Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Can Individuals with Autism Abstract Prototypes of Natural Faces?

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Behrmann, M., Avidan, G., Leonard, G. L., Kimchi, R., Luna, B., Humphreys, K., et al. (2006). Configural processing in autism and its relationship to face processing. Neuropsychologia, 44, 110–129.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Best, C. A., Minshew, N. J., & Strauss, M. S. (2010). Gender discrimination of eyes and mouths by individuals with autism. Autism Research, 3, 88–93.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Best, C. A., & Strauss, M. S. (2007, April). A face in the crowd: Recognition memory for distinctive faces in infancy. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, MA.

  • Boucher, J., & Lewis, V. (1992). Unfamiliar face recognition in relatively able autistic children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33, 843–859.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Celani, G., Battacchi, M. W., & Arcidiacono, L. (1999). The understanding of the emotional meaning of facial expressions in people with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 57–66.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, G., Webb, S. J., & McPartland, J. (2005). Understanding the nature or face processing impairment in autism: Insights from behavioral and electrophysiological studies. Developmental Neuropsychology, 27, 403–424.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frith, U., & Happé, F. (1994). Autism: Beyond “theory of mind”. Cognition, 50, 115–132.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gadow, K., Sprafkin, J., & Weiss, M. (1999). Adult symptom inventory-4. Stony Brook, NY: Checkmate Plus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gastgeb, H. Z., Rump, K. M., Best, C. A., Minshew, N. J., & Strauss, M. S. (2009). Prototype formation: Can individuals with autism abstract facial prototypes? Autism Research, 2, 279–284.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys, K. (2003). The development of face-space: An exploration. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of London, London, England.

  • Klin, A., Jones, W., Schultz, R., Volkmar, F., & Cohen, D. (2002). Visual fixation patterns during viewing of naturalistic social situations as predictors of social competence in individuals with autism. Archives of General Psychiatry, 59, 809–816.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klin, A., Sparrow, S. S., de Bildt, A., Cicchetti, D. V., Cohen, D. J., & Volkmar, F. R. (1999). A normed study of face recognition in autism and related disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 499–508.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klinger, L. G., & Dawson, G. (2001). Prototype formation in autism. Development and Psychology, 13, 111–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klinger, L. G., Klinger, M. R., & Pohlig, R. L. (2006). Implicit learning impairments in autism spectrum disorders: Implications for treatment. In J. M. Perez, P. M. Gonzalez, M. L. Comi, & C. Nieto (Eds.), New developments in autism: The future is today (pp. 75–102). London: Kingsley Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lahaie, A., Mottron, L., Arguin, M., Berthiaume, C., Jemel, B., & Saumier, D. (2006). Face perception in high-functioning autistic adults: Evidence for superior processing of face parts, not for a configural face-processing deficit. Neuropsychology, 20, 30–41.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Rutter, M., Goode, S., Heemsbergen, J., Jordan, H., Mawhood, L., et al. (1989). Autism diagnostic observation schedule: A standardized observation of communicative and social behavior. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19, 185–212.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Rutter, M., & Le Couteur, A. (1994). Autism diagnostic interview-revised: A revised version of a diagnostic interview for caregivers of individuals with possible pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24, 659–695.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Molesworth, C. J., Bowler, D. M., & Hampton, J. A. (2005). The prototype effect in recognition memory: Intact in autism? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 661–672.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Molesworth, C. J., Bowler, D. M., & Hampton, J. A. (2008). When prototypes are not best: Judgments made by children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 1721–1730.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mottron, L., Dawson, M., Soulières, I., Hubert, B., & Burack, J. (2006). Enhanced perceptual functioning in autism: An update, and eight principles of autistic perception. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 27–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Newell, L. C., Best, C. A., Gastgeb, H., Rump, K. M., & Strauss, M. S. (2010). The development of categorization and facial knowledge: Implications for the study of autism. In L. M. Oakes, C. H. Cashon, M. Casasola, & D. H. Rakison (Eds.), Infant perception and cognition: Recent advances, emerging theories, and future directions. New York: Oxford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norbury, C. F., Brock, J., Cragg, L., Einav, S., Griffiths, H., & Nelson, K. (2009). Eye-movement patterns are associated with communicative competence in autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 834–842.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Toole, A. J., Deffenbacher, K. A., Valentine, K., McKee, K., Huff, D., & Abdi, H. (1998). The perception of face gender: The role of stimulus structure in recognition and classification. Memory and Cognition, 26, 146–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelphrey, K. A., Sasson, N. J., Reznick, J. S., Paul, G., Goldman, B. D., & Piven, J. (2002). Visual scanning of faces in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 146–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plaisted, K. C. (2000). Aspects of autism that theory of mind cannot explain. In S. Baron-Cohen, H. Tager-Flusberg, & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Understanding other minds: Perspectives from developmental cognitive neuroscience. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posner, M. I., & Keele, S. W. (1968). On the genesis of abstract ideas. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 77, 353–363.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, G., Brennan, S., & Carey, S. (1987). Identification and ratings of caricatures: Implication for mental representations of faces. Cognitive Psychology, 19, 473–497.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rubenstein, A. J., Kalakanis, L., & Langlois, J. H. (1999). Infant preferences for attractive faces: A cognitive explanation. Developmental Psychology, 35, 848–855.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rump, K. M., Giovannelli, J. L., Minshew, N. J., & Strauss, M. S. (2009). The development of emotion recognition in individials with autism. Child Development, 80, 1434–1447.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scherf, K. S., Behrmann, M., Kimchi, R., & Luna, B. (2009). Emergence of global shape processing continues through adolescence. Child Development, 80, 162–177.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, M. S. (1979). The abstraction of prototypical information by adults and 10-month old infants. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 50, 618–632.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka, J. W., Wolf, J. M., Klaiman, C., Koenig, K., Cockburn, J., Herlihy, L., et al. (2010). Using computerized games to teach face recognition skills to children with autism spectrum disorder: The let’s face it! Program. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 944–952.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Valentine, T. (1991). A unified account of the effects of distinctiveness, inversion, and race in face recognition. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 43A, 161–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (1999). Wechsler abbreviated scale of intelligence. San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weissman, M. M., Wickramaratne, P., Adams, P., Wolk, S., Verdeli, H., & Olfson, M. (2000). Brief screening for family psychiatric history: The family history screen. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57, 675–682.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Younger, B. (1990). Infant categorization: Memory for category-level and specific item information. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 50, 131–155.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Younger, B., & Gotlieb, S. (1988). Development of categorization skills: Changes in the nature or structure of infant form categories. Developmental Psychology, 24, 611���619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by NIH/NICHD HD055748 and PA Dept. of Health SAP # 4100047862. The data presented here was submitted by Holly Zajac Gastgeb as part of her Ph.D. dissertation (Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh). We are grateful to Catherine Best, Keiran Rump, Sarah Hannigen, Eva Dundas, Sara Green, and Kao-Wei Chua for testing participants involved in the current study and Carla Mazefsky, Ph.D. for commenting on prior versions of the manuscript.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Holly Zajac Gastgeb

    Present address: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 210 South Bouquet Street, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Holly Zajac Gastgeb, Desirée A. Wilkinson & Mark S. Strauss

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Nancy J. Minshew

Authors
  1. Holly Zajac Gastgeb
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Desirée A. Wilkinson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nancy J. Minshew
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mark S. Strauss
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark S. Strauss.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gastgeb, H.Z., Wilkinson, D.A., Minshew, N.J. et al. Can Individuals with Autism Abstract Prototypes of Natural Faces?. J Autism Dev Disord 41, 1609–1618 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1190-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1190-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation