Basic and complex emotion recognition in children with autism: cross-cultural findings

Abstract

BackgroundChildren with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) have emotion recognition deficits when tested in different expression modalities (face, voice, body). However, these findings usually focus on basic emotions, using one or two expression modalities. In addition, cultural similarities and differences in emotion recognition patterns in children with ASC have not been explored before. The current study examined the similarities and differences in the recognition of basic and complex emotions by children with ASC and typically developing (TD) controls across three cultures: Israel, Britain, and Sweden.MethodsFifty-five children with high-functioning ASC, aged 5–9, were compared to 58 TD children. On each site, groups were matched on age, sex, and IQ. Children were tested using four tasks, examining recognition of basic and complex emotions from voice recordings, videos of facial and bodily expressions, and emotional video scenarios including all modalities in context.ResultsCompared to their TD peers, children with ASC showed emotion recognition deficits in both basic and complex emotions on all three modalities and their integration in context. Complex emotions were harder to recognize, compared to basic emotions for the entire sample. Cross-cultural agreement was found for all major findings, with minor deviations on the face and body tasks.ConclusionsOur findings highlight the multimodal nature of ER deficits in ASC, which exist for basic as well as complex emotions and are relatively stable cross-culturally. Cross-cultural research has the potential to reveal both autism-specific universal deficits and the role that specific cultures play in the way empathy operates in different countries.

“Motion or Emotion? Recognition of Emotional Bodily Expressions in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder With and Without Intellectual Disability”

“…In particular, this numerosity was determined taking into account the sample size of previous studies in the field, the complexity of the task that was presented, and its feasibility for individuals with LFA. Despite being influenced by group composition, recruitment areas, and available means, the sample size selected was consistent with previous literature on the subject (Moore et al, 1997;Atkinson et al, 2004;Hubert et al, 2007;Parron et al, 2008;Atkinson, 2009;Annaz et al, 2010Annaz et al, , 2012Fridenson-hayo et al, 2016). Eventually, we successfully included in the study 69 subjects (27 TD; 25 HFA; 17 LFA) that completed the task.…”

“…In ASD, the investigation of differences in recognizing emotional PLDs and FLDs was limited to adults and showed an impaired recognition of both PLDs and FLDs (Atkinson, 2009). Poorer accuracy in recognizing emotional FLDs of BM have been shown in children with ASD (Fridenson-hayo et al, 2016). Yet, differences in recognizing emotional FLDs and PLDs have not been investigated.…”

Feasibility Testing of a Wearable Behavioral Aid for Social Learning in Children with Autism

“…34,39 Furthermore, some studies have found ASD deficits in recognizing certain emotions more often than others, such as happiness and neutrality, 40 surprise, 36,38 and fear, 36,39,40 as well as deficits in judgment of more complex social stimuli, such as trustworthiness, shame, and approachability. 34,36,38,41 We outline our hypotheses and objectives below.…”

Early processing (N170) of infant faces in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder and its association with maternal sensitivity

“…Specifically, face processing has been identified as a possible marker of impairment in social cognition within ASD. This impairment has been associated with difficulties in recognizing the emotions of others [Lozier, Vanmeter, & Marsh, ; Uljarevic & Hamilton, ] and has been observed cross‐culturally [Friedenson‐Hayo et al, ].…”