The effect of inversion on face recognition in adults with autism spectrum disorder.
Face inversion hurts recognition the same way in adults with autism, so orientation is not the issue.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers tested the adults with autism and 36 matched controls.
Each adult viewed upright and upside-down faces on a computer screen.
They had to say whether two faces were the same person or different.
What they found
Both groups did worse when faces were upside-down.
The drop in accuracy was the same size for adults with autism and controls.
Adults with autism scored lower overall, but the inversion effect itself was not bigger.
How this fits with other research
Faja et al. (2009) showed adults with autism are less accurate at spotting face changes.
Hedley et al. (2015) now adds that turning faces upside-down hurts everyone the same amount.
Emerson et al. (2007) found similar inversion effects in autism, but also tested emotional faces.
Together, these studies tell us the problem is not how faces are turned, but how faces are stored in memory.
Why it matters
You can use upside-down photos in visual supports without fear of extra confusion. Focus on clear, high-quality images instead of worrying about orientation.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Face identity recognition has widely been shown to be impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In this study we examined the influence of inversion on face recognition in 26 adults with ASD and 33 age and IQ matched controls. Participants completed a recognition test comprising upright and inverted faces. Participants with ASD performed worse than controls on the recognition task but did not show an advantage for inverted face recognition. Both groups directed more visual attention to the eye than the mouth region and gaze patterns were not found to be associated with recognition performance. These results provide evidence of a normal effect of inversion on face recognition in adults with ASD.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2015 · doi:10.1007/s10803-014-2297-1