Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2011 Dec;41(12):1609-18. doi: 10.1007/s10803-011-1190-4.
There is a growing amount of evidence suggesting that individuals with autism have difficulty with face processing. One basic cognitive ability that may underlie face processing difficulties is the ability to abstract a prototype. The current study examined prototype formation with natural faces using eye-tracking in high-functioning adults with autism and matched controls. Individuals with autism were found to have significant difficulty forming prototypes of natural faces. The eye-tracking data did not reveal any between group differences in the general pattern of attention to the faces, indicating that these difficulties were not due to attentional factors. Results are consistent with previous studies that have found a deficit in prototype formation and extend these deficits to natural faces.
越来越多的证据表明，自闭症患者在面部处理方面存在困难。一种可能是基础认知能力，即抽象原型的能力。本研究使用眼动追踪技术，在高功能自闭症成人和匹配对照组中，检查了自然面孔的原型形成。研究发现，自闭症个体在形成自然面孔的原型方面存在显著困难。眼动追踪数据并未显示出两组在对面孔的一般注意力模式上存在任何差异，这表明这些困难不是由于注意力因素造成的。研究结果与先前发现原型形成缺陷的研究一致，并将这些缺陷扩展到自然面孔。
