Abstract
Face recognition difficulties are common in autism and could be a consequence of perceptual atypicalities that disrupt the ability to integrate current and prior information. We tested this theory by measuring the strength of serial dependence for faces (i.e. how likely is it that current perception of a face is biased towards a previously seen face) across the broader autism phenotype. Though serial dependence was not weaker in individuals with more autistic traits, more autistic traits were associated with greater integration of less similar faces. These results suggest that serial dependence is less specialised, and may not operate optimally, in individuals with more autistic traits and could therefore be a contributing factor to autism-linked face recognition difficulties.
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Notes
Note that the final sample has different exclusions to the final sample reported on in Turbett et al. (2019).
We note that in our supplementary analyses (see Table S3) we find a trend towards a negative relationship between domains of autistic traits and face recognition in males and significant positive relationship between domains of autistic traits and face recognition in females, which is consistent with Rhodes et al’s (2013) findings and partly consistent with Davis et al. (2017).
Descriptive statistics and reliability for the total overall AQ score are included in this table. However, given recent psychometric analyses not supporting the use of the total AQ score (English et al., 2020), this score is not included in subsequent analyses.
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This research is supported by Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence Grant CE110001021 and a Research Training Program Stipend awarded to KT. We thank Murray Mayberry for his valuable advice. We also thank the undergraduate students who contributed to data collection.
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KT, RP, LJ, and JB conceived and designed the study. KT collected data and performed statistical analyses. JB collected data. KT, RP, LJ, JB, and JB drafted and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Turbett, K., Jeffery, L., Bell, J. et al. Autistic Traits are Associated with Less Precise Perceptual Integration of Face Identity. J Autism Dev Disord 52, 2168–2179 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05111-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05111-8