Emotion processing and the broader autism phenotype

Abstract

The processing of emotion is fundamental in various aspects of human experience. However, our understanding of emotional processes is incomplete, particularly in relation to language processing. Further, individuals such as those with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show differences in their perception and understanding of emotion. Whilst many characteristics of ASD present to varying degrees in the wider population, the extent to which differences in emotion processing extend beyond those with a diagnosis of ASD remains largely unknown. The aims of this thesis were to determine the links between emotion and language processes in both adults and children, and to determine the relationship between emotion processing and non-clinical levels of autism-like traits, known as the broader autism phenotype (BAP). These aims were achieved by investigating (i) the recognition of facial and vocal emotional cues in relation to autism traits, and (ii) the impact of emotional cues on language learning in relation to autism traits. Chapter 2 aimed to determine how vocal expressions of emotion influenced subsequent recognition of facial emotions, and whether this influence differed according to levels of autism-like traits among typical adults. The results revealed that emotions, expressed via a combination of semantic meaning and prosody, enhanced subsequent facial emotion recognition when the vocal and facial cues were congruent, and impaired recognition when the emotional cues were incongruent. However, these effects were apparent only for those with low levels of autism-like traits and not for those with higher levels. Chapter 3 aimed to determine whether typically developing children were able to match various vocal expressions of emotion to facial expressions, and whether this ability differed between those with low or high levels of autism-like traits. The results showed that the children"s ability to match emotions differed according to emotion type, such that more errors were made when matching expressions of happiness and fear, compared to sadness and anger. However, matching ability did not differ between those with low or high levels of autism-like traits. Taken together, the results of the two studies outlined in Chapters 2 and 3 indicated that adults with higher levels of autism-like traits failed to integrate emotional information across modalities. However children with higher levels of autism-like traits were able to integrate crossmodal emotional information in a similar manner to those with lower levels of autism-like traits. These findings suggest that difficulties integrating emotional information across modalities may be characteristic of the BAP, but may become apparent between mid-childhood and adulthood. Chapter 4 aimed to determine whether vocal emotional cues impacted adults" ability to learn new words, and explored whether this ability to learn was influenced by levels of autism-like traits. The results revealed that fearful prosody interfered with the ability to learn new words for all partic...

Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Emotion Efficacy Scale – 2 in a Sample of Turkish Emerging Adults

“…The EES2 was developed by West (2018) to assess the degree to which people can respond to a full range of emotions in a contextually adaptive, values-consistent manner. The scale consists of 10 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree ).…”

“…West (2018) has developed a valid and reliable self-report questionnaire to measure the construct of emotion efficacy. The Emotion Efficacy Scale – 2 (EES2) is designed to assess both the efficacy of Emotion Efficacy Therapy – an 8-week transdiagnostic, theoretically driven, process-based treatment that aims to increase individuals’ level of emotion efficacy – as well as the degree to which individuals can respond to a full range of emotions in a contextually adaptive, values-consistent manner.…”