Department of Behavioral Science, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway.
Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2019 Jul 17;9(1):10355. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-46705-8.
The present investigation describes three studies testing the hypothesis that children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show an atypical preference for non-social stimuli. Preference for non-social and social stimuli was assessed using applications on a portable tablet computer. Twenty-eight children with ASD were matched on developmental age with the chronological age of 41 typically developing (TD) children. The non-social stimuli consisted of six different films of abstract moving geometric patterns. Social stimuli were six different films of the face of young adults (Study 1 and 3) or six films of different dogs' faces (Study 2). When given a choice between the non-social and social stimuli, children with ASD preferred the non-social stimuli. When the human faces were replaced with dogs' faces the participants with ASD continued to prefer the non-social stimuli. A high reinforcement value of non-social stimuli was also demonstrated when the non-social stimuli were presented alone, suggesting the preference for the non-social stimuli was not simply an avoidance of social stimuli. Whenever an infant prefers non-social stimuli over social stimuli, non-typical development in social communication and social interests may result, together with the development of high levels and frequently occurring stereotyped and repetitive behavior. These behaviors define Autism.
本研究描述了三项研究，旨在检验自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童对非社交刺激表现出非典型偏好的假设。使用便携式平板电脑上的应用程序评估对非社交和社交刺激的偏好。28 名 ASD 儿童与 41 名具有典型发育（TD）儿童的年龄相匹配。非社交刺激包括六个不同的抽象动态几何图案电影。社交刺激是六个不同的年轻成年人面孔的电影（研究 1 和 3）或六个不同的狗的面孔的电影（研究 2）。当在非社交刺激和社交刺激之间进行选择时，ASD 儿童更喜欢非社交刺激。当用人脸代替狗脸时，ASD 参与者继续更喜欢非社交刺激。当单独呈现非社交刺激时，还证明了非社交刺激具有高强化价值，这表明对非社交刺激的偏好不仅仅是对社交刺激的回避。每当婴儿更喜欢非社交刺激而不是社交刺激时，社交沟通和社交兴趣的非典型发展可能会导致高水平和经常出现的刻板和重复行为的发展。这些行为定义了自闭症。
