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Brief Report: Developing Spatial Frequency Biases for Face Recognition in Autism and Williams Syndrome

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Abstract

The current study investigated whether contrasting face recognition abilities in autism and Williams syndrome could be explained by different spatial frequency biases over developmental time. Typically-developing children and groups with Williams syndrome and autism were asked to recognise faces in which low, middle and high spatial frequency bands were masked. All three groups demonstrated a gradual specialisation toward the mid-band. However, while the use of high spatial frequencies decreased in control and autism groups over development, the Williams syndrome group did not display a bias toward this band at any point. These data demonstrate that typical outcomes can be achieved through atypical developmental processes, and confirm the importance of cross-syndrome studies in the investigation of developmental disorders.

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Fig. 1
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Notes

  1. Note that the main effect of spatial frequency is independent of the covariate, and is reported from an analysis excluding age as a factor; degrees of freedom may therefore differ between main effects and interactions and within- or between-subjects factors (see Annaz et al. 2009 for further explanation).

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Acknowledgments

The current research was supported by a UK Medical Research Council Grant G0701484 ID: 85031 to the last author and by a UK Medical Research Council studentship to the first author. We would like to thank Michael Thomas for his advice and support and the charities and schools who helped with recruitment. Our thanks go to all the parents and children who participated in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, School of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK

    Hayley C. Leonard, Annette Karmiloff-Smith & Mark H. Johnson

  2. School of Health and Social Sciences, Middlesex University, London, UK

    Dagmara Annaz

Authors
  1. Hayley C. Leonard
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  2. Dagmara Annaz
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  3. Annette Karmiloff-Smith
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  4. Mark H. Johnson
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Correspondence to Hayley C. Leonard.

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Leonard, H.C., Annaz, D., Karmiloff-Smith, A. et al. Brief Report: Developing Spatial Frequency Biases for Face Recognition in Autism and Williams Syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 41, 968–973 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1115-7

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