Affiliative behavior in Williams syndrome: Social perception and real-life social behavior

Abstract

A frequently noted but largely anecdotal behavioral observation in Williams syndrome (WS) is an increased tendency to approach strangers, yet the basis for this behavior remains unknown. We examined the relationship between affect identification ability and affiliative behavior in participants with WS relative to a neurotypical comparison group. We quantified social behavior from selfjudgments of approachability for faces, and from parent/other evaluations of real life. Relative to typical individuals, participants with WS were perceived as more sociable by others, exhibited perceptual deficits in affect identification, and judged faces of strangers as more approachable. In WS, high self-rated willingness to approach strangers was correlated with poor affect identification ability, suggesting that these two findings may be causally related. We suggest that the real-life hypersociability in WS may arise at least in part from abnormal perceptual processing of other people's faces, rather than from an overall bias at the level of behavior. While this did not achieve statistical significance, it provides preliminary evidence to suggest that impaired social-perceptual ability may play a role in increased approachability in WS.

Heterogeneity of social approach behaviour in Williams syndrome: The role of response inhibition

“…These findings support studies which have demonstrated heterogeneity in WS (Järvinen-Pasley et al, 2010;Porter et al, 2007;Stojanovik, Perkins & Howard, 2006;Porter & Coltheart, 2005). Interestingly there was variability in age and IQ within clusters, indicating that developmental variables did not consistently or reliably predict RUNNING HEAD: Social Approach in Williams syndrome 19 SAB profiles.…”

“…However, Porter et al (2007) and Järvinen-Pasley et al (2010) observed substantial variability in the approachability ratings given by individuals with WS which differed from the consistency of ratings demonstrated in the TD control groups. Many developmental disorders are heterogeneous (Abrahams & Geschwind, 2008) and this is a particularly pertinent feature of WS, with cognitive, social, genetic and physical characteristics varying considerably from one individual to the next (Porter & Coltheart, 2005).…”

“…Photographs of unfamiliar faces were presented to participants and they were asked to rate how much they would like to approach the person on a 5 point likert scale (ranging from 0= not at all to 4= yes definitely). The task has been used in numerous studies with individuals who have WS (Bellugi et al, 1999;Martens et al, 2009;Järvinen-Pasley et al, 2010).…”

“…This task has been used previously with individuals who have WS (Järvinen-Pasley et al, 2010). The task was self-paced and stimuli remained on screen until a response was provided.…”

“…Hypersociability is frequently cited to be a defining feature of the social phenotype associated with WS (Järvinen-Pasley, Adolphs, Yam, Hill, Grichanik, Reilly & Bellugi, 2010) and has been described as a 'general presentation of extreme happiness' (Levine & Wharton, 2000; p.364); being 'unusually sociable, friendly and empathic' (Jones, Bellugi, Lai, Chiles, Reilly, Lincoln & Adolphs, 2000 p. 30), an excessive interest in others and a distinct lack of inhibition with regard to approaching others in social contexts (Bellugi, Järvinen-Pasley, Doyle Reilly, Reiss & Korenberg, 2007;Jones et al, 2000). Individuals with WS appear RUNNING HEAD: Social Approach in Williams syndrome 4 hypersociable from an early age (Doyle, Bellugi, Korenberg & Graham, 2004), demonstrating an eagerness to make eye contact with and to approach strangers (Mervis & Klein-Tasman, 2000).…”