Falter Christine M, Noreika Valdas, Wearden John H, Bailey Anthony J
Department of Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2012;65(11):2093-107. doi: 10.1080/17470218.2012.690770. Epub 2012 Jul 16.
Even though phenomenological observations and anecdotal reports suggest atypical time processing in individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), very few psychophysical studies have investigated interval timing, and the obtained results are contradictory. The present study aimed to clarify which timing processes function atypically in ASD and whether they are related to the ASD diagnostic profile. Visual, auditory, and cross-modal interval timing was assessed in 18 individuals with ASD using a repeated standards version of the temporal generalization task. The use of two different standard durations (600 and 1,000 ms) allowed for an assessment of the scalar property of interval timing in ASD, a fundamental characteristic of interval timing. The ASD group showed clearer adherence to the scalar property of interval timing than the control group. In addition, both groups showed the normal effect that auditory stimuli had longer subjective durations than visual ones. Yet, signal detection analysis showed that the sensitivity of temporal discrimination was reduced in the ASD group across modalities, in particular for auditory standards. Moreover, response criteria in the ASD group were related to symptom strength in the communication domain. The findings suggest that temporal intervals are fundamentally processed in the same way in ASD and TD, but with reduced sensitivity for temporal interval differences in ASD. Individuals with ASD may show a more conservative response strategy due to generally decreased sensitivity for the perception of time intervals.
尽管现象学观察和轶事报告表明，自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）患者存在非典型的时间处理，但很少有心理物理学研究调查间隔计时，且所得结果相互矛盾。本研究旨在阐明哪些计时过程在ASD中表现异常，以及它们是否与ASD诊断特征相关。使用重复标准版本的时间泛化任务，对18名ASD患者进行了视觉、听觉和跨模态间隔计时评估。使用两种不同的标准持续时间（600和1000毫秒）可以评估ASD中间隔计时的标量特性，这是间隔计时的一个基本特征。与对照组相比，ASD组更明显地遵循间隔计时的标量特性。此外，两组都表现出正常的效应，即听觉刺激的主观持续时间比视觉刺激更长。然而，信号检测分析表明，ASD组在所有模态下的时间辨别敏感性均降低，尤其是对于听觉标准。此外，ASD组的反应标准与沟通领域的症状严重程度相关。研究结果表明，ASD和发育正常（TD）个体在处理时间间隔的基本方式上是相同的，但ASD对时间间隔差异的敏感性降低。由于对时间间隔感知的敏感性普遍下降，ASD患者可能会表现出更保守的反应策略。
