Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 210 South Bouquet Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2012 Sep;42(9):1847-55. doi: 10.1007/s10803-011-1428-1.
While much research has examined the development of facial recognition abilities, less is known about the ability of individuals with and without autism to categorize facial gender. The current study tested gender categorization abilities in high-functioning children (5-7 and 8-12 years), adolescents (13-17 years), and adults (18-53 years) with autism and matched controls. Naturalistic videos depicted faces that were either typical or less typical of each gender. Both groups improved in their performance across development. However, control children reached expertise that was similar to control adults by 8-12 years; whereas, adults with autism never reached this level of expertise, particularly with less typical gender faces. Results suggest that individuals with autism employ different face processing mechanisms than typically developing individuals.
虽然有很多研究都在探讨面部识别能力的发展，但对于自闭症患者和非自闭症患者在分类面部性别方面的能力，我们了解得较少。本研究测试了自闭症高功能儿童（5-7 岁和 8-12 岁）、青少年（13-17 岁）和成年人（18-53 岁）以及匹配对照组的性别分类能力。自然主义视频描绘了具有典型性别特征和不太典型性别特征的人脸。两组在发展过程中都有所提高。然而，对照组的儿童在 8-12 岁时就达到了与对照组成年人相似的专业水平；而自闭症成年人从未达到这种专业水平，尤其是在面对不太典型的性别面孔时。研究结果表明，自闭症患者使用的面部处理机制与非自闭症患者不同。
