interpret Faces: A Research Note
Author(s) -
Tantam Digby,
Monaghan Liza,
Nicholson Helen,
Stirling John
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1989.tb00274.x
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , autism , developmental disorder , cognitive psychology
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 fates, 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.