The Animal in Me: Enhancing Emotion Recognition in Adolescents with Autism Using Animal Filters

Cross, Liam; Farha, Myles; Atherton, Gray

doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04179-7

Cited by 20 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Such differentiation of treatment between humans and other organisms by people with ASD is consistent with the theoretical distinction formulated by Prothmann et al in 2009 to account for the contrasting abilities of people with ASD to interact with animals, and according to which animals could be assimilated to agents of actions (i.e., communicating their intentions non-verbally via body language) and humans to agent of attitudes (i.e., using meta-representations) 28 . These results are also consistent with recent studies suggesting that ToM ability is not at a global deficit in those on the autistic spectrum but may relate to the mindreading of specifically human agents 25 , 40 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Self-perceived empathic abilities of people with autism towards living beings mostly differs for humans

Miralles

Grandgeorge²,

Raymond

2022

Sci Rep

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Being phylogenetically close involves greater empathic perceptions towards other species. To explore this phenomenon, this study investigates the influence of neurocognitive predispositions to empathy on our perceptions of other organisms. Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized, among others, by weakened empathic skills. Our online survey involved a group of 202 raters with ASD and a control group of 1100 raters, who had to make choices to assess their empathic perceptions toward an extended photographic sampling of organisms. Results highlight that both groups present overall similar trends in their empathic preferences, with empathy scores significantly decreasing with the phylogenetic distance relatively to humans. However, the empathy score attributed to Homo sapiens in the ASD group represents a striking outlier in the yet very sharp overall correlation between empathy scores and divergence time, scoring our species as low as cold-blooded vertebrates. These results are consistent with previous studies, which emphasized that (1) understanding human beings would be more difficult for people with ASD than decoding “animals” and (2) that Theory of Mind impairment would not represent a global deficit in people with ASD but may relate to the mindreading of specifically human agents.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Self-perceived empathic abilities of people with autism towards living beings mostly differs for humans

Miralles

Grandgeorge²,

Raymond

2022

Sci Rep

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“…However, a within-groups design would have allowed a more direct comparison of differences between cartoon and human versions of the stimulus. Indeed, work by Cross et al (2019) showed that young autistic children were significantly better at recognizing emotions from full-face pictures when they were presented in anthropomorphic filters. Finally, this study utilized a heavily female sample.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, qualitative work has shown autistic people to have a particular affinity for anthropomorphism, particularly in the context of theory of mind , and may identify with animals who are similarly viewed as 'more than human' (Davidson & Smith, 2009). Empirical work has also shown that those with higher levels of autistic traits no longer underperformed on perspective-taking tasks when the agents of interest were animals rather than humans (Cross et al, 2019). Cross et al (2019) showed that young children with a clinical diagnosis of autism and comorbid disorders, such as intellectual disability were better able to correctly recognize emotions from full-face pictures when they were presented in anthropomorphic filters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reading the mind in cartoon eyes: Comparing human versus cartoon emotion recognition in those with high and low levels of autistic traits

Atherton

Cross

2021

Psychol Rep

Self Cite

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People who have a high degree of autistic traits often underperform on theory of mind tasks such as perspective-taking or facial emotion recognition compared to those with lower levels of autistic traits. However, some research suggests that this may not be the case if the agent they are evaluating is anthropomorphic (i.e. animal or cartoon) rather than typically human. The present studies examined the relation between facial emotion recognition and autistic trait profiles in over 750 adults using either a standard or cartoon version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME) test. Results showed that those scoring above the clinical cut off for autistic traits on the Autism Quotient performed significantly worse than those with the lowest levels of autistic traits on the standard RME, while scores across these groups did not differ substantially on the cartoon version of the task. These findings add further evidence that theory of mind ability such as facial emotion recognition is not at a global deficit in those with a high degree of autistic traits. Instead, differences in this ability may be specific to evaluating human agents.

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“…In fact, van der Meer et al [ 28 ] suggested how portable technology such as iPads and iPhones are viable technology aids for people in areas such as communication and transitioning skills. A recent example of this technology introduced the concept of animal filters on a mobile device to understand how the idea of mind-blindness or emotion recognition can vary in contexts[ 29 ]. Other software applications or “apps” allow the user to take a photo or video while attaching specific emotions to them, which aides in recognising the emotion in the future[ 29 ].…”

Section: Current Social Support Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent example of this technology introduced the concept of animal filters on a mobile device to understand how the idea of mind-blindness or emotion recognition can vary in contexts[ 29 ]. Other software applications or “apps” allow the user to take a photo or video while attaching specific emotions to them, which aides in recognising the emotion in the future[ 29 ].…”

Section: Current Social Support Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

E-technology social support programs for autistic children: Can they work?

Wall¹,

Smith²,

Campbell³

et al. 2021

WJP

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Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition with associated difficulties that present differently across individuals. One such difficulty is recognizing basic and complex facial expressions. Research has previously found that there are many evidence-based support programs available for building non-verbal communication skills. These programs are frequently administered with a therapist or in a group setting, making them inflexible in nature. Programs hosted on e-technology are becoming increasingly popular, with many parents supportive of them. Applications (apps) that are hosted on technology such as iPads or mobile phones allow users to engage in building skills in real-time social settings and own what they are learning. These technologies are frequently used by autistic children, with apps typically focusing on identifying facial features. Yet at this current time, there are mixed reviews of how to design such programs and what their theoretical backing is, with many studies using a mix of observation and psychological assessments as outcome measures. Eye-tracking and electroencephalography are established methodologies that measure neural processing and gaze behaviors while viewing faces. To better support the field moving forward, objective measures such as these are a way to measure outcomes of apps that are designed for helping children on the spectrum build skills in understanding facial expressions.

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The Animal in Me: Enhancing Emotion Recognition in Adolescents with Autism Using Animal Filters

Cited by 20 publications

References 23 publications

Self-perceived empathic abilities of people with autism towards living beings mostly differs for humans

Self-perceived empathic abilities of people with autism towards living beings mostly differs for humans

Reading the mind in cartoon eyes: Comparing human versus cartoon emotion recognition in those with high and low levels of autistic traits

E-technology social support programs for autistic children: Can they work?

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