Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Decoding of Emotion through Facial Expression, Prosody and Verbal Content in Children and Adolescents with Asperger’s Syndrome

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

Abstract

This study examined differences in the ability to decode emotion through facial expression, prosody, and verbal content between 14 children with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) and 16 typically developing peers. The ability to decode emotion was measured by the Perception of Emotion Test (POET), which portrayed the emotions of happy, angry, sad, and neutral among the modalities of static and dynamic facial expression, prosody, verbal content, and all modalities combined. Results revealed that children with AS had more difficulty identifying emotions through static facial expression, dynamic facial expression, and prosody than typically developing children. Results are discussed in relationship to an over-reliance on verbal content as a compensatory strategy in social interactions. Treatment implications for individuals with AS are also discussed.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text revision). Washington, DC: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asperger, H. (1944/1991). ‘Autistic psychopathy’ in childhood. In Autism & Asperger Syndrome. Trans by. Frith, U. London: Cambridge University Press.

  • Asperger, H. (1979). Problems of infantile autism. Communication, 13, 45–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Attwood, T. (2000). Strategies for improving the social integration of children with Asperger Syndrome. Autism, 4, 85–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Attwood, T. (1998). Asperger’s Syndrome: A guide for parents and professionals. London: Jessica Kingsley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Attwood, T. (2001). Social Skills for children and adults with Asperger’s- High-functioning Autism. Presentation at Future Horizons Autism/Asperger Conference, Denver, CO.

  • Barnett, M. A. (1987). Empathy and related responses in children. In N. Eisenberg, & J. Strayer (Eds.), Empathy and its development (pp. 146–162). Cambridge: Cambridge University.

  • Baron-Cohen, S. (1991). Do people with Autism understand what causes emotion? Child Development, 62, 385–395.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S., O’ Riordan, M., Stone, V., Jones, R., & Plaisted, K. (1999). Recognition of Faux Pas by Normally Developing Children and Children with Asperger’s Syndrome or High-functioning Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 407–418.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, S. (2000). Asperger Syndrome. [On-line]. Available Internet: http://www.asperger.org/asperger/asperger_main.html.

  • Braaten, E. B. (1999). Self-regulation of affect in ADHD and non-ADHD boys. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Colorado State University.

  • Braverman, M., Fein, D., Lucci, D., & Waterhouse, L. (1989). Affect Comprehension in children with pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19, 301–316.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bullock, M., & Russell, J. A. (1986). Concepts of emotion in developmental psychology. In C. E. Izard, & P. B. Read (Eds.), Measuring emotions in infants and children (Vol. 2, pp. 75–89). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Camras, L. A. (1986). Judgments of emotion from facial expression and situational context. In C. E. Izard, & P. B. Read (Eds.), Measuring emotions in infants and children (Vol. 2, pp. 75–89). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Camras, L. A & Allison, K. (1985). Children’s understanding of emotional facial expressions and verbal labels. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 9, 84–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Capps, L., Kasari, C., Yirmiya, N.,& Sigman, M. (1993). Parental perception of emotional expressiveness in children with Autism. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61, 475–484.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Casey, R. J. (1993). Children’s emotional experience: relations among expression, self-report, and understanding. Developmental Psychology, 29, 119–129.

    Article  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, 57–67.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed). Hillsdale, NJ: Earlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Custrini, R. J., Feldman, R. S. (1989). Children’s social competence and nonverbal encoding and decoding of emotions. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 18, 336–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, S., Bishop, D., Manstead, A. S. R., & Tantam, D. (1994). Face perception in children with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 5, 1033–1057.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, L. M. (1981). Peabody picture vocabulary test-revised. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ekman, P. (1984). Expression and the nature of emotion. In K. Scherer, & P. Ekman (Eds.), Approaches to emotion (pp. 319–343). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Egan, G. J. (1989). Assessment of emotional processing in right and left hemisphere stroke patients: A validation study of the Perception of Emotion Test. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Georgia State University.

  • Egan, G. J., Brown, R. T., Goonan, L., Goonan, B. T., & Celano M. (1998). The development of decoding of emotions in children with externalizing behavioral disturbances and their normally developing peers. Archives of Child Neurology, 13, 383–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, N., & Strayer, J. (1987). Critical issues in the study of empathy. In N. Eisenberg, & J. Strayer (Eds.), Empathy and its development (pp. 3–16). Cambridge: Cambridge University.

  • Ene, M. (1999). High-functioning Autism or Asperger Syndrome? A comparison of emotion perception abilities and neurocognitive functioning (Doctoral dissertation, California Professional School of Psychology, 1999). Dissertation Abstracts International, 60 (4-B), 1849.

  • Frith, U. (1991). Asperger and his syndrome. In Autism & Asperger Syndrome. London: Cambridge University Press.

  • Goldstein, S., & Schwebach, A. J. (2002). Does ADHD Occur with Pervasive Developmental Disorder? The ADHD Report, 10, 1–4.

  • Grossman, J. B., Klin, A., Carter, A. S., & Volkmar, F. R. (2000). Verbal bias in recognition of facial emotions in children with Asperger’s Syndrome. Journal of Child Psychology, and Psychiatry, 41, 369–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Izard, C. E., Dougherty, F. E., Bloxton, B. M., & Kotsch, W. E. (1974). The differential emotions scale: A method of measuring the subjective experience of discrete emotions. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE.

  • Kim, J. A., Szatmari, P., Bryson, S. E., Streiner, D. L., & Wilson, F. J. (2000). The prevalence of mood problems among children with Autism and Asperger Syndrome. Autism, 4, 117–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kugler, B. (1998). The differentiation between Autism and Asperger Syndrome. Autism, 2, 11–32.

  • Lenti, C., Lenti-Boero, D., & Giacobbe, A. (1999). Decoding of Emotional Expressions in Children and Adolescents. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 89, 808–814.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McCown, W., Johnson, J., Silverman, N., & Austin, S. (1988). Social interest and recognition of facial affect of emotion. Individual Psychology, 44, 41–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mesibov, G. B., Shea, V., Adams, L. W. (2001). Understanding Asperger Syndrome and high-functioning autism. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, K. R., & Myors, B. (1998). Statistical power analysis: A simple guide and general model for traditional and modern hypothesis tests. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myles, B. S., & Simpson, R. L. (1998). Asperger Syndrome: a guide for educators and parents. Austin, TX: Pro-ed, An International Publisher.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillippot, P., & Feldman, R. S. (1990). Age and social competence in preschooler’s decoding of facial expression. British Journal of Social Psychology, 29, 43–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, C. R., & Kamphaus, R. W. (1992). Behavioral Assessment Scale for Children: Manual. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, W., & Strayer J. (1996). Empathy, emotional expressiveness, and prosocial behavior. Child Development, 67, 449–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabatino, D. A., Vance, H. B., Fuller, G. (2001). Pervasive developmental disorders In H. B. Vance, & A. Pumeriega (Eds.). Clinical assessment of child and adolescent behavior (pp. 188–230). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Serra, M., Minderaa, R. B., van Geert, P. L. C., & Jackson, A. E. (1999). Social-cognitive abilities in children with lesser variants of Autism: Skill deficits or failure to apply skills? European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 8, 301–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strayer, J. (1987a). Affective and cognitive perspectives on empathy. In N. Eisenberg & J. Strayer (Eds.), Empathy and its development (pp. 218–244). Cambridge: Cambridge University.

  • Strayer, J. (1987b). Picture-story indices of empathy. In: N. Eisenberg & J. Strayer (Eds.), Empathy and its development (pp. 351–355). Cambridge: Cambridge University.

  • Strayer, J., Roberts, W. (1997). Facial and verbal measures of children’s emotions and empathy. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 20, 627–649.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szatmari, P. (2000). Perspectives on classification of Asperger Syndrome. In Asperger’s Syndrome. New York: The Guilford Press.

  • Tantam, D. (2000). Psychological disorder in adolescents and adults with Asperger Syndrome. Autism, 4, 47–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tantam, D., Holmes, D., & Cordess, C. (1993). Nonverbal expression in Autism of Asperger type. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 23, 111–133.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, R. A. (1987). Empathy and emotional understanding: the early development of empathy. In N. Eisenberg, & J. Strayer (Eds.), Empathy and its development (pp. 119–145). Cambridge: Cambridge University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Volkmar, F. R., & Klin, A. (2000). Diagnostic issues in Asperger’s Syndrome. In A. Klin, & F. R. Volkmar (Eds.), Asperger Syndrome (pp. 25–71). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wing, L. (1981). Asperger’s Syndrome: A clinical account. Psychological Medicine, 11, 115–129.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wing, L. (1991). The relationship between Asperger’s Syndrome and Kanner’s autism. In Autism and Asperger Syndrome (pp. 93–121). London: Cambridge University Press.

  • Wing, L. (2000). Past and future of research on Asperger Syndrome. In Asperger Syndrome. New York: The Guilford Press.

Download references

Acknowledgment

I would like to acknowledge Dr. Kim Painter for her assistance and support on this project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Jennifer L. Lindner & Lee A. Rosén

  2. Capstone Behavioral Health, 1941 S. 42nd St., Ste. 514, Omaha, NE, USA, 68105

    Jennifer L. Lindner

Authors
  1. Jennifer L. Lindner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lee A. Rosén
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lindner, J., Rosén, L. Decoding of Emotion through Facial Expression, Prosody and Verbal Content in Children and Adolescents with Asperger’s Syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 36, 769–777 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0105-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0105-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation