We tested social cognition abilities of adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and neurotypically developed peers (NTD). A multi-faceted test-battery including facial emotion categorization (FEC), classical false belief tasks (FBT), and complex social cognition (SC), yielded significantly lower accuracy rates for FEC and complex SC tasks in ASD, but no significant differences in performance concerning FBT. A significant correlation between age and performance in a FEC task and in a complex task was found only in ASD. We propose that dynamic and/or fragmented FEC tasks can elicit deficits in implicit processing of facial emotion more efficiently. The difficulties of ASD in solving complex SC tasks can be ascribed to deficits in the acquisition and application of social schemata.

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Zusammenfassung. In den letzten Jahren wurden einige spezifische Programme zur Förderung der sozialen Kompetenz bei Kindern und Jugendlichen mit einer hochfunktionalen Autismus-Spektrum-Störung entwickelt, um Fertigkeiten im Interaktions- und Kommunikationsverhalten zu steigern und dadurch den erlebten Stress und Frustrationen in sozialen Situationen zu verringern. Evaluationsstudien zeigen positive Effekte dieser Programme mit Effektstärken im mittleren Bereich für Aufbau sozialer Kompetenz und Verbesserung der sozialen Reaktivität. In der vorliegenden Studie wird eine Phase II Pilotevaluation des Freiburger Gruppenverfahrens TOMTASS, ein Theory-of-Mind-Training für Kinder und Jugendliche mit Autismus-Spektrum-Störungen, vorgestellt. Fragebögen zur sozialen Reaktivität (SRS) und zur Lebensqualität (ILK) wurden von den Eltern der 38 männlichen Teilnehmer vor und nach dem 24-stündigen Training ausgefüllt, das ILK wurde auch als Selbstbeurteilungsbogen ausgeteilt. Zusätzlich wurde eine für den Rater verblindete Video-Analyse der Therapie-Sitzungen zu Beginn und gegen Ende des Trainings durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen eine signifikante Verbesserung der sozialen Reaktivität in der SRS-Skala und deskriptive Verbesserungen der Lebensqualität sowohl im Eltern- als auch im Kinder-Urteil. Die Video-Analyse ergab uneinheitliche Ergebnisse mit Verbesserung in den Bereichen der sozialen Interaktion und Kommunikation und Verschlechterungen bei der Einhaltung der Regeln gegen Ende des Trainings. Insgesamt stellen diese positiven Pilotbefunde eine vielversprechende Grundlage für eine weitere Evaluationsphase dar, bei der sowohl eine Kontrollwartegruppe als auch die Verwendung von weiteren objektiven und vor allem ökologisch validen Maßen, wie z.B. behavioralen Testungen, eingeführt werden sollten.

The project Stylized Animations for Research on Autism (SARA) aims to develop a better understanding of the cognitive processes behind emotional categorization in children and adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in comparison with neurotypically developed peers. To this end, we combine novel realtime non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) algorithms, emotional facial animations, and eye-tracking technologies in a framework that serves as an interactive testbed for empirical research. In this paper, we focus on three experiments that: (1) validate real-time facial animations of virtual characters, (2) evaluate the NPR algorithms to create abstracted facial expressions, and (3) elucidate the relation between eye gaze behavior, ASD and alexithymia (i.e., difficulties in expressing ones emotions). The results show that our animations can be used in the proposed experiments; however, more evaluation is needed regarding the NPR abstractions, especially with individuals with ASD. Finally, even though no correlation was found between gaze behavior, ASD and alexithymia, the study opened several questions that will be addressed in future work.

Face perception and emotion categorization are widely investigated under laboratory conditions that are devoid of real social interaction. Using mobile eye-tracking glasses in a standardized diagnostic setting while applying the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2), we had the opportunity to record gaze behavior of children and adolescents with and without Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASCs) during social interaction. The objective was to investigate differences in eye-gaze behavior between three groups of children and adolescents either (1) with ASC or (2) with unconfirmed diagnosis of ASC or (3) with neurotypical development (NTD) during social interaction with an adult interviewer in a diagnostic standard situation using the ADOS-2. In a case control study, we used mobile eye-tracking glasses in an ecologically valid and highly standardized diagnostic interview to investigate suspected cases of ASC. After completion of the ASC diagnostic gold standard including the ADOS-2, the participants were assigned to two groups based on their diagnosis (ASC vs. non-ASC) and compared with a matched group of neurotypically developed controls. The primary outcome measure is the percentage of total dwell times assessed for different areas of interest (AOI) with regard to the face and body of a diagnostic interviewer and the surrounding space. Overall, 65 children and adolescents within an age range of 8.3–17.9 years were included in the study. The data revealed significant group differences, especially in the central-face area. Previous investigations under laboratory conditions gave preferential attention to the eye region during face perception to describe differences between ASC and NTD. In this study – using an ecologically valid setting within a standard diagnostic procedure – the results indicate that neurotypically developed controls seem to process faces and facial expressions in a holistic manner originating from the central-face region. Conversely, participants on the Autism Spectrum (tAS) seem to avoid the central-face region and show unsystematic gaze behavior, not using the preferred landing position in the central-face region as the Archimedean point of face perception. This study uses a new approach, and it will be important to replicate these preliminary findings in future research.