Puppets facilitate attention to social cues in children with ASD. Issue 9 (4th August 2021)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Puppets facilitate attention to social cues in children with ASD. Issue 9 (4th August 2021)
- Main Title:
- Puppets facilitate attention to social cues in children with ASD
- Authors:
- Macari, Suzanne
Chen, Xinyuan
Brunissen, Ludivine
Yhang, Eukyung
Brennan‐Wydra, Emma
Vernetti, Angelina
Volkmar, Fred
Chang, Joseph
Chawarska, Katarzyna - Abstract:
- Abstract: Diminished visual attention to faces of social partners represents one of the early characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here we examine if the introduction of puppets as social partners alters attention to speakers' faces in young children with ASD and typically developing (TD) controls. Children with ASD ( N = 37; Mage = 49.44 months) and TD ( N = 27; Mage = 40.66 months) viewed a video depicting a puppet and a human engaged in a conversation. Dwell time on these faces was analyzed as a function of group and speaker's identity. Unlike TD controls, the ASD group exhibited limited visual attention to and chance‐level visual preference for the human speaker. However, attention to and preference for the puppet speaker's face was greater than chance and comparable across the two groups. While there was a strong association between low human speaker preference and high autism severity, no association with autism severity was found for puppet speaker preference. Unlike humans, expressive and verbal puppets attracted the attention of children with ASD at levels comparable to that of TD controls. Considering that puppets can engage in reciprocal interactions and deliver simplified, salient social‐communicative cues, they may facilitate therapeutic efforts in children with ASD. Lay Summary: While studies have shown support for therapeutic uses of robots with children with autism, other similar agents such as puppets remain to be explored. When shown aAbstract: Diminished visual attention to faces of social partners represents one of the early characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here we examine if the introduction of puppets as social partners alters attention to speakers' faces in young children with ASD and typically developing (TD) controls. Children with ASD ( N = 37; Mage = 49.44 months) and TD ( N = 27; Mage = 40.66 months) viewed a video depicting a puppet and a human engaged in a conversation. Dwell time on these faces was analyzed as a function of group and speaker's identity. Unlike TD controls, the ASD group exhibited limited visual attention to and chance‐level visual preference for the human speaker. However, attention to and preference for the puppet speaker's face was greater than chance and comparable across the two groups. While there was a strong association between low human speaker preference and high autism severity, no association with autism severity was found for puppet speaker preference. Unlike humans, expressive and verbal puppets attracted the attention of children with ASD at levels comparable to that of TD controls. Considering that puppets can engage in reciprocal interactions and deliver simplified, salient social‐communicative cues, they may facilitate therapeutic efforts in children with ASD. Lay Summary: While studies have shown support for therapeutic uses of robots with children with autism, other similar agents such as puppets remain to be explored. When shown a video of a conversation between a puppet and a person, young children with ASD paid as much attention to the puppet's face as typically‐developing (TD) children. Since puppets can engage in back‐and‐forth interactions and model social interactions and communication, they may play a promising role in therapeutic efforts for young children with ASD. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- Autism research. Volume 14:Issue 9(2021)
- Journal:
- Autism research
- Issue:
- Volume 14:Issue 9(2021)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 14, Issue 9 (2021)
- Year:
- 2021
- Volume:
- 14
- Issue:
- 9
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2021-0014-0009-0000
- Page Start:
- 1975
- Page End:
- 1985
- Publication Date:
- 2021-08-04
- Subjects:
- attention -- eye tracking -- puppets
Autism -- Periodicals
Autism -- Research -- Periodicals
616.85882005 - Journal URLs:
- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1939-3806 ↗
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/116308170 ↗
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1002/aur.2552 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1939-3792
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 1825.568000
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 18931.xml